| Pastor's
Pen
by Buzz Dahlen I’m telling this story not to make fun of anyone and anything they did, but to use it as an illustration of how we can be in life. Here’s the story. A good friend was heading home late one cold snowy evening. The day had been a good day and now it was time to get his family home and get to bed. But on the way home he encountered a snow drift. This man was prepared with a four wheel drive pickup, chains if needed and even had a plow on the front of the rig. When they came across the drift, it was no problem, they would just plow through. Yep, you guessed it, they got stuck. Our phone rang about 11:30 and the voice on the other side began with, “We couldn’t think of anyone else to call.” As it turned out I called someone who was closer to their location and they were not able to pull them out. So the wife and kids rode back to our house and spent the evening as the father walked the two or so miles home. The plan was for dad to get up early and dig the truck out and then to decide what should be done at that time. All morning long there was no word until around noon when we were informed that he had gotten the truck out and was heading home. I was happy to load up the wife and kids and head up to what we had believed was a clear pathway to their home. When we came around the corner there was the pickup stuck in the snowdrift, albeit it was five or ten feet closer to home. Yep, you guessed it, he had attempted to plow through again and got stuck. After an hour or so of trying to dig this big rig out I asked if he had called his neighbor. The answer was no, with some sort of statement of, I didn’t want to bother him… Well I said, give his number, I’ll call him… They call their neighbor and the wife and kids started to walk that tow or so miles home. Later, after it was obvious that we were not going to dig his pickup out of this drift, he started walking home and I turned around and headed back home as well. There was a call to my house before I got home. The neighbor had met him along the way home with his road grader and with little or no effort the pickup was pulled through the drift and the road was cleared of the snow drift. What is the moral of the story? Too often when we encounter those snowdrifts in life we try to get through them on our own. We refuse to “bother” God with those things that only He can help us through. Jesus Himself said: "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.” Matthew 7: 7&8 God is not bothered by our requests for help in time of need… The writer of Hebrews writes: Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. Hebrews 4:14-16 Let God help… |
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