God's Presence

 Greetings to  you all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ,

     Second Corinthians 11:25-28 says, “Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep;   In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren;  In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.  Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches.” 

     There have been times when I was outside that a rain storm would come up unexpectedly and guess what?  I got wet.  There were also times when i couldn’t find anything to eat so my Aunt Edna told me about bread, mustard and sugar.  My meatless sandwich was good when i was hungry.  I would look for empty pop bottles and take them to the gas station for two cents.  If I found enough, I could get a R. C. Cola and a Moonpie.  

     When i came to know the LORD in a personal way, that is, became born again, born from above, born of God, things changed but when it rained, i still got wet and when there wasn’t any food around, I got hungry.  Being a believer doesn’t remove my problems but God is with me in the midst of my problems.  My  feeble sufferings don’t even come close to that of the Apostle Paul .  The above list shows just some of the things that he went through and in the end, he could still say that he was content.  I have become used to the things of my country and my lifestyle.  I have adequate shelter and a phone that tells me when it is going to rain and so I don’t tempt  the weather and go out in it when a storm is approaching.  The american way is to stock up on the things you might need, “just in case” something terrible will happen.  I am getting to use that phrase often as our culture demands that we take steps to protect ourselves, just in case…”  I often say that “God has never failed me yet.”  That is a true statement that since the early seventies, God has taken care of all of us in the family even when we thought there was no way of getting things accomplished.  I ran out of money for my college education, but God saw to it that the money would come from where I didn’t expect it to come and I have the degree to prove it.  I was candidating for my first position  in a church and for several months, didn’t have any prospects but I was filling in at our home church since the pastor had a terrible carbuncle on his neck and couldn’t wear a necktie and he wouldn’t preach without one.  As events went on, my last day in the pulpit at that church was my pastor’s first day back in the pulpit.  God had it all under control as we left and headed South to our first position.  We all probably have the same testimony on how God always met our needs because He said He wouled never leave us nor forsake us.  Praise God for His promises.