Conversations with God-Part One
‘…let us be thankful and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe.” Hebrews 12:28
Country Music Television’s award-winning artist, Jellyroll, once admitted in a song that: “I only talk to God when I need a favor and I only pray when I ain’t got a prayer.” We may all have done the same thing. I plead guilty; I’ve not only done it, but passed on my bad habit.
When our daughters were growing up, our oldest gave me a big, warm hug. While she held on to me, she begged, “Momma, will you please buy me such-and-such?”
I wasn’t upset with her, but it still hurt my feelings a little. I asked, “Honey, why do you hug me only when you want something?”
I never heard her response. I was busy dealing with my reaction to that still, small voice in my head: “Who does she get that from?”
Ouch. I was the one who needed to repent. While I was being honest with myself, I realized how often my prayers were, “Please, God, help me with…” and not nearly as often as, “Thank you, Lord for…” Like my husband, Wade, used to tell our teenagers, “I’m not the Bank of Dad,” we shouldn’t treat Father God as an ATM of blessings, either.
Recently, I sent up an urgent prayer to the Guider of our lives. The high-pitched, ambulance-like whine of a siren awakened Wade and me in the middle of the night. Our phones lit up red warnings of an impending tornado. In our unlit bedroom, we groped our way to a walk-in closet. Huddled on the floor, I frantically exchanged texts with our youngest daughter. Outside, the jagged edge of lightning ripped open the sky, hammered our metal roof with hail and drove the howl of the wind. All of us were fervently praying until our little
corner of the world became black and eerily silent.
Dawn uncovered the destruction in our neighborhood that is usually found in war
zones. The storm’s rage knocked over utility poles that left us in the dark. It mangled power and internet lines and strung them dangerously low across our road and blocked the only exit. Felled oak and pines barricaded a nearby street in both directions. Small branches, roofing, and yard waste littered everything. Even the gray clouds brooded over the scene.
Around the corner and a stone’s throw away, the tornado had yanked towering oaks from the ground and exposed their roots like those of an enormous clump of weeds. Lethal as loaded weapons, those trees crashed through the roofs of neighboring homes.
In our own backyard, the tornado twisted and splintered three large trees and slammed them on the ground. All of them fell parallel to our home, not on it. My husband’s workshop sustained some damage, but not our house. You’ll never convince me God didn’t steer away from us a potentially fatal hit.
We were told insurance would pay for only the damage to my husband’s shop and the bent-out-of-shape fence, not removal of the trees. I knew my Jesus would take care of it; He always provides our needs.
Later that same Wednesday morning, I posted pictures of the downed trees in our yard. Though I currently have only a small number of social media friends, word spread. We got Facebook responses, texts and calls from people offering assistance. None were of the insincere variety of, “Let’s do lunch sometime”. They all meant it and followed up.
One close friend graciously offered us her home until electricity was restored. Our youngest daughter consistently checked in with suggestions of things she could do for us. On Friday, most of Trinity Church’s pastoral staff and another church member showed up with chainsaws and strong backs to hack at the tree that dropped on the roof of the workshop. They also cleared some of the rubble. Our son-in-law brought a big tarp to cover the entire damaged area before forecasted rain arrived. Saturday brought a pastoral member and relatives who cleared more debris and
chainsawed a bit of wood that we can burn in our fireplace this winter. The worst of times brings out the best in the people who listen for His voice.
God is there in life changing, path changing or attitude changing times. There’s nothing we can’t speak to Him about. Yet when God grants you a favor (as Jellyroll named it), don’t forget to thank Him immediately for intervening on your behalf.
Since the Lord prevented the tornado from destroying our house – and our lives – we have sent up many thanks and told everyone who will listen that, “God is so good”. We are humbled knowing that He cups His hands beneath our hearts to capture the outpouring of our love. May our prayers of gratitude always outnumber those asking for anything. May we live in a perpetual state of thanksgiving for His mercy and grace.
TO BE CONTINUED
by Elaine Hall
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