12/29/2020 0 Comments 12.29.20. Bigger than 911Everything was prepared for our Bible study’s Christmas potluck celebration. Guests were enroute, and we were ready: food and treats were plated, the outside house was brilliantly lit, and all candles were glowing. Firewood in hand, my husband began building our season’s first fire. However, he noticed an oddity in the fireplace. Stepping onto the back deck to examine the chimney from outside, he discovered FIRE--not smoke--spewing from the chimney. Instantly he was calling 911 just as the doorbell announced our first guest. While he hastily poured pitchers of water on the fire, I explained to guests the sirens they’d soon be hearing. Quickly, I donned my coat, and we headed to the front yard. As the sirens announced the first ladder truck’s arrival, our guests, freezing and wide eyed, clutched their crocks and plates of Christmas cookies while we stood outside to witness the show. Another ladder truck joined, and still another, and a rescue unit and squad cars. Why so many response vehicles? We marveled at the response and of the expertise of the protective equipment-clad professionals who entered and made their way to the attic to ensure fire containment while others outside extended ladders, climbed the roof, doused the fire, and found the culprit--a bird nest that had been established high inside the chimney. Debriefing after the fiasco, we asked the professionals why our 911 call had brought so many responders. Living in a SID that “no city claimed,” we were told, would bring vehicles from all surrounding areas. We’d made a call, and help had arrived immediately, in full force, more than we even needed. Through the years, I’ve experienced God answer my call for help on many occasions. It’s quite a promise He has provided! “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you.”(NIV) God helped the Israelites when facing a mighty impassable sea. Nehemiah 9:9,11a “You saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt, and heard their cry by the Red Sea”... “And You divided the sea before them, so that they went through the midst of the sea on the dry land.”(NKJ) He heard the cry of His people! Calling Peter from the boat, Jesus immediately answered Peter’s distressed cry for help. Matt.14:30,31a“But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying,‘Lord, save me!’And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him.”(NKJ) The psalmist’s words bring relief! Psalm 34:15 “The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their cry.”(NKJ) What a comfort! These words sung by Brian Cook tell of God’s help: “Whatever you face, just call on His name, and He will answer, for every problem you face, for every burden you bear.” He will answer my cry for help! I may receive a huge response on a 911 call, but I’m thankful that I have a God who is bigger than 911! --Linda Dunlap @ Lindadunlap.com
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8/11/2020 08.07.20 The Best and Worst of TimesYesterday yet another friend sent me this message: even though the current pandemic has caused pain and struggle for many, “this pandemic has been wonderful for us as a family unit.” Mixed messages? Maybe not. Maybe optimism. Sadly, we’ve seen numbers for thousands of tragic deaths due to COVID that have spread in a viral manner. We’ve known friends and neighbors who’ve suffered huge business and livelihood losses. We’ve watched numbers rising daily on the news. We’ve experienced greatly changed lifestyles due to restrictions. With gyms closed, though, more people have been taking walks, so everyone’s getting more exercise. More people have invested time playing family games and going on family bike rides. Kids have visited grandparents outside nursing home windows. People have been cooking more at home and eating dinner at the family table. Zoom calls have reconnected old friends. People have been more isolated, but people have also been more connected, spending more real time with each other. It is mixed, indeed. How bad are the times? But how good are the times? The opening lines “It was the best of times; it was the worst of times” penned by Charles Dickens in A Tale of Two Cities could be written about our time right now. While these contrasting thoughts present the conflict between prosperity and suffering in the book, they sort of describe how many of us feel today. When I think about the impossible situation our world seems to be facing, I am comforted in this: nothing has touched our lives that has escaped His eyes. God knows! I do know that He will work things for good. Romans 8:28 says “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose for them.”(NLT) The darkness of this present cloud can also present blessings. Genesis 50:20 shows the result of a situation that turned out differently than intended.“But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.”(NKJ) Yes, God can surely bring light into this and into any dark situation. Isaiah 45:7 says “I form the light and create darkness, I make peace and create calamity; I, the LORD, do all these things.”(NKJ) And, what joy to know that He gives me hope for the future. Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.”(NKJ) How reassuring, to know that God has an answer, a hope for us in this mess we face. He reminds me not to lose heart, for it is He that overcomes the world. So, I already know that it will be made right. Actually, He encourages me, in these times, to be lighter in heart. John 16:33 “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”(NKJ) Yes, I feel frustrated, and maybe at times a bit frightened. But I can examine this negative and realize it can also be a positive. And, I can rest in the fact that God has told us that He will overcome. How comforting! It may certainly feel like the worst of times, but, as Dickens said, it could also possibly be the best of times! I trust my God to take the bad and use it for good! --Linda Dunlap |
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Author: Linda Dunlap
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