I don’t know about you, but I’ve heard people say (a lot of times with the “rolling eyes look”) that God just isn’t same same God now as He used to be back in biblical times. This happens at times when I share with others how I believe God told me years ago that He was going to heal our son Jeffrey, but that He then told me “it wasn’t time yet.”
There have only been 2 times in my walk with Jesus that I have actually heard Him speak audibly with me. Normally it is through my quiet times of prayer or through reading His Word that I hear His still, small voice. However I did hear Him audibly that time (it was so loud to me that I actually turned and looked at my husband to see if He’d heard it – he hadn’t); and the other time was when my husband was out of town on a business trip years ago and I was home alone with our son Jeffrey who was still young and quite fragile.
We lived up in Washington state at that time, and severe winters were very rare. However a really bad snow/ice storm was headed our way, and as Jeffrey and I were settling in for our dinner I could hear the wind picking up, and the snow was starting to come down.
It was then, out of the blue, that I heard “get ready.”
Funny thing was – I actually knew exactly what He wanted me to “get ready” for! I got up from the table as Jeffrey was eating, and quickly rushed upstairs to pack a few clothes for both of us, as well as other personal items that I knew I would need. I believed in my heart that the Lord was telling me to leave our house before it got to the point where I wouldn’t be able to.
After getting our stuff packed, I called my sister who lived on the other side of town and asked if we could come stay with them for a day or so. I then quickly got Jeffrey ready, put him in his car seat, and drove cautiously on the already snowy streets to my sister’s house.
I heard later that all the power had gone at our home neighborhood, and was out for about 3 days! It would have been a dangerous and very difficult thing if I would have been at home alone with Jeffrey for that long without any electricity. I don’t know how I would have been able to keep him warm and safe for such a length of time without any help.
God is so good – all the time!
So back to my opening paragraph, why do people believe that our Jesus is any different now than He used to be? Why do we not believe that He still speaks to us? Why do we not believe that He still heals and still comforts and still cares for our every need?
Take a look at this beautiful waterfall displayed here. How did this come to be? Did it just pop out of some random cell and turn out this way? I don’t think so! This beauty was designed by our Creator – the same Creator who created the heavens and the earth back in Genesis 1.
Look at the placement of the waterfall. Look at the yellow flowers popping their heads up on the sides. Where did they come from? What about when you look up at the sky at a beautiful sunset, or at miraculous cloud formations? Oh Lord – forgive our disbelief!
The other day I was reading the January 2016 Decision magazine put out by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. In it I read an article about a beautiful young woman named Gianna Jessen who was born with cerebral palsy. When she was 12 years-old Gianna asked her adopted mom why she had to walk with a limp.
She had asked this question many times before, but this time her adopted mother opened up about her birth circumstances. It was through this that Gianna found out that her birth mother had actually tried to abort her via a saline infusion, but that she had lived. Hence her deformities. [Decision Magazine, January 2016, “Surviving the Scourge of Abortion” by Jerri Menges.]
Gianna testified that her prognosis was that she was never supposed to move, hold her head up, or walk, but that through the prayers of her adopted mother and grandmother – and God’s grace – she learned to walk with a brace at age 3.
However, here’s the kicker: Gianna testified that when she was only 4 years-old she accepted Jesus as her Savior, and she knew Jesus was the only One who could help her with her complicated life. She trusted Him from the very beginning and used to sing songs of praise and worship to Him, about how some day she was going to climb mountains!
God is faithful, and He always hears the prayers of His children. He does not change – He is the same God today that He has always been. Oh that we would remember that and trust Him. His ways and His timing are always best…
The God Of All Comfort 