Narrow Escapes are the Norm

Psalm 124: ¹ If the Lord had not been on our side—
    let Israel say—
² if the Lord had not been on our side
    when people attacked us,
³ they would have swallowed us alive
    when their anger flared against us;
⁴ the flood would have engulfed us,
    the torrent would have swept over us,
⁵ the raging waters
    would have swept us away.

⁶ Praise be to the Lord,
    who has not let us be torn by their teeth.
⁷ We have escaped like a bird
    from the fowler’s snare;
the snare has been broken,
    and we have escaped.
⁸ Our help is in the name of the Lord,
    the Maker of heaven and earth.

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Like Hollywood I “woke up” just in the nick of time as I drove my car off the expressway and onto an exit ramp! Another time my friend and I made it onto the bus just in the nick of time, as a fight broke out amongst the thugs the driver closed the door behind us. A speeding car almost crashed into mine once.  I was told not to travel the week prior to every plane being grounded due to terrorist attacks. The list goes on and on.

• People have said to me “You are lucky.”
• People have said to me “You have skill.”
• People have said to me “You must be living right.”

Life-threatening narrow escapes have happened to me many times throughout the years. Looking back, I don’t know that I have always been thankful.

• GOD wants me to acknowledge that HE was the one who brought me through all of my troubles.
• GOD wants me to recognize that only HE can protect me even in the direst situation.
• GOD wants me to open my mouth and praise HIM for the way HE is handling things during my trials, not after.

I love what the writer says “Our hope is in the name of the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.” Only HE can pull off safety and security. Nothing on this earth provides protection like GOD. HE breaks chains made by humans and enables freedom from traps.

• Are you waiting on your escape?
• Has it been prolonged?
• Will you praise GOD for taking HIS time?
• Can you recognize that GOD has given you your daily bread?
• Will you look back on your life to remember the narrow escapes HE provided you?

It Takes Time

1 Chronicles 4: ¹⁸ All these things that Solomon made amounted to so much that the weight of the bronze could not be calculated.

¹⁹ Solomon also made all the furnishings that were in God’s temple:

the golden altar;

the tables on which was the bread of the Presence;

²⁰ the lampstands of pure gold with their lamps, to burn in front of the inner sanctuary as prescribed;

²¹ the gold floral work and lamps and tongs (they were solid gold);

²² the pure gold wick trimmers, sprinkling bowls, dishes and censers; and the gold doors of the temple: the inner doors to the Most Holy Place and the doors of the main hall.

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Staring out the window I longed to be outside.  Why do I have to fill out this multiplication sheet for homework? It seems so repetitious! Can’t this just be done?! Can’t school just be done?

• Some things seem to take forever to me when I want them to be done.
• Some lessons seem to drag on and on to me when I want to be finished.
• Some parts of life seem to so slow when I want it to be fast.

It seems like the lessons I don’t enjoy take the longest and I this applies to more than education. I mean can’t GOD just hurry up and give me patience? I get so focused on where I think I should be that I can’t sit and wait on GOD’s pace for HIS deliverance. Oh, I believe HE can deliver, but why does HE take so long?

• GOD knows the plans HE has for me, plans to prosper me.
• GOD knows the exact day and time HE wants me to execute HIS plan.
• GOD knows the sin and times I truly worship HIM and HE has factored all of it in HIS great plan for me.

Looking back on times where things moved too fast, I realized I wish they hadn’t. When I got to the position or place, I wasn’t ready. All eyes were on me and I was making mistake after mistake. GOD knows when I am “ready” and HE takes HIS time preparing me daily. HE calms my anxieties and tells me to take one step at a time each day.

• Are you looking for “success” with anxiety?
• Do you think life will be so much better if “this thing” would happen?
• Can you stop looking at the future and enjoy where GOD has you today?
• Will you look at the training GOD is giving you today as an opportunity for HIM to make you great?
• Can you praise HIM for taking HIS time?

Be carried on HIS wings

Deuteronomy 32: ¹⁰ In a desert land he found him,

    in a barren and howling waste.
He shielded him and cared for him;
    he guarded him as the apple of his eye,
¹¹ like an eagle that stirs up its nest
    and hovers over its young,
that spreads its wings to catch them
    and carries them aloft.
¹² The Lord alone led him;
    no foreign god was with him.

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Sitting on the edge of my couch I wondered how I was going to succeed. I mean the letter from the university said I was no longer in the university and I had no backup plan. I went in and plead my case. Years later I graduated.

Sitting on another couch I wondered if I would ever leave the small town I worked in. I didn’t even know how to search for a job. Years later I moved to a large city with a wonderful job.

Sitting on yet another couch… (Apparently I do a lot of thinking on the couch) I pondered my future as I was out of work for the first time since I was 15. My entire identity was wrapped up in the corporate culture. Years later GOD directs my steps!

• Being in the desert doesn’t feel comfortable to me.
• Being in the desert doesn’t feel enjoyable to me.
• Being in the desert doesn’t feel wonderful to me.

Each time I have been in the “desert” I couldn’t see what GOD was doing. I felt abandoned and alone. BUT GOD always had something different in mind.

• GOD shields me from dangers I don’t even know about.
• GOD watches out for me in the middle of the desert as the apple of HIS eye.
• GOD catches me when I stumble and fall and carries me to new heights I would have never dreamt of.

GOD provides amazing rides. What seems like a desert is merely a training ground for bigger and better responsibility. My response to HIS training can grow me if I accept it.

• Are you in the middle of the desert?
• Do you feel a bit lost?
• Can you recognize that GOD is protecting you?
• Won’t you get rid of any anger and bitterness toward GOD and recognize HE is with you?