Saturday, July 12, 2014

The last Resort? or Our First line of Offense?

Today a friend brought me to a mall about an hour from our homes and before we headed home we stopped for bite in the food court.  At a table maybe 30 feet from where we were sitting were a man and two young boys. My guess was that the boys were between the ages of 12-14. The man was obviously furious,  his  face was red and he was clearly livid about something.  Whatever it was, it could in no way have warranted the man's behavior.  He slammed his hand on to the table and grabbed one boy by the arm...The taller of the two boys began to cry, obviously distraught by the behavior of the man.  At one point the man raised his eyes and his eyes met mine. I made no effort to pretend I was not staring. I hoped that my eye contact would  slow him down a little but his rage was already boiling and a little cool water was not going to change the temperature.
 
My friend and I finished our meal and put our garbage into a receptacle and headed out to the parking lot. My friend helped me from the wheelchair to the car and put in our packages....I reclined the seat and  my thoughts were, for once, more distressing than was my pain.  I kept seeing the young boy wiping away tears that just kept coming.  I wondered,  what was this maniac going to do to those two boys once he was away from my stares and the protection of the crowd?  I felt so helpless.   Suddenly,  AHAAA. "We could pray for those boys" I told my friend.  

 So I began to pray out loud.  That God would put a hedge of protection around  those boys. I prayed that the man would encounter a Christian who would begin to break down his walls of fury.  My friend and I , after we both had prayed, talked about the delay of our prayers. Why wasn't that the very first  thing I thought of ? Why did I feel helpless when truly I had at my fingertips all of the angels of heaven and the God of mercy who commanded those heavenly  troops.    They had the power to stop the man dead in his tracks should he try to harm those youngsters.

For Such a Time as this....
Those were the words of Mordachai  to his niece , Esther, who was the favorite of the King's wives as she was prepared to make an attempt to stop the mass murders which would likely obliterate the Jews living in this land where they' d been brought as slaves following the fall of Jerusalem.   Esther had no way of knowing the outcome of her request a head of time.  It could have actually led the king to kill her for her brazenness in approaching him without being summoned.  For such a time as this.  Have you ever witnessed a tragedy?  For example 9/11.  I'm sure that many prayers were offered up for relatives and friends who were in the Twin Towers that fateful day. But what about  when you hear on the TV about a fire in which some people were killed or badly burned.  Do you pray for those survivors?  What about when an ambulance whizzes by your car.  Do  you pray  for the inhabitants of that emergency vehicle?

I've made an attempt to keep my prayer antennae up....alerting me to prayer needs.
For example, have you heard of the pesticide used commonly in the US that is killing  our bee population by the billions?  The effects of these mass deaths is phenomenal.   ALL of our fruits and vegetables will bud and flower...and then die without the bees to spread the pollen to turn the flower into an edible item. This one fact alone can cause horrible famine.....and it is so simple to head off...as the Europeans have done by restricting the use of this pesticide.  So, if you are like me, you hear something  like that and a thread of fear runs through your heart....but what comes next? Do you drop to your knees and plead with the Father to cause the powers that be, to turn their attention to the problem and do what needs to be done to save the bee population?  When you watch the news,  does your heart sink or rage as the stories unfold?   Do you watch the news on your knees? And go to bed with a heart at peace?  Or are you upset, that old ulcer waking up and beginning to remind you that it's there?

Friend..do you know that you are a warrior for the Prince of Peace and the Lord Almighty Creator God?  Do you recognize and accept your mission here on this planet?  We are like Superman...walking around in "plain clothes" but inside us beat the  hearts of  warriors. Inside us  lie the powers to which we have access  which can solve problems and  wreak justice on this sinful planet. Do you hear of a mass murderer like Son of Sam running around causing  panic and havoc? Well, just as some people prayed for David Berkowitz ...these are unregenerate souls which need a savior.  When we get to heaven, we will meet David Berkowitz and meet the warrior who won the battle for his soul.
Not every assignment is yours to take....but when you see something. When you feel a tug on your heart as I did today...PRAY PRAY .......PRAY!!
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