GOD'S TIMING

by Barbara Chadwick

 

 Have you seen that plaque that says: Life is not measured by the breaths we take but by the MOMENTS that take our breath away.

We were going 40 miles per hour on highway 287. The snow was hurling at the windshield. It was hard to see then an 18 wheeler went around us kicking up more snow and blinding us even more. Suddenly we hit a patch of black ice. The right front wheel slipped off the pavement and as Kenneth pulled back onto the highway the car began fishtailing and he lost total control. The car careened into oncoming traffic – an 18 wheeler and several cars. I held my breath. I didn’t know a car could feel so fast at 40 mph!  Just two seconds before the car would have slammed into that truck it felt as if an unseen hand turned it away. I thought, “OK, so this is the way we’re going to die. At least we’re together!” The car turned almost180 degrees and we were looking back down the highway when the car turned again and we slipped out into the field! We saw and heard bushes slamming the sides of the car. I remember thinking, “Oh man, this is seriously going to scratch up this car!” It twisted and turned in the field then miraculously ended up back on the roadway going the right direction!!! We continued toward home – only going even slower.

At the meeting of Elders Kenneth had Just left they had prayed for God’s protection over us on the way home. We were totally thanking and praising God when we got home. We felt that we had been miraculously delivered. Tonight wasn’t our time to go to heaven.

In Mark chapter 4 we see the disciples being miraculously delivered: That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, "Let us go over to the other side."
Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him.
A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. *
Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, "Teacher, don't you care if we drown?"
He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, "Quiet! Be still!" Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.
He said to his disciples, "Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?"
They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!” (Mark 4:35-40)

*I wonder if the disciples thought, “OK, so this is the way we’re going to die!” 

By the way the next morning we couldn’t see any scratches on the car!

WORRY

By Barbara Chadwick

 

By jax I told Inez tha other day, “What if Gary was ta grow up and go off to war and git killed”  a neighbor of my husband’s family said with his long slow Arkansas drawl in speaking of his four year old son. His colloquialism brings a smile as does his worry.

When I think of some of the things I’ve spent hours worrying about, I also smile.

When we were first married, my husband, Kenneth, worked from 4PM to midnight. One night he came home and found me just bawling. He took me in his arms and asked, “What in the world is wrong?”  I said, hiccupping between sobs, “What if we have children and they have an accident and die?  What if they do something wrong and go to jail?  What if they can’t learn in school?”  All of the possible situations that could possibly come up with children seemed too mind boggling for my mind to consider. And truly it is.

We have assurance throughout the Bible that God cares for us. We read in Isaiah 53:4 – Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows.  

Over the years of our marriage I’ve worried about health issues, finances, where God would lead us next, our cars, how our house looked, how our clothes looked! If there is anything that could happen – well, you get the picture.  This is so human but Jesus says,  …do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink or about your body, what you will wear…  Matthew 6:25

One of President Lincoln’s quotes is, “To live continually in fear is to die over and over.”  It does not help us to worry. It does not make us taller or skinnier. It doesn’t make everything in life flow without a hitch. It does not facilitate the answer.

In my devotional book from a previous year I wrote, “When you’ve worried as hard as you can, your eyes hurt from crying, your heart feels like a piece of lead and you feel like you can’t breathe. When your heart aches and your soul feels deserted; when you’ve turned around and around and you feel like you’re spinning from unanswered questions. Turn to Jesus. He gives comfort, peace of mind, grace and love.”  Jesus said, Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God… John 14:1

Paul encourages us in Philippians 4:6, Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 

 

 

NOBODY'S WATCHING

By Barbara Chadwick

 

You can’t wait ‘til you get back to the trail head so you squat down in the forest and along come other hikers!

Drive 10 mph over the speed limit, come around a bend in the road and behold a trooper who has you in his radar!

There’s nobody in sight so you hike up your underwear. You look around, just in case, and there’s a guy behind a bush letting his dog go!

During a prayer at church you look back to see if your friend came and your eyes meet the eyes of a child watching you!

My husband, Kenneth, drove from Anchorage to Kenai and made a pit stop at a Quick Mart. In the bathroom a guy said, “Aren’t you that preacher I saw on TV?”  (He preached at First Baptist Church in Anchorage from time to time when the pastor was away. Their service is televised.)

We often think nobody’s watching us just when we realize that someone is. We also think our actions are invisible to God when we realize they are not.

Does He not see my ways and count my every step? Job 31:4

Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Hebrews 4:13

ARE YOU A HYPOCRITE OR WHAT?

by Barbara Chadwick

Recently I went to the emergency room.  During the time I was there and they were doing tests on me  EKG, blood test, etc. I couldn’t help hearing the conversation in the next cubicle. I was not trying to eavesdrop but the curtain was pretty thin!

The Dr. said, “You need to be careful about drinking alcohol. You’ve had two seizures in 24 hours. It would be a good idea to quit drinking altogether.”  He left and I heard her say, “I don’t want to quit drinking!”

Since that night I have thought about her statement several times and wondered what kind of woman  would not stop doing something that would ruin her health, to say nothing of her life.

I actually felt righteous. I would not drink alcohol and certainly would not continue to go against the Dr.’s orders.

So, my mind kept bringing that to my consciousness. Enough already!  Why must I keep remembering her? 

The Lord seemed to say to me, “What about all the cholesterol producing food you eat that the Dr. said you need to cut out?  What about the fact that you continue to eat when you’ve had enough? What about the time you spend playing computer solitaire that makes your hands hurt? What about the days you don’t exercise when the Dr. said you need to exercise six days a week? So are you a hypocrite or what?”

Jesus said,  Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye. Matthew 7:1-5