Good Morning!
Okay … who left the freezer door open yesterday? Wow! What a contrast a few days can make in
January. Thursday I am playing golf in
my shirt-sleeves … Monday I am wondering how many layers I will need to stay
warm when walking to the car. Brrrr!!!
I want to offer a word of praise to our
Father, God, this Good Morning. Every
third Saturday of the month, Helen First gives away food to people in need in
White County Georgia. The amount of food
a person receives is dependent upon family size … 2 or fewer in a family is one
unit; 3 to 5 receives 2 units, more than 5 receives 3 units. Saturday, we distributed 121 units of food to
folks. But the praise belongs to God. If you remember, the weather for Saturday
called for rain with temperatures hovering in the mid-thirties. And we did have rain on Saturday … but not until
after the food was distributed. God is
so good.
Speaking of rain, I am reminded of the time
that Elijah faced off with the prophets of Baal. The story is found in 1st Kings 18. In summary, it had not rained in Samaria for three
years … and things were looking pretty bleak – no food to eat, no water to
drink. The reason it hadn’t rained was because
God was punishing Israel for worshipping Baal … the chief culprits being King
Ahab who was influenced by his wife, Jezebel.
They were so bad that King Ahab was killing any prophet of God he could
find. So, God SENDS Elijah to confront
Ahab!!! Long story short, Ahab doesn’t
kill Elijah but accepts a contest between Elijah and 450 prophets of Baal. Despite all their antics, the poor old prophets
of Baal could not get God to accept their offering. Elijah, on the other hand, poured water all over
his offering … and God sent fire to accept the sacrifice. Elijah won … and shortly thereafter, God sent
rain to replenish the ground.
When I was a youth (okay, we are talking 50
plus years ago), I was a student counselor at Camp Joyful Baileywick. One of
our church members at Druid Hills Presbyterian Church offered their summer
retreat home in north Atlanta for us to have a children’s summer camp for two
weeks. The last Friday was a sleep-over with a big campfire. The student counselors reenacted the story. Of course, we used kerosene for water and a roll
of toilet paper for the fire from heaven, so it was quite a display.
What is my point for today? Why can I give God praise for holding off the
rain Saturday? Isn’t it just a coincidence … a point of nature? Well, our church has been giving out food for
five years. In the five years, there have been many Saturdays where rain has
been in the offing … and we have yet to have a rain-out. We did have one instance where there was some
ice and the food truck couldn’t make it … but that is the only instance in five
years where we could not keep our commitment to the people in need in White
County. In that situation, we held the
food distribution the next week.
Sometimes the miracles from God go unnoticed because
we fail to be aware of His hand moving in our midst. Spend a few minutes
this good day thinking about how God has blessed you in small ways as well as big
ways. And then, spend even more time in
prayer and praise.
Agape’
Mr. Jim
Prayer: Open my eyes … illumine me, dear Father
God, so that I might give You the praise that You deserve for Your great love
for me. Teach me to be sensitive to Your working in my life each day. Give me the
words to express my gratitude for You. In
the precious Name of Jesus. Amen.
Scripture for today: 1st Kings 18
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