Sad Story... Again

Well, this is the third sad story I have in a row. The only thing is that it is only sad for others. You see, I got myself married to the most BEAUTIFUL and WONDERFUL and GRACIOUS woman in the entire world! And that happened 9 years ago on this day! It's great for me, but sad for all the other guys in the world because she's all mine! :)

Anyway, I love you, Sarah. Happy Anniversary!

Follow Up on the Sad Story

2 Kings 1:3 But the angel of the LORD said to Elijah the Tishbite, Arise, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria, and say unto them, Is it not because there is not a God in Israel, that ye go to enquire of Baalzebub the god of Ekron?

Today's post is a follow up on yesterday's. You can find that here, although more importantly would be to read the original story here. Oh, and by the way, here is Seth's take on the story too.

The verse I added above, in 2 Kings 1, was the result of a king that fell down and got hurt. So, what was the king's reaction? He went to enquire of Baalzebub whether or not he was going to make it through the sickness. Elijah comes to meet the messengers that King Ahaziah sent, and he basically says to them, "You go up to find your help from other places, because you do not have a God."

What does Elijah and Ahaziah have to do with this little girl that died? Probably nothing, but I would like to bring to light an issue that I believe we many times neglect. The parents of this girl were trusting God for the healing of their daughter. God does still heal. He has not stopped being the Great Physician. Ahaziah failed to look to God for his problems, and God was quite displeased. This family believed they were faithfully looking to God, and yet their daughter died. What do we do?!

Well, let me first give you a test, I would probably fail this test, but here goes: You and your child are riding your bikes down the street. The kid hits a bump, and falls into traffic and is hit by a car. You get up to him and see that he is bleeding and unconscious. What is your first reaction?

Call 911?
Call out to God?

Ahaziah called 911. This family called out to God.

Now, lest any of you think I am trying to defend this family's actions, I am not. I take my children to the doctors (well, usually Sarah does). However, if my first response to sickness is, alright we better go get them checked out, instead of asking for God's mercy, then my outlook is skewed. God surely did give man the understanding and knowledge of the human body and of medicine. If we are to think that man came up with medical knowledge on by himself, then we fail to really understand man's utter dependence on God. It may be God had already answered that family's prayer years earlier when he let the doctors discover the cure for that little girl's problem.

In summary: We need to look to God for our help, and not to ourselves. It would be great if we were in so close communion with God at all times that of course we would seek God first. However, God has already provided so much in His love, and we should be aware of it.

Just a thought...

Sad Story

Read the news story here:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,352949,00.html

I don't know what to say about that story. It is devastating to me. Were they wrong, biblically, to take the stance they did?

This story breaks my heart. Well, apparently I don't have any thoughts on this - what do you, my fearless readers think of it?

Judah

Genesis 29:35 And she conceived again, and bare a son: and she said, Now will I praise the LORD: therefore she called his name Judah; and left bearing.

It almost seems to me that God was trying to get Leah to this point of where, having conceived her fourth son, she finally quit looking at herself and decided to just praise the Lord. Ends up that this son, Judah, was the one from whom the Messiah was to come.

That was what I read on Saturday morning before going out street preaching. We had a great time in down town Rochester. I watched 16 year old Mike Ireland preaching like his dad. We got out a ton of tracts. Oh, and the weather was just incredible! I met a man from the Congo that was interested in learning the Bible more (I gave him NSBI info).

My favorite though was when I preached near the Liberty Pole. I was just outside the bus stop and I started preaching. To my utter amazement, people actually listened this time! There were probably 4 or 5 people just looking at me the whole time, apparently listening. I even had an Amen from one of them at the end! Well, maybe two or three minutes later, I was off handing out tracts, and one of the ladies that was listening, with her two little boys, came over to me and asked if she could get "one of those pamphlets." I didn't get a chance to talk with her any more, but certainly the Lord was working on her heart! Praise Him!

Judah: Now will I praise the LORD!

Just a thought...