Grains of Sand

Google Images Most people who are familiar with the stories of the Bible know about Gideon and his three hundred (Judges 7). In yesterday’s post I revisited Gideon’s call to lead God’s army against the Midianites (Judges 6). The reluctant warrior might have been encouraged by the thirty-two thousand men he had command of—though the Midianites are described in the chapter as “t hick as locusts. Their camels could no more be counted than the sand on the seashore " (7:12). After Gideon got finished counting to, say, sixty-three thousand four hundred and fifty-two, he may have had second thoughts about just how big his army really was! And then God said: “ You have too many men for me to deliver Midian into their hands. In order that Israel may not boast against me that her own strength had saved her, announce to the people… ” (7:2, 3). Anyone who was afraid got to go home and Gideon was left with 10,000 men. Logically we would have thought that ten thousand men beating a much sup...

Google Images The water was rough, the waves high, and the rowing was difficult. When the situation didn’t seem like it could get any worse, “ they saw Jesus approaching ” (John 6:19). Jesus had sent His disciples away, commissioned to cross the lake while He retreated to talk to His Father. The wind came up. It was dark. The Master wasn’t with them and the circumstances threatened to overwhelm them. Then...” they saw Jesus approaching .” As soon as the Lord stepped into the boat, they were “ immediately ” on shore (6:21). They were safe. Another interesting little detail appears in these few verses. When the disciples first saw Jesus they were frightened. After all, they hadn’t expected to see Him walking on water! But when they recognized Him, “ they were willing to take him into the boat ” (6:21). In the middle of the storm, they needed to see Jesus, they needed to be willing to put aside their fear and take Him into the boat. Only they could they feel the solidness of land unde...

Google Images Today marks the anniversary of the Halifax Explosion in 1917 that killed thousands of people and leveled a good part of the city. ( http://daisiesfrommymeadow.blogspot.ca/2012/11/90435.html ). After the disaster the good people of Boston Mass. sprang to the rescue and rushed supplies and personnel to Halifax to help. Since that time, and in gratitude for what the citizens of Boston did, Halifax sends them a giant tree every year for their Christmas celebrations. Some unwise decisions taken by a sea captain in 1917 brought disaster down on the heads of Haligonians. There are times when the unwise, and sometime nasty, decisions of others cause us a lot of grief too. I was reminded of this truth this morning as I created a new blog for my Spanish-speaking friends. I used a meditation from my book Diseño Divino Para la Vida Diaria , to launch the blog. Today’s reading was from Acts 27 and described Paul’s sea voyage to Rome. God wanted Paul in Rome but the apostle warned ...