Pearls in a Nutshell

God's Creative Witness    

 This is my least favorite month, because not only is it the end of a 'flower season' but it is also the month of my least favorite day - Halloween.  

A verse came to my mind from Isa. 59:19 - the words are on the image below.  It is such a comforting promise -- the enemy can do what the enemy can and will do, but God is watching and He will lift up a 'barrier' that the enemy cannot cross.  Satan can only go so far, before God says, "Thus far, and no farther."   This is the same God that set the borders of the ocean when He created the world.  If He can command the seas, the enemy is no threat at all!  

 


I came across something I wrote quite a few years ago, but in rereading it I thought it worth sharing again, if just to encourage us to pray for our grandchildren. . We sometimes despair praying for loved ones that do not know God and I think the story below proves that God knows how to get someone's attention. 

I was reading Habakkuk 2 this morning and was struck by one of the verses that reminded me of an experience my granddaughter shared with me.
The verse is Habakkuk 2:14 which says.."For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea."   

What part of the sea is not covered with water ?  It is not even a question, is it...there is no place the water does not cover!  It flows to the lowest places and spreads as far as the borders of the sea reach.
I thought of the fact that  as I pray for loved ones that do not yet know the Lord, I often pray that God will use whatever He can to bring Himself into their thoughts or awareness.

How creative God can be in His reaching out into people's lives was brought home to me by the following story told to me by my granddaughter. who was about 18 at the time. 

My granddaughter and her friend were enjoying time together at a local lake, sitting on the pier as they chatted with one with another.
The friend was recently baptized, having given her life to the Lord.  My granddaughter told me how much she had changed. Although she no longer did drugs nor kept company with her old friends who did, they still sought her out begging her to hang out with them.

As they sat on the pier, two of these friends happened by and greeted their old friend saying, "Let's hang out together!"   Without waiting for an invitation, the two girls joined my granddaughter and her friend on the pier.  They pulled out their drugs and started smoking them.  My granddaughter's friend said, "Let's just leave", and she and my granddaughter walked away.
A short distance later, my granddaughter realized she had left her cell phone on the pier, and turned to go back.  Her friend protested .. "No, I don't want to go back!"   and on impulse took out her own cell phone and said... "Here, let me call your cell to see if it really is still on the pier."
My granddaughter's friend's name is Christa and  when she calls my granddaughter the display screen identifies her as 'Christ', my granddaughter purposely having left off the letter 'a'. 
No one answered the cell and Christa  reluctantly agreed to go back to the pier to  retrieve the cell.    Approaching the spot on the pier where they had sat, the other two  girls were still  there, still smoking pot.  My granddaughter noted that one of them had my granddaughter's cell phone in her hand staring down at it .  Looking up at my granddaughter when she and Christa approached, she asked,   "Is this your phone ??  It says that Christ is calling!"
My granddaughter and her friend immediately confirmed .. "Yes, that is so true !! Christ really IS calling YOU!"  

I wonder if that young girl had a grandmother who was concerned for her  and was  praying for God's influence to be brought across her path.
I love how God will use whatever He can to influence someone to know that He IS calling them - calling them because He loves them and desires them to be saved. 
Especially, this month, when the enemy is celebrating evil and ugly, let us pray for protection over the children that God will hold His hand between them and any tricks of the enemy to draw them aside.