There are many strange, weird, and evil experiences that occurred in my life. Experiences I choose not to talk about. I only know one solution that always works for me. That is to say the small simple prayer, “God”. Sometimes I whisper it. Sometimes I yell as though God is far away in heaven and I need to yell to be heard. Only to hear the reply, “I can hear you. You do not need to yell,” God has a sense of humor, and he knows how ridicules we can be.
God also knows the best solution. The best choice. The best way to get through whatever is happening. I pray “God”, like a small child crying to daddy. If evil is chasing me, I simply pray and then choose which what looks best in the moment. No debating. no second guessing. Just choose a direction and run in that direction. It may sound naïve or ridiculous, but it has worked more times than I can count.
In my morning prayers, I frequently ask God to protect me and help me make the right decisions. I even say that if I run in the wrong direction He should, please, put an obstacle in front of me. A few weeks ago, I wanted to ask a church member to help me with a project I was planning. I did not know if God wanted me to do it, or if it was a project I talked myself into. The church member was standing in church talking to others. I walked up behind him and opened my mouth to say his name. Before I could pronounce his name or touch his shoulder, he turned abruptly and walked away, for no apparent reason. Yes, I prayed before that my project would only work if it was what God wanted. The church member’s abrupt departure answered my question. Did God want me to do this, no he did not.
So, what about persistence? What about determination? In Africa a local church asked me to create and teach many churches how to help orphans and vulnerable children. In that part of Africa, one third of 15-year-olds were expected to die of AIDS before reaching 30 or 40 years old. Orphans and vulnerable children were becoming a serious concern for the poor communities where I lived and worked.
I said “no, I don’t know how to do that”. The church’s pastor persisted in asking me several times. His persistence caused me to change my mind. I began working on a project where I had knowledge but no experience in the presentation of the knowledge. Over several weeks, I found several libraries with books I needed. I found a few books on my bookshelf. I began to form ideas of how the local culture taught and presented information. I was doing these things on a small scale for over three years. Now, I needed to pull together all my experience and knowledge to create a two-week workshop for fifty church members. It felt overwhelming. But doors began to open in front of me. Information needed was suddenly available. Techniques to present information developed in my head. I was working with poor rural people. People from multiple churches. Some who did not speak English. I did not speak the local language well enough.
But I wrote skits to be acted out. I drew pictures on large sheets of paper. I gave out large sheets of paper for groups to brainstorm and present their ideas. When examples of good and bad communications skills were needed, I took my TV and VCR to the church with recordings of the most popular show in the area. The American soap opera Days of Our Lives. I taught them how to make glue from flour and water. I taught them how to make puzzles from empty detergent boxes.
It worked amazingly well. There is no doubt in my mind that God was in the project. This was not something I knew how to do. This was something I learned to do. God was there pointing, controlling my gaze, giving ideas. He cared for the orphans and vulnerable children. He wanted the churches to have hope that there are ways to help. God used my initial reluctance to create a two-week workshop with books full of notes, for people to take home. It is still one of my proudest accomplishments. I call it my accomplishment because God is generous and he let me do the work. In the middle of my doubts and reluctance, God blessed me.
There are many near-death experiences in my life. The earliest was when I was a five-year-old. I went across the street to visit the older woman who lived there. She was probably younger than I am now, but everyone seems old to a five-year-old. After the visit, I left and started running full speed down her drive planning to dash across the street into my yard and home. Suddenly, I tripped and fell prostrate on the concrete drive. Raising my head, I saw a car driving past me. The car which would have run me over had I continued running. I felt no pain when hitting the concrete. There were no cuts or bruises. There was nothing in the drive to trip me.
I stood up and looked both ways before walking across the street and into my home’s backdoor. I told my mom. She thought it must have been a guardian angel who saved me. A new concept for me. I knew about God but not about God’s protection and concern for our wellbeing.
I have been shot by a gun in a foreign country with nothing but my wits and God to help me find safety. I have felt a gun barrel in my back while a needle was stuck in my arm as two men tried to kidnap me. Experienced a dislocated leg and a dislocated arm on separate occasions. I was stabbed in the back. I was locked in a foreign prison with no food or water and little clothing in winter. I worked with a woman who grabbed me from behind and dug her keys into my temple. On a Saturday a woman from work whom I did not know showed up in my drive with a gun planning to shoot me. I’ve been protected by FBI agents while several men kept appearing trying to kill me. I woke up in the middle of the night to see a man standing near me pointing a gun at me. I have been depressed and suicidal. I have been furious with God for not fixing things and yelled at Him my opinion of His actions or lack of actions. Things in this paragraph I do not talk about. They are too difficult for me to discuss.
As a teenager, I watched my father suffer from the consequences of stomach cancer, and addiction to pain killers. I struggled to understand my mother’s mental problems. I went on a rafting trip only to end up in rushing waters partially stuck under the raft. My bottom was beating against a rock.
I have NEVER suffered damage from a hurricane, tornado, flood, fire, or earthquake. I have NEVER felt afraid to walk down my street due to gang violence, drug use, or homelessness. I have NEVER suffered from a serious or prolonged illness, disability, or poverty. I have NEVER been physically abused by a family member. I have NOT experienced the death of a child, spouse, or close friend. I am NOT part of the of the 388 million Christians being persecuted worldwide in 2026.I have NOT suffered as Paul did in 2 Corinthians 11.
I consider myself blessed to reach this point in my life. God is with me always. Even in my anger and rebellious behavior. I am one of many in this world. I knew a woman at my church who developed cancer in her thirties. She died from cancer. I sat beside her at a church camp while she spoke to a pastor. She said she has grown very close to God during her ordeal. She would accept the cancer for the privilege of her close relationship with God rather than live cancer free and distant from God. I heard another woman speak at a breakfast meeting. She worked at a rape counseling, education, and resource center. She was raped several years previously, which started her on the journey of creating the rape center. She said the rape was a good thing. Not the rape itself but the change that occurred to her as she recovered and dealt with the emotional trauma. It led her to a new and more meaningful life.
I have studied the book of Job from the Bible. It begins with a description of Job’s righteousness. His wealth. His ten children. His concerns that his children live justly before the Lord. Then it says this.
6 One day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them. 7 The Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from?” Satan answered the Lord, “From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it.” 8 Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.” 9 “Does Job fear God for nothing?” Satan replied.
Satan accuses Job of being righteous only because Job was blessed by God. Satan challenges God to remove Job’s blessing so the real man will be revealed. God gives satan permission to do harm to Job. When Job has lost his children, his wealth, and all he possesses he sits in sack cloth and ashes. His friends come to console him but choose to accuse him of being guilty of something which caused this to happen. Job denies being guilty. Finally, Job decides to take this up with God himself. Job lays out his case. In chapter 38-41 God gives His answer. But God does not explain His actions towards Job, rather God explains to Job who God is and how great His power is, and unfathomable His ways are. In chapter 42 Job replied.
Then Job replied to the Lord:
2 “I know that you can do all things;
no purpose of yours can be thwarted.
3 You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?’
Surely I spoke of things I did not understand,
things too wonderful for me to know.
4 “You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak;
I will question you,
and you shall answer me.’
5 My ears had heard of you
but now my eyes have seen you.
6 Therefore I despise myself
and repent in dust and ashes.”
In Handle’s Messiah the aria I Know My Redeemer Liveth was written to describe Job’s attitude towards God in Job 19:22-27
We always want answers. We want explanations. We want to understand why we suffer. Why sickness and death occur early in life. Why can’t everything be nice and comfortable and loving? Many people read the Bible and see the verses about God’s care and concern. Jesus heals, feeds, teaches, and loves us. If we had Jesus’ power, we would never let natural disasters harm and kill innocent children. If we had God’s power and wisdom, we would commit Satan and all the demons to the fiery pit so that evil would not exist. We would, We really would.
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
Jesus replied, “You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God.
Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!
We are not to cherry pick verses from the Bible. But the verses above are very disconcerting. Yes, God loves us. But there is more happening on earth than we understand. God created this world along with Adam and Eve putting them in the garden of Eden. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. They were instructed to not eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil because this would bring death into the world. This death is separation from God.
Humanity was given a choice, as a child is given a knife to use to cut food for nourishment or to harm himself and others. Since that first day in the Garden of Eden humanity has continued to make that choice. As a result of Adam and Eve’s poor choice the world was cursed by God. Genesis 2 & 3.
But more than humanity, there is satan and a third of the angels in heaven which revolted against God and were cast down to the earth.
12 How you have fallen from heaven,
morning star, son of the dawn!
You have been cast down to the earth,
you who once laid low the nations!
13 You said in your heart,
“I will ascend to the heavens;
I will raise my throne
above the stars of God;
I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly,
on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon
We are living in this world where we must make choices between good and evil. Where satan and demons also live to entice us to turn us away from God and towards our pride and egos. For this reason, Jesus was born and lived 2-thousand-years ago. He died on the cross as an atonement for our sins. He was raised from the dead to life eternal. He sent the Holy Spirit to live among us and to dwell inside us that we may have the very power of God working in us to help us turn to God and His ways.
We live in the middle of an epic battle between our choices and satan’s temptations. God is all powerful and willing to help but we must choose to accept His help. The battle on earth is ours to fight. God sacrificed His son, Jesus to forgive us and give us all we need to fight and win the battle.
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
We do not know why God allows the battle to continue. But we can be assured that the battle between God and satan is over. God is the victor. God is more powerful than anything and everything. God is with us in the battle if we choose to follow Him. If we choose to trust and obey His commands. This is not an easy task. We cannot relax and let the world continue the battle. We must spend time with Jesus in prayer and Bible study. We must gather and praise God. Tell each other of His glories. We must seek His wisdom, knowledge, leadership, and strength.
We must take time to ask God about ourselves. What is inside me that I should put down? What should I pick up? What should I do today? Who can I show your love to today? We are not to judge and condemn the world. We are to love the people around us. To teach them about Jesus’ saving grace. To help them in their journey or battle.
18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. 19 Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.
When Paul says to pray for ME, I would change that to pray for each other. To pray for family, neighbors, towns, cities, states, and nations. To pray for churches, and ministries. To pray for people on the news. Pray for elected officials and government workers. Pray for medical workers and hospitals. Pray for anyone or any problem in your world or in the world of others. Just keep praying.