What Can Happen?

As the clouds roll in today and the heat wave dissipates, I am struck by how quickly our circumstances can shift. One day we are hot and frustrated and the next day a cool breeze siphons off our despair. What can happen within five seconds?
• An earthquake can level your home
• A stroke can leave you paralyzed
• A tractor trailer can swerve into your lane and flip over your car
• A scream can send you running for cover
• A bullet can sever your carotid artery
• A kiss can take your breath away
• A note can give you fresh hope
• A chance meeting can bring employment
• Eyes meet and you find your prince charming
• An inspired thought gives you purpose
• A prayer…
Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops. (James 5:17-18 NIV)

While I Was Sleeping

The other night I was sleeping soundly and in the middle of a stirring dream when I was suddenly startled by a voice at three in the morning. My eyes popped open but I cannot say I was fully awake. The voice was resounding and quickening, as stark as a thick black line drawn across a pure white paper. All that was said was, “What is strong enough to pull a great weight and too weak to stand on its own?” Nothing more was said and no answer given in an audible way. Now this was a strange and maybe even juvenile riddle except for one rather provocative part of the moment. The solution came to me immediately and I knew I was right…A String.

Now what was the point of this odd “word” and did it mean something for me? Again I knew exactly what I was to glean from the riddle almost as instantly as it was given. “YOU are strong but YOU cannot stand on your own. “ God’s call to me was the demand that I pray and pray with MUCH greater fervency, for though I may do much, I cannot stand on my own. Admittedly this may sound a bit, or even quite odd when you read this but it was as certain a word from God as I can confess hearing and although it did come as I was sleeping, the voice was distinctly “audible” and unmistakable.