Today's Devotional

January 10, 2005

Subject:  Facing The Tsunamis

Isaiah 43:2 - "When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee."

Amidst all of the stories coming out of the Tsunami-torn region of Southeast Asia comes one from a minister in a local church in Sri Lanka.  As the huge wave began to bear down on the beach and his small home and parish, he gathered his family and did the opposite of what most people would think to do.  The family owned a small boat with an outboard motor on it.  As he put it, "the motor had never ever started on the first try."  However, on this particular occasion it did.  So they hopped in the boat, started it and realizing that they had no hope of outrunning the wave, the minister with all of his family in the small boat, decided to turn toward the wave.  The boat was able at the precise moment to get atop the wave and there they rode it out.  

This story of death-defying heroism is not without precedent for men and women of God.  Abraham, Moses, Daniel, Esther and many others all faced what appeared to be certain death and emerged unharmed from great calamity.  These things were written and have been shown to us today, so that we might believe that we can face the Tsunamis of life and emerge unharmed.  A wave of debt, relationship problems, career problems and despondency over life can drown us, toss us to and fro and leave us battered on the shores.  But God has promised us that when we trust in Him, we will have the ability like the family in the small boat, to face the Tsunami and ride the waves of life that could have killed us.  

 If you're running today and it appears that you'll be crushed by the wave, turn and face it in the name of Jesus.  When we pass through the waters, He is with us. 

Carlen