imperfect body, on an imperfect earth; yet His work is always perfect. God never wastes any situation that is backed up by prayer if it is within the circle of His will. When my husband would collapse on the bed after a day of fishing, I resented the fact that the children and I would be deprived of his companionship on week ends to come, for there seemed to be no end to Bill’s desire to fish. It was too hard to hold my tongue completely, so I went to the Lord with all my hot words. “ Dear Lord,” I would pray, “ it isn’t fair that we have to stay home every week-end and are never able to be with Bill. Please make him see that we need him!” On the following Sunday, Bill decided to again re place Christ with fishing. I knew he felt it was wrong, because he made promises to me concerning the coming week-end that I knew he would not keep. After he left, I asked the three children to kneel with me in prayer. “ Let’s ask Jesus to bring daddy home early, shall we?” I felt my heart long even more for God’s intervention as each of the children expressed their request concerning the places they wanted their father to take them. Their high-pitched, childish voices, with such simple directness, made me feel that God would surely honor my little children’s prayers. Secretly, I prayed that God would make fishing a moderate recreation and not something that took my husband over completely. All Sunday morning I was between hope and despair, until I remembered one of Bill’s previous fishing trips. I recalled beseeching the Lord to bring him home to me—and the Lord did! My husband and his friend were to meet on a well- known street in our town. Bill waited for an hour but his friend did not come. Thinking that he was sick, or a more important event had come up, Bill came home. When he went to work on Monday his friend asked him why he hadn’t appeared. When they compared streets, they discovered that they had chosen an address which was identical in two towns. They were sitting waiting, less than three miles apart, on streets with exactly the same name. Bill thought it was a natural mistake, but I believed God was showing him that we needed him. With this incident in mind, my faith was strong in God’s persuasive power. As the children and I were eating lunch, the tele phone rang. Bill was on the other end of what seemed to be a very bad connection. “ Honey, I don’t want you to be scared or anything. I’m calling from an Indian Reservation. I had an acci dent. I guess only the Lord kept us from getting hurt. I’m all right, so don’t worry. I’ll be home as soon as I can get there.” I sat down automatically on the davenport, wonder ing what Bill was talking about. A flash of understand ing lit my heart with hope as I remembered our morn ing prayer. Later, with Bill safely home, I discovered our peti tions had been answered with swiftness that was almost uncomfortable to contemplate. Bill and his friend were headed toward a govern ment lake which was out of bounds for fishing. The fish were simply boiling in the water, hungry and ready to be caught. The temptation to trespass had proven too much for Bill when he visualized all those big, scrappy fish. He and his friend started down what they called, “ Devil’s Grade.” A narrow, twisting, deeply-banked trail, which in some places was almost a sixty-degree descent; it was rightly named. About half-way down to the lake, Bill discovered to his dismay, that the brakes had gone out on the car. JUNE, 1966
As the car gained speed, he tried to side-swipe the bank to slow himself down. He was pretty successful, but he hit the bank a little too hard, and the car rolled over, catching on fire. Bill yelled that his foot was caught in the door. His friend slashed the laces on his boot, freeing Bill. Bruised, scratched, his ankle sprained, Bill hobbled to the trunk to retrieve his fishing tackle. It was too late; already it was on fire. The heat from the flames even melted the paint on his lures in his tackle box. There was not one pole worth saving. I didn’t have much to say as Bill filled me in on the events of the day. I would have liked to tell him the part of the story that he didn’t know, but I was checked by the Holy Spirit. I knew immediately it would be terribly wrong to attempt to finish with the human mind a work begun by the Holy Spirit. Later that evening, Bill sat down beside me and asked, “ Did you pray for me today?” “ Yes, I did, Bill; do you know that I love you very much, and that the children get lonely for you on week-ends ?” A small, crooked grin was lost as it broadened into a smile, “ Yes, I know you love me. The kids asked me when I was going to take them to the zoo. When I questioned them about their request, they said they TEN WANTED MEN 1. The man who puts God's business above any other business. 2. The man who brings his children to church rather than sending them. 3. The man who is willing to be the right example to every boy he meets. 4. The man who thinks more of the church service than he does his Sunday sleep. 5. The man who measures his giving by what he has left rather than by the amount he gives. 6. The man who goes to church for Christ's sake rather than only for himself or someone else. 7. The man who has a passion to help rather than be helped. 8. The man who has a willing hand rather than a brilliant mind. 9. The man who can see his own faults before he sees the faults of others. I 0. The man who is more concerned about winning souls for Christ than he is about worldly honor. — Selected all asked God to make me come home early so I’d take them somewhere, and then they told me God answered their prayers. I guess I’m signed up for next Saturday.” I pulled him over to me and put his head in my lap. He looked up at me with a serious expression on his face. “You know, Honey, I’m awfully glad you don’t sulk and get mad when I go fishing. I really appreciate it. I don't think I’ll go as often as I have been lately. The kids get lonesome. . . .” “ And I do too,” I murmured fervently. “ I’ll make you a promise,” Bill continued, “ I’ll take you and the kids some place two Saturdays a month. I may take you out more often than that, but if I have an opportunity to go fishing on Saturday, twice a month, I’ll take it. After this I’m going to take my family to Church every Sunday.” “ A very nice offer, my dear, I accept,” I replied, feeling the gratitude that springs from praise well up in my heart. Bill continued, “ I think when a man has a day like this one, something is wrong between him and the Lord; but right or wrong, Christ took care of me down Devil’s Grade today!” 47
Made with FlippingBook - Online magazine maker