Do You Believe in Miracles?

Psalm 91:11-12 - For He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways. In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone. 

I'm sure by the time this blog is published all will have heard of the events of a group of school board members in Panama City, Florida yesterday. You might have heard these words: If you're not a believer in miracles, watch that tape. They were spoken by Bill Husfelt, Superintendent of the Bay County School District, as Clay Duke, a disgruntled man brandished a gun at the men on the Board. He would not listen to their attempts to calm him down. He started shooting with the intent to kill. What is this world coming to, I believe I heard one of the news team ask.

But a miracle occurred. No one on the Board was hurt. It didn't look that way on the tape, as Husfelt wanted us to notice. As Husfelt described later when interviewed on Fox News, he said he didn't see them but he was convinced there were angels all around. He described how close this man was but somehow the bullets missed everyone. When the comment was made by an interviewer about how lucky he was his reply was: You can call it luck, but I will say it was the grace of God.

The openness of this man in that news interview and later in a subsequent live news conference and other interviews to tell of his belief that it was God protecting them is what stood out. A news article out of AOLnews said this: With a heavily armed ex-convict shooting directly at him, a Florida schools superintendent was prepared to die but said today he was saved when "God blocked the bullet. I was very confident that I was going to get shot. I wasn't pulling for it, but I was ready if that was going to happen," Bay City Schools Superintendent Bill Husfelt said today on ABC's "Good Morning America." "I knew where I would go if I were to pass away. I was very prepared for that." 

I'm not pushing aside the other people involved in this at all. There was Ginger Littleton who without a moment of hesitation tried to whack the gun out of Duke's hand with her handbag! And the security guard, Mike Jones, who successfully ended Duke's attempt and was injured himself. In a situation like this there are always those prepared to stand in the gap.

But...I'm believing that in our most desperate need if we have our God close beside us, we will feel as Husfelt did if we have given Jesus a chance in our lives. In some instances He is faithful to protect. His angels will stand guard. He will raise us up to stand before our enemy, to do what we might not be able to do in our own strength. 

This one man with the faith to proclaim his Lord was his protection was also willing to "take the bullet" for the others if you saw an extended version of the taped board event. He asked for the others to be let go. I'm not saying the others weren't thinking the same; he just said it first. In his weakness God raised him up and gave him strength...similar to the strength Jesus was given to die for the sake of others. (If you recall, He too was raised up...on the cross.) Husfelt knew he was secure in his Lord.

I think of another incident, that of Columbine High School where Rachel Scott was killed for no reason. She, too, was strong in her conviction of Jesus. She knew she was secure. So why did she have to die? 

What do these two incidents have in common? Both individuals knew what their fate would be if killed. They knew they would be in the presence of Jesus. Though there might have been a moment of human fear, their confidence in who they were in Christ was stronger and God would honor that. Unfortunately one life was taken while another spared. In both cases God was glorified! How? His named was proclaimed. It's as simple as that. Although Rachel may not have said it out loud, the result of her death brought about the words written in her diary that exposed her very strong belief and trust in God.

We don't like to think that God takes lives unnecessarily and it's one of those things that is a mystery...the why. I'm certain, however, in either of these cases, or in any case, lives will be changed through the witness of both Husfelt and Scott and anyone else who lets their trust in Jesus be seen. Praise God.

I've often wondered just how much strength I would have if I were in a situation where my life was on the line whether it be illness, accident or intentional confrontation like these two people. How about you? Would you be able to proclaim the name of Jesus? Would you be able to call on the name of the Lord or would your thoughts be clouded in fear or hopelessness?

In this uncertain world, even apart from the things we see creeping in on us, like the possibility of losing our freedom in this country, the possibility of the government telling us everything we can and cannot do, the uncertainty of food and fuel, knowing Jesus, having a personal relationship with Him, is the most important thing, the only hope we can cling to, knowing our lives are secure in Him...no matter what.

The strength of believers...we sometimes don't realize we have it as we are going through difficult times. We think we're barely hanging in there. When the struggle is over, the dust has settled and we have the chance to look back, we can see where God's hand was securely grasping ours, or where He was carrying us, where His peace held us together even if at the time we were unsure. And if we should come to the end of our struggle in a not-so-positive way, will we have the peace to know we can let go? This can be our own witness...how we handle going through a storm of life.

I think of a song that oddly enough I had running through my head when I awoke this morning...but before I heard the news of this school board incident. It's called You Raise Me Up. Coincidence?

I'm sorry for the man who was killed in this incident and the lasting effects it will have on his family. I'm sorry he had such disturbance in his life. This is how those without the hope of a Savior can feel. Who can they trust? Who do they blame? How will they react? Not all will take it out on others; some might hurt themselves, like Mark Madoff. To feel so totally distraught has got to be scary. To feel so hopeless. Again, it's about the choices we make...or those of others that cause grief. There is only one answer in our deepest despair and that is Jesus Christ.

Our God can help relieve those burdens. He asks us all, Jew and Gentile, to cast our burdens on Him. (1Peter 5:7, John 16:33, Matthew 11:28-30) When we do we have nothing to fear. We will even be given the strength to do what we never thought we could. We might even see miracles.

Psalm 91:1-6 - He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in Him I will trust." Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the perilous pestilence. He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler. You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, nor of the arrow that flies by day, nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday.