David, a 20-year veteran police
officer, wasn’t feeling well and feared he may have contracted COVID-19. Struggling
with fear and anxiety, David came across a website operated by the Billy Graham
Evangelistic Association’s online ministry, Search for Jesus, where he
clicked to chat with a volunteer. “I’m struggling with everything going on,” David
typed.
Gloria, his chat coach,
asked him a simple question: “Where do you look for peace in uncertain times?” David
answered that he looked within himself. “I can understand that,” Gloria said.
“The catch with that, though, is that our inner selves can be really disturbed
by what we see and hear. That can lead to more anxiety, as you know.”
Gloria talked about how
it’s possible to have peace with God through Jesus. David replied, “I just got
tested for COVID-19 and I am waiting for results. My stress is at an all-time
high. I’m not ready to go yet. I’m only 48. I still feel I have things left to
do. I’m so lost and very scared.”
Gloria went on to share
key Scriptures outlining God’s salvation plan—Romans 3:23, 6:23 and John 3:16. “But
what am I supposed to do?” David asked. “Repent of your sin and believe,”
Gloria typed. David did just that in his living room, turning from his sin and
trusting in Jesus as Savior.
“Do you wanna know how I
found your webpage?” David asked a few minutes later. “I went into Google, and
I asked Siri on my iPhone, ‘How can I get saved?’ And your page popped up.”
As David began a two-week
quarantine, God had given him a gift he hadn’t been looking for—the gift of
time. The Lord had once again used a temporary crisis to lead a sinner to
eternal life.[1]
David’s question to Siri
is the same one that the Philippian jailer asked Paul in Acts 16. After a
powerful earthquake that can only be described as the original “Jailhouse Rock,”
Paul and Silas were freed from their shackles. According to Dr. Luke, here’s
what happened next:
27 When the jailer woke
and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and was about to
kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. 28 But Paul cried with
a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.” 29 And the jailer called
for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and
Silas. 30 Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be
saved?” 31 And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved,
you and your household.” (Acts 16:27-31).
Just as David’s life was
rocked by a sudden change of plans, so too was Paul’s. The Apostle didn’t originally
plan to go to Macedonia, but because of a God-directed vision he changed course
(Acts 16:9-10). How could he know that he would end up in prison there? But
even that trip to jail was God-led because He used Paul to bring salvation to a
jailer and his family.
Sometimes we find
ourselves in troubling situations as the result of our service for the Lord.
Doing that which we believe to be right and according to His will, we seem to
end up in the “prison” of suffering, hardship, and loss, and are tempted to complain,
“Lord, is this what I get for my faithfulness?” Then He comes and assures us
that He “doeth all things well,” and that Romans 8:28 is still in the Book!
When all has been accomplished, we shall be able to look back and clearly see
His hand and purpose in it all. -DM
“Our disappointments, are His
appointments
Change one letter, then I
see
That the thwarting of my
purpose
Is God’s better choice for
me.”[2]
[1]
Kristy Ethridge, “Quarantined Police Officer: I Asked Siri, How Can I Get
Saved?” Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, 10 May 2020 <https://billygraham.org/story/quarantined-police-officer-i-asked-siri-how-can-i-get-saved/?utm_source=ministry+update+ie+06.06.2020&utm_medium=bgemail&utm_campaign=bgemailnewsletter&utm_content=BS206YJET&SOURCE=BS206YJET>
[2]
Dave Brannon, “Divine Appointments,” Our Daily Bread, 26 October 2011
<https://odb.org/2011/10/26/divine-appointments/>
No comments:
Post a Comment