December 6, 2019 – Click here to listen
Does God ever directly intervene in our lives? After all He has to be incredibly busy. The latest scientific estimate indicates that there are 100 billion trillion stars in the universe. It’s hard to imagine how such a project could be effectively managed and we don’t even know the true extent of it, such as what might lie beyond the universe.
Fortunately our infinite God is not limited and even though our finite minds cannot imagine such power and responsibility, God is always watching us and does occasionally take the time to directly intervene in our lives. Sometimes the intervention is in the form of an answer to a prayer and other times, He just does it.
Make no mistake our God’s strength and power is incomprehensible and a common sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His seeing it, nor can a star in the furthermost galaxy escape His attention and the Bible states He has named them all. The great news is that He is also a personal God who has numbered the very hairs on our heads and He knows everything about us including our needs. On occasion He assists us in ways that are simply incredible and I describe them as miracles.
I’ve had several incidents in my personal life that were the result of God’s direct intervention on my behalf. Recently I received some stories from others demonstrating God’s direct intervention that are fascinating.
A young man who had been raised as an atheist was training to be an Olympic diver. The only religious influence in his life came from his outspoken Christian friend. The young diver never really paid much attention to his friend’s sermons, but he heard them often.
One night the diver went to the indoor pool at the college he attended.
The lights were all off, but as the pool had big skylights and the moon was bright, there was plenty of light to practice by. The young man climbed up to the highest diving board and as he turned his back to the pool on the edge of the board and extended his arms out, he saw his shadow on the wall. The shadow of his body, was in the shape of a cross.
Instead of diving, he knelt down and finally asked God to come into his life. As the young man stood, a maintenance man walked in and turned the lights on. The pool had been drained for repairs.
A missionary on furlough told this true story while visiting his home church
in Michigan . . . “While serving at a small field hospital in Africa, every two weeks I traveled by bicycle through the jungle to a nearby city for supplies. This was a journey of two days and required camping overnight at the halfway point. On one of these journeys, I arrived in the city where I planned to collect money from a bank, purchase medicine and supplies, and then begin my two-day journey back to the field hospital. Upon arrival in the city, I observed two men fighting, one of whom had been seriously injured. I treated him for his injuries and at the same time talked to him about the Lord Jesus Christ. I then traveled two days, camping overnight, and arrived home without incident.
Two weeks later I repeated my journey. Upon arriving in the city, I was approached by the young man I had treated. He told me that he had known I carried money and medicines. He said, ‘Some friends and I followed you into the jungle, knowing you would camp overnight. We planned to kill you and take your money and drugs. But just as we were about to move into your camp, we saw that you were surrounded by 26 armed guards.
At this I laughed and said that I was certainly all alone in that jungle campsite. The young man pressed the point, however, and said, ‘No sir, I was not the only person to see the guards. My five friends also saw them, and we all counted them. It was because of those guards that we were afraid and left you alone.’
At this point in the sermon, one of the men in the congregation jumped to his feet and interrupted the missionary and asked if he could tell him the exact day this happened. The missionary told the congregation the date, and the man who interrupted told him this story: “On the night of your incident in Africa, it was morning here and I was preparing to go play golf. I was about to putt when I felt the urge to pray for you. In fact, the urging of the Lord was so strong, I called men in this church to meet with me here in the sanctuary to pray for you. Would all of those men who met with me on that day stand up?” The men who had met together to pray that day stood up. The missionary wasn’t concerned with who they were, he was too busy counting them. There were 26.”
These two true life accounts should not have been surprising provided we have read and understand the Bible and have FAITH that it is true and correct. 2 Chron. 16:9 states: The eyes of the LORD search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. God does directly intervene in our lives. I know that it has happened to me too many times to recall in this limited space.
When I see a miracle of God occur in my life, I don’t chalk it up to coincidence or karma; I give God the glory and am always amazed but never surprised when it happens.
I hope that you have faith and are committed to the Lord. I’ve lived a full life and can honestly state without hesitation that nothing surpasses the feeling I get when I recognize that God just directly intervened in my life. And the greatest feeling of all is to witness to someone concerning Christ and watch God’s Holy Spirit intervene in their lives and baptize them with an immersion of love and strength. Have faith in God and fully commit to Him, you will not ever regret that decision.
Hebrews 13:2
Do not forget to entertain
strangers for by so doing some
have unwittingly entertained angels.
Have a great weekend and go to church this Sunday!