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I Think God Gives Us Opportunities Like That To ...
Contributed by Sean Harder on Dec 4, 2009 (message contributor)
I think God gives us opportunities like that to help us build our trust in Him. I used to go hiking and camping a lot by myself in the wilderness (not a good idea I know). But I remember getting lost once, and this was before I was even a Christian. I had literally no idea how to get back, and I knew that they say to stay where you are, but nobody knew where I was, so I needed to get out myself.
I remember sitting down and crying, and basically giving up, and it was at that point, where I started to feel peaceful instead of anxious. So I got up and started walking again, and I don’t even remember thinking, just walking. But what I do remember is that certain things in the scenery began to stand out, some even seemed to be almost glowing, a certain bush or rock would just catch my attention.
And there was a certain sense of confidence about following these markers. Anyway, I just kept walking and moving toward these markers, until eventually I stumbled onto a dirt logging road which I followed down the mountain and it spit me out right beside the parking lot. I had no idea this road existed and it was probably only about three hundred yards from where I gave up. Sometimes God just wants us to give up, and let Him.
Now I didn’t necessarily worship when I got to the parking lot, but I sure celebrated, and knew that something was going on to help me get out of there. I believe Noah was probably in a similar situation where he likely wanted to follow his thoughts, his desires, but something inside Him knew that doing that would lead to problems. But he seemed to know that waiting for instructions from the Lord, who sent him on this trip in the first place, and had so far been faithful, was the best course of action. Waiting is definitely a type of surrender. Whether waiting in a bank line, or waiting for a loved one to pass away, or waiting for God to answer a prayer.
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