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Wednesday, August 12, 2020
"A
Consideration Of Close Calls"
Message
summary: Aren't
you glad for the many ways that God
protects as evidenced by our
recollection of close calls in addition
to the many "near misses" we're
completely unaware of. Peace triumphs
over our fears when we realize our lives
are safely in His loving hands!
"And Saul sought to
pin David to the wall with the spear,
but he eluded Saul, so that he struck
the spear into the wall. And David
fled and escaped that night" (1 Samuel
19:10). "The rest were to get there on
planks or on pieces of the ship. In
this way everyone reached land in
safety" (Acts 27:44). "My times are in
Your hands" (Psalm 31:15a).Yesterday I had a close call, one of those moments that in retrospect was very stupid, but it sure got my attention, Brooksyne's as well. The safest way to expose a folly is to expose your own. I have given myself permission to share this.
I was
trying to remove the wheel from an axle that had been
on a small garden cart. The wheel was stuck on the
axle so I placed it on the ground and pushed down with
all my might against the wheel. Suddenly it came loose
and slid down the spindle causing me to lose my
balance. I fell into the spindle due to the momentum
and the end of the axle went into my neck.
It
really, really hurt and I fell against the fence in
pain. Brooksyne was also working outside at the time
and came over. She was worried that the swelling could
cut off my airway so she took a photo for reference
just in case we needed it later, should medical
intervention be required (a loving wife she is). I
still have the mark on my neck and a very sore throat
but otherwise I seem to be OK. I've thought since
then, had I exerted even more force, I could have done
some really serious damage or worse. And, to add to
the "What if?" line of thinking I am very thankful the
steel end was not pointed!The term "close call" describes "a narrow escape from danger or disaster". In aviation they use the term "near miss" when two planes pass dangerously close to one another, barely missing a mid-air collision.
I recall
a safety meeting years ago at a construction company
(Smucker and Sons) where Phil Givler, the safety
director, encouraged the men to consider inevitable
close calls and how they can learn from them by
reviewing the steps that preceded the close call and
consider the safer course of steps to prevent a
potential accident.
All
through life we have close calls, those experiences in
life where we were within seconds of mere inches from
disaster. Some, like my experience yesterday, we
recognize and acknowledge how close we came to
something serious happening. But we also have
unrecognized near misses when we are unaware of how
close we came to danger, such as a drunk driver or one
distracted by texting who comes close to colliding
with us but we were oblivious about the near miss.
Some close calls may be due to our own stupidity, carelessness or rebellious living, others due to circumstances beyond our control. In some cases we can learn from them and in all cases we can express gratitude to God for His hand of protection while also teaching us much about our sovereign God and also teaching us about the accidental and purposeful choices we make!
Some close calls may be due to our own stupidity, carelessness or rebellious living, others due to circumstances beyond our control. In some cases we can learn from them and in all cases we can express gratitude to God for His hand of protection while also teaching us much about our sovereign God and also teaching us about the accidental and purposeful choices we make!
Do you
recall any close calls you've encountered? After
considering them do you find yourself doubly grateful
to God, but also soberly troubled by the question,
"WHAT IF"?
Ron DiCianni has an amazing ability to paint an image based on Biblical stories. In his art depictions he often creates people in modern dress and the picture just seems to come alive. He writes, "It will be interesting to one day find out all the near misses and unexplained detours God brought us through".
Today's texts refer to close calls.
The first concerns David who had many close calls!
After his amazing victory over Goliath he became
immensely popular and Saul became insanely jealous.
The latter part of 1 Samuel describes this period. The
daily text is one attempt by Saul to kill David but he
escaped. "And Saul sought to pin David to the wall
with the spear, but he eluded Saul, so that he
struck the spear into the wall. And David fled and
escaped that night."
Ron DiCianni has an amazing ability to paint an image based on Biblical stories. In his art depictions he often creates people in modern dress and the picture just seems to come alive. He writes, "It will be interesting to one day find out all the near misses and unexplained detours God brought us through".
Today's texts refer to close calls.
The first concerns David who had many close calls!
After his amazing victory over Goliath he became
immensely popular and Saul became insanely jealous.
The latter part of 1 Samuel describes this period. The
daily text is one attempt by Saul to kill David but he
escaped. "And Saul sought to pin David to the wall
with the spear, but he eluded Saul, so that he
struck the spear into the wall. And David fled and
escaped that night."
In
the second text Paul and many others had been in a
ship wreck that could have very well resulted in the
loss of many lives. "The rest were to get there on
planks or on pieces of the ship. In this way
everyone reached land in safety." This was
according to the promise which was made by Paul in
Acts 27:22 that no lives would be lost.Bible teacher Albert Barnes writes,
"This
was done by the special providence of God. It was a
remarkable instance of divine interposition to save
so many through so long-continued dangers; and it
shows that God can defend in any perils, and can
accomplish all His purposes. On the ocean or the
land we are safe in His keeping, and He can devise
ways that shall fulfill all His purposes, and that
can protect His people from danger."
Aren't you glad for the many ways that God has protected through the "many dangers, toils and snares" of life? Our recollection of close calls in addition to the many "near misses" we're completely unaware of reminds us of God's steady care. Peace overcomes our fear when we realize our lives are safely in His loving hands!
Be encouraged today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily
prayer: Father,
daily we entrust our safe keeping to others as we
venture out on the highway, as we eat food
provided by total strangers, as we take medicine
that could bring about disastrous results rather
than healing. When we use time-saving power tools
or electrical gadgets we are at the mercy of
modern inventions and other people, the vast
majority of them being complete strangers. Whether
it's the driver of the subway or pilot of the
aircraft, whether it's the children obeying the
crossing guard or a doctor prescribing a cure for
what ails us or if it's a soldier looking to his
comrades to cover for his safety, we rely on these
animate and inanimate objects everyday and yet, as
believers, we more fully rely on Your providence,
Your knowledge, Your power and goodness to care
for us in dangerous settings. What reassurance we
garner as we realize that You are always watching
and caring for us. And when our time on this side
has expired You are there waiting to usher us to
our eternal abode where no danger lurks, no sins
defile and no sorrow awaits us. Praise be to Your
holy name forevermore. Amen.Today's Suggested Music and Supplemental Resources
"He Will Hold Me Fast" Video Selah What a
song of blessed assurance! The
Story Behind the Song Video
"My
Life is in Your Hands" Video Brooklyn Tabernacle
Choir
"Christ Redeemer"
Video
written
and performed by Nate Marialke
I (Stephen) have compiled a partial list of known close calls in my life:
- The time I took my Dad's Chrysler Newport out on a gravel farm road west of Belton Missouri to see if I could go 120mph. I could! (And Dad never knew, though it occurs to me that he probably does now that he's in heaven.)
- The time I was on an Oklahoma highway coming back to campus after a weekend ministry trip and dozed off and awoke in the median strip.
- The time I misjudged how fast a train was coming when approaching a grade crossing and was much closer to disaster than I should have risked.
- The time we were returning from a youth convention and I lost control on an ice covered bridge in Pennsylvania and my car went careening out of control heading straight to a stranded car pulled over on the median across the bridge. Only divine intervention helped us regain control as Brooksyne cried out to Jesus and fellow church members in a van behind us called upon Jesus to save us. (This weekend we expect to see Tom and Marsha Neizmik who were with the youth in the van and prayed for us.)
- The time I was working on a car when the jack slipped and the car dropped down moments after I had been working under it.
- The time Tom Schatz and I removed some trees on a church property in northern Pennsylvania and one fell onto a high voltage power line, resulting in what sounded like a sonic boom.
Brooksyne's Memory of a Close
Call: My family was at Fort Gibson Lake in
Oklahoma with neighbors over a weekend when I was
about 9 years old. Two of the young boys about my
age were fishing and a cork floated off into the
distant water. Knowing they couldn't swim that far
they let it go. I thought I'd help them out and
recover the cork (a little showing off as well). But
I swam out so far I became exhausted and started to
sink. The boys alerted their dads so they swam out
very swiftly and pulled me back to safety. I was so
relieved, though I was thoroughly embarrassed. Of
course, in my more mature years, I'm way beyond the
embarrassment and thoroughly grateful for God's
intervention.
"In
My Seat" - A Pilot's Story from Sept 10th-11,
2001 Video
Near misses are a sober reminder of how
fragile life is. Steve Scheibner, a pilot who was
scheduled to pilot the first plane that was hijacked
on 9/11 and crashed into the World Trade Center. He
has a dramatic testimony of a near miss. We rejoice at
God's hand of providence in the near misses we have
experienced all through life and realize He must have
plans for us to stay on this earth a bit longer.
However in the entire scheme of things a failure to
experience a near miss is also a part of life. In fact
Tom McGuinness, the pilot that took Steve Scheibner's
place was also a Christian. See here.
In Acts 12 we rejoice at Peter's near miss of being executed by Herod and his deliverance. But in that same chapter his fellow disciple James was beheaded.
Shortly after moving to Lancaster County a newly married youth pastor died when a church van he was working on ran over him. I thought of my own close call when the jack slipped on a car I had been working under just moments earlier. Why one has a close call and the other has a different outcome is one of the mysteries of providence. But as believers we are victorious either way: "For me to live is Christ and to die is gain." God takes care of us and provides for us on both sides of eternity - it doesn't get better than that!
In Acts 12 we rejoice at Peter's near miss of being executed by Herod and his deliverance. But in that same chapter his fellow disciple James was beheaded.
Shortly after moving to Lancaster County a newly married youth pastor died when a church van he was working on ran over him. I thought of my own close call when the jack slipped on a car I had been working under just moments earlier. Why one has a close call and the other has a different outcome is one of the mysteries of providence. But as believers we are victorious either way: "For me to live is Christ and to die is gain." God takes care of us and provides for us on both sides of eternity - it doesn't get better than that!
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Scripture references are from The Holy Bible: New International Version. © 1984 by International Bible Society; NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, New King James Version (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. and the King James Version.
Personal Mission Statement: "I am created by God to bring Him glory. Through God's Son Jesus Christ I have been redeemed and make it my life's goal to please the Lord. My mission in life is to honor God through my faith and obedience and prepare myself and all whom I may influence for eternity."
Scripture references are from The Holy Bible: New International Version. © 1984 by International Bible Society; NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, New King James Version (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. and the King James Version.
Personal Mission Statement: "I am created by God to bring Him glory. Through God's Son Jesus Christ I have been redeemed and make it my life's goal to please the Lord. My mission in life is to honor God through my faith and obedience and prepare myself and all whom I may influence for eternity."
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Weber - All Rights Reserved
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