Sign
in Percy’s Gas Station:
“For Sale: One used old Ford tractor. Runs
good but has the steering wheel and seat missing.
To sell for the best offer. Will
work great for someone who has lost his or her rear and don't know which way
to turn.”
What do you do when you are stuck and
don't know which way to turn?
What to
do when it seems that all is lost.
What to
do when everyone has deserted you.
What to
do when someone is out to get you.
What to
do when you’ve lost it all and don’t know which way to go.
What to
do when you feel like quitting?
What to
do when all you do seems to be
useless.
What to
do when your best isn’t good enough.
What to
do when you feel like you are the only one left.
God
has an answer for you. Here is
what to do:
Scripture Text:
I Kings 19:9 (NIV) There he went into a cave and spent the night.
And the word of the LORD came to him: "What are you doing here,
Elijah?"
10 He replied, "I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The
Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and put your
prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are
trying to kill me too."
11 The LORD said, "Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of
the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by." Then a great and powerful
wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the
LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD
was not in the earthquake.12
After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after
the fire came a gentle whisper. 13 When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak
over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice
said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" 14 He replied,
"I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have
rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and put your prophets to
death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill
me too." 15 The LORD said to him, "Go back the way you came, and go
to the Desert of Damascus. When you get there, anoint Hazael king over Aram.
16 Also, anoint Jehu son of Nimshi king over Israel, and anoint Elisha son of
Shaphat from Abel Meholah to succeed you as prophet. 17 Jehu will put to death
any who escape the sword of Hazael, and Elisha will put to death any who
escape the sword of Jehu. 18 Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel--all whose
knees have not bowed down to Baal and all whose mouths have not kissed
him."
1.
Take a Break if you need to. Run, if you have to! Go
to the nearest cave/Doc.!
God
gave you two feet to run away. Is
that the spiritual thing to do?
2.
Wait on the Lord to show you the way.
Don’t
run ahead of the Lord. Wait for
His answer. Until then we should
just wait.
3.
Trust in the Lord to lead you by going His way.
Will
you with the Lord? Much stress
could be avoided if we just went with Him and trusted Him.
4.
Has God got your attention yet? He
says, “can you hear Me now?” Have
you listened to the voice of the Lord? What
is it? It is a still small voice.
5.
Get in the presence of the Lord. Get
together in prayer with the Lord. Listen.
6.
What are you doing here? Are you doing what the Lord wants? Think
about it. What are you doing
here?
7.
Keep on keeping on with the Lord until…
Get back on track with the Lord. How
long has it been? Will you go
back?
8.
Remember things aren’t always as bad as they seem, God is still God,
and you aren’t the lone ranger. God
said I will never leave you or forsake you.
9.
Will you go on with the Lord?
The
story is told of an only survivor of a wreck who was thrown on an uninhabited
island. After a while he managed to build himself a hut, in which he placed
the little all that he had saved from the ship. He prayed to God for
deliverance and anxiously scanned the horizon each day to hail any passing
ship. One day on returning from a hunt for food, he was horrified to find his
hut in flames. All he had was going up in smoke! The worst had happened, it
appeared; but that which seemed to have happened for the worst was in reality
for the best. To the man's limited vision it was the worst. To God's infinite
wisdom it was the best, for which he had prayed. The next day a ship arrived.
"We saw your smoke signal," the captain said. -- Selected.
SHAKE IT
OFF AND STEP UP
A
parable is told of a farmer who owned an old mule.
The mule fell into the farmer's well.
The farmer heard the mule 'braying' - or - whatever mules do
when they fall into wells. After
carefully assessing the
situation, the farmer sympathized with the mule,
but decided that neither the mule nor the well was
worth the trouble of saving. Instead,
he called his neighbors together and told them what had
happened...and enlisted them to help haul dirt to
bury the old mule in the well and put him out of
his misery.
Initially,
the old mule was hysterical! But
as the farmer and his neighbors continued shoveling and the dirt hit his
back...a thought struck him. It
suddenly dawned on him that every time a shovel load of dirt landed on his
back...HE SHOULD SHAKE IT OFF AND STEP UP!
This he did, blow after
blow.
"Shake
it off and step up...shake it off and step up...shake it off and step
up!" he repeated to encourage himself.
No matter how painful the blows, or distressing the situation seemed
the old mule fought
"panic" and just kept right on SHAKING IT OFF AND STEPPING UP!
You're
right! It wasn't long before the
old mule, battered and exhausted,
STEPPED TRIUMPHANTLY OVER THE WALL OF THAT WELL!
What seemed like would bury him, actually blessed him...all because of
the manner in which he handled his adversity.