We have been blessed with so many wonderful people in our lives and this weekend was just another example of the great blessings God gives us. Husband and I met a pastor while we were golfing over new years. He is a very kindhearted man and he has offered to counsel us in different areas of our life. After speaking with him on Friday, I felt, for the first time, the ability to actually open up and ask for help for my brother. He was so kind and offered many resources for us. Most of all, he reminded me (I already knew but sometimes you just need that reminder) that no matter what, all you can really do is leave it in God's hands.
I know I have put several Upper Room devotionals on my blog but I always feel like they speak to me when I read them each day. Today's really hit home because it speaks of patience that families had when the mine collapsed in Chile a couple years ago. I remember watching the recovery on TV and cheering when they rescued the last miner after 69 days. It hit home but I didn't think of it, at the time, the same way the writer of this devotional did. I love the thought at the end of the devotional. It says that a great deal of human effort was used to rescue the miners but human effort is limited. God is the one with the power to rescue someone no matter the conditions. This can be related to medicine as well. No matter how much we try to help my brother, I must put most of my trust in God and pray the He heals my brother soon. Below is the devotional. Please read. It is worth it.
Read 1 Corinthians 2:1-5
My speech and my proclamation were not with plausible words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God.
— 1 Corinthians 2:4-5 (NRSV)
In August 2010 in Chile, the walls of a mine collapsed with a loud noise. Confusion and panic followed — then, total silence, total darkness. Underground, 700 meters down, 33 miners were trapped in a copper-and-gold mine. Above ground, the families of the miners took up a vigil. Camps were set up and the waiting turned into 69 days — families sharing the wait and the hope that the miners would be found alive.
Living outside of relationship with God is similar to being trapped far underground without light, sound, communication, food, or water. The families of the miners were determined to wait for their loved ones for as long as it would take. How much more is God willing to wait for us to turn from our sin? And when we do, we are forgiven through grace and drawn close to God.
Massive human effort and a great deal of money were spent to rescue the miners. But, as impressive as these efforts may be, they are limited. God our Creator has the power to rescue us wherever we are, in whatever darkness, silence, despair, abandonment, illness, or need. God’s power is unlimited.
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The Author: Mila Roxana Guerrero Jaramillo (Biobio, Chile)
Thought for the Day:Our rescue is the blessing of finding Christ.
Prayer: Dear God of hope and grace, help us to place our confidence in you, not on what humans know or can do. Amen.
Prayer focus: Miners and their families