Fred Jeffrey
“We are blessed,” said my friends Joe and Chrissy as they stood together in the field by the roadside surveying their totally wrecked vehicle. Their reaction surprised me and I did not see this coming from them. I expected them to be very upset upon seeing their smashed vehicle, a total write-off. This occurred after a large buck ran into their car on their way home from visiting us in Hopewell.
They had just left our place earlier that evening when ten minutes afterwards I got Joe’s call that he and his wife just had an accident. He was so calm and controlled, this took me by surprise. Shirley and I rushed to where the accident had occurred only to see the Eureka Fire Department directing traffic through the site. Soon the police arrived and there were my friends standing beside their wrecked vehicle and the first words coming from Joe’s mouth were: “We are blessed.” What a witness, what a testimony spoken in those three words! Then out of the chaos I felt the Spirit of God speaking through Joe’s words.
I thought at first he must have been in shock. “What does it mean that you are blessed after you totally lost your vehicle and you could have lost your lives?” Aren’t you upset and a little angry, I asked myself? That very day they had just had their vehicle serviced and had spent considerable money, now they were standing off into the field while all around them lights were flashing and emergency vehicles were arriving on site. And, the first words I heard from Joe as he held Chrissy’s hand were: “We are blessed!”
I wondered how this man’s faith would impact on the R.C.M.P. officers and the Fire Department volunteers as they reached out to help this couple. Little do we realize the importance of these men and women as they respond to our emergencies no matter what the time of night and in all kinds of weather, just to be there to help us when we are in trouble. We are indeed blessed when the trials of life crash down upon us. God sends His guardian angels to help us see a way out of our dilemmas unto the road of recovery ahead of us just over the horizon.
I believe that our walk in the Lord makes all the difference. The Psalmist David wrote: “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law doth he meditate day and night. But he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that bringeth forth his fruit in due season.” (Psalm 1:1-3,KJV)
My friend’s example inspired me to keep trusting in the Lord even though at times despair and doubt may come in to our lives. What is it about us that we need constant reassurance that God has not forsaken us? Once again the Psalmist speaks from personal experience of hardship when he declared in Psalm 34:1, “I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth.” David knew that the Lord was his strong deliverer. Do you know this?
I remember when my own world almost crashed before me when years ago, my dear mother lay dying and I was at her bedside at Glen Haven Manor. She had not spoken in quite a while and my heart was breaking. Was I being like David continually blessing the Lord? I am afraid my frailties were taking over during those minutes. I knew she loved to read her King James Bible so in her semi state of consciousness, I asked her what her favourite verse of scripture was thinking she would not be able to answer.
Suddenly, she spoke and quoted Psalm 34:4, “I sought the Lord, and he heard me and delivered from all my fears.” Those were the last words I would ever hear spoken by her again but all through the intervening years I have never forgotten them. It’s really the same message my friend Joe spoke that night by saying: “We are blessed.”
Look at your situation today, seek the Lord and ask him to guide you through what you may be personally experiencing right now. In the midst of your trials repeat Joe’s words. Remember the Lord promised to be with you and that He alone is the strength of your life. Seek Him today.
Faith for Today was written by Fred Jeffery, retired school principal and a member of the Salvation Army.
