Tag: prayer

“He Heard My Voice…”


Neal Pollard

Do you ever feel like nobody’s listening, or that you have no one to whom to tell your troubles?  Isolation seems to be more characteristic of our society.  We are surrounded by lonely people, even as the country’s population rises, even in the middle of crowded cities, stores, and subdivisions, and even though we are in the “information age.”  Information does not mean intimacy or communication.

Yet, even when we do have friends and loved ones in our lives, there are some circumstances where their shoulders and ears are not enough.  David faced times like that.  He recalls some of those times near the end of his reign as second king of Israel.  In 2 Samuel 22, he remembers times with Saul and other enemies when he was surrounded, afraid, confronted, and distressed.  Have you ever felt that way?  What did you do?

David says, “In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried out to my God; He heard my voice from His temple, and my cry entered His ears” (22:7).  Even when we have the attention of someone on earth, we do not have access to the wisdom and power of heaven.  God can do what no mortal can.  Notice the progression.

First, God heard (7).  God is not disinterested when it comes to His children.  His ears are open to the righteous (1 Peter 3:12).  David had that same confidence at other times in his life (cf. Psalm 65:2).  The only thing restricting God’s ability to hear the faithful Christian’s prayers is that Christian’s lack of faithfulness to pray to Him.  “Oh, what peace we often forfeit, oh what needless pain we bear, all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer.”  God intently waits for our prayers.  Marlin Connelly once spoke of God’s presence with the faithful in Revelation 8:1-4.  In explaining the meaning of the silence in heaven for half an hour (1), Connelly commented that it is as if God is saying, “Hush!  I’m listening to the prayers of the saints!”  What a thought!

Second, God reacted (8-14).  God is not neutral when it comes to His children.  Think about it.  If you are a parent, are you neutral when it comes to your children?  If they are being harassed, if they have problems, or if they are hurting, how does it make you feel?  Notice how vividly David, by inspiration, poetically describes God’s reaction to how David is being treated.  The earth shook and the foundations of heaven quaked.  Smoke went up from His nostrils and fire from His mouth. He thundered from heaven, sending out lightning bolts.  Why?  “Because He was angry” (8).  He was angry at how His son David was being treated.  Will you remember that God cares that much about you?  Such knowledge should make us confident that we can weather any trial that comes!

Finally, God acted (15ff).  God is not passive when it comes to His children.  He rescued David (17-20) and punished His enemies (15-16).  David says he took me, drew me, delivered me, supported me, rewarded me, and delighted in me.  Through providence and answered prayer, God acts on our behalf.  And think about what He has already done to show He cares (cf. Romans 5:8).  Remember a cross?  Or a big event on Pentecost (cf. Acts 20:28)?  If we pay close attention, God constantly proves His love and concern for us.

Let us not miss David’s part in all this.  David understood that God’s hearing, reacting, and acting on David’s behalf was tied to David’s manner of life and response to God’s love.  David heard God (22:21-23).  David also acted obediently (22:24-25).  Our relationship with the Father cannot be shallow or one-sided.  But, what joy to know that even at the lowest, hardest times, if no one else knows, He hears our voice!

 

THE DAY WE HIT JOYCE

Neal Pollard

I have told this story to several individuals in the last seven-plus years, but have never mentioned it in a sermon or in print.  It was a remarkable event, one my son, Gary, and I shared with five other people right outside Boma Ngombe, Tanzania.  Gary was 10 years old and it was the first full day for one of our sons to be out of the country on a mission trip.  One of the American missionaries was driving us back from Moshi, where I had taught Bible class and preached that morning.  We were on our way back to Arusha, nearly halfway, when a teenaged orphan girl on a bicylce darted from behind a Coaster bus attempting the impossible feat of crossing the road despite automobiles going more than 50-miles per hour both ways.  Our driver did everything he could to avoid hitting her, but the embankment where we were was sheer and steep.  When she hit the windshield directly in front of me, I remember the feeling of horror that went though my head hit the dashboard almost as soon as we hit her.  Gary was sitting in the second row, behind me, and watched the whole thing.  I saw her continue to roll after hitting the road several feet behind our SUV.

As a Christian and human being, I felt anguish and disbelief at the girl lying there. As a father, I felt much guilt for exposing my son to such trauma and danger.  As a brother, I felt great empathy for the young man who had to cope with the knowledge of what had just happened and how it might effect him.  As a fellow passenger, I felt fear and shock.

To allay any apprehension you might feel, the girl survived the accident.  She broke her hip and suffered substantial abrasions.  Yet, I think of that day often.

That day, I saw how zealous some are to evangelize.  Elly Martin accompanied the missionary, who drove the orphan, Joyce, and her adopted mom to the hospital back in Moshi.  By the time they had driven the distance, Elly had gotten the woman police officer from Boma Ngombe into a Bible study and had taken the opportunity to teach Joyce’s “mom,” too.  Could there have been a better object lesson about the uncertainties of life than that?  What gave him the presence of mind to try and win the souls of the officer, the mother, and the orphan?  He appreciated his own salvation.

That day, I saw how quickly things can change.  One moment, we are thinking about lunch at the Meru Game Reserve.  The next moment, and for many moments after, we thought about the suffering of that girl, the devastation of our driver, and how it might impact the work there.  What was Joyce thinking about as she started her day?  Did she have plans?  What was she looking forward to in the days to come?  All of that changed in an instant.

That day, I saw the fragility of life.  I am still amazed that she survived that encounter.  Many, especially on that highway, have not.  My son would tell you that moment helped clarify the importance of his being ready to meet Christ.  Life, that precious gift from God, can be recalled at any moment.  While the whole episode happened in a seeming flash, the Bible refers to the end of time and earth as a mere “twinkling of an eye” (1 Cor. 15:52).

How I wish that never happened!  But, how instructive it has been for me since that day.  Hopefully, undesirable moments like these can be our teachers, guiding us to look past here and now and ponder that which lies beyond, Him who is above, and those that are all around us.