Oklahoma...may they have "arms"

Tonight there is a mama whose life is forever changed...with an emptiness that hits so deep in her soul...and my heart cries with her...there is another mama that hugs her baby just a little tighter as it is hard to even fathom how frightened those little ones were during the tornadoes that hit in Oklahoma.   Times as these are those that we cry, "WHY!"   But it is also the time that we turn to our God for comfort...I think of this morning that I had read in my "Kasey Jo calendar" (God's Way Day by Day by Charles F. Stanley).    And I am in awe of how these words ring to the emotion that I continue to be filled with.   He had written...

"An old and familiar story is told of a young child who was troubled by a thunderstorm.  She sought refuge in her parent's bedroom...Her parents hugged her and cuddled her and attempted to comfort her by saying, "You are going to be all right.  God is with you.  He will take care of you."   The little girl replied, "Yes, but I still want to be with someone who has arms."  In many cases, I have seen God provide someone "with arms"...God sends His ministering servants to those in need of an expression of His reassurance and comfort."
 

May there be arms to comfort those that need arms...And the verse that was with it was Matthew 14:27 and so I had went to read more of this verse...I like to read them in their full context and so it read:

"But immediately Jesus spoke to them saying, "Be of good cheer.  It is I, do not be afraid." 

 

 

And I think back of those storms and I was talking with my mother-in-law tonight of how frightened those children had to be...I remember just warnings of a tornado would fill me with fear as a child...how I would hope the wind would not stop blowing as my dad said the calm was more of a sign that the storm might be close...

 

 

Talk of the tornadoes just came on...a mile across...destruction...and I am reminded of a verse that comes to me often...I include it in a picture I stopped and took on the drive home.  We had a small amount of rain...but these clouds that loomed in the western sky...reminded of the power that hid those very mountains that often provide such a comfort to see them majestically standing off in the distance...but tonight they seemed to be hidden while the majesty of the sunset and the light of the sun seemed to find its way through the darkness...this picture is in color...though it almost appears black and white...

 

 

This verse makes me think of the connection with those that have passed on...to those who are here that have such sorrow and pain....and I am reminded of words that were given to me the other morning at my kitchen table...

Listen closely to Me...He says. There are abundance of sorrows that try to smother our souls. That smother the embers of the coals of Joy that sit and burn...Let the air come in that the Joy may burst to flames...There is enough sadness in this world. Be a light of hope and of joy though not forgetting that others feel the pain and sorrow as you do...
Do not fear nor be afraid for I am with you...
Sing a song of Joy for this day...
Showers from heaven will refresh your soul and sing the song of Kings-- of Christ who conquered death--and evil. Do not tarry in your journey walk swiftly so that you may reach your destination...Talking only words that are pleasing...not of boasting or pride--
 

Earlier I had read a prayer that my friend Susie Watts had prayed...

 May the people who have been in the devastating tornados be comforted and encouraged in their calamity and affliction ... Holy Father, I ask you to raise up an army of people to reach out and meet the overwhelming needs of these communities. Be with the grieving ... pour Your comfort, love and strength upon them all ... In Jesus Name, I pray ...

Amen Susie...Amen!

And so I add an extra...I love you...I am thankful for you...hug those babies a little tighter...tell someone you love them...and may God provide those who long for those "with arms" tonight to be held and comforted...I pray for those mama's...those daddy's...those husbands...those wives...and especially those children...that this morning had no idea what awaited them...I ask for healing...for peace.

May we all say a prayer for those...I read an awesome writing first thing this morning in Girlfriends in God by Mary Sutherland...I had read her devotional earlier before I had read in my Kasey Jo calendar talking of Jesus and the disciples...the storm...I would encourage you to read it... http://www.girlfriendsingod.com/category/devotions/

But there was one that just made me think of something my brother might say and so I share it with you...as you try and figure out the best way to pray...

Three ministers were discussing which position produces the most powerful prayer. As they were talking, a telephone repairman was working on the phone system in the background. One minister shared that he felt the key to powerful prayer was in the hands. He always held his hands together and pointed them upward as a form of symbolic worship. The second suggested that real prayer was conducted on the knees while the third minister suggested that they both had it wrong. According to him, the only position worth its salt was to pray while stretched out flat on your face in humility. The phone man couldn’t resist offering his opinion, “I have found that the most powerful prayer I ever prayed was while I was dangling upside down by my heels from a power pole suspended forty feet above the ground.” Helplessness underlines our need for faith and our total dependence upon God, even when the skies are clear and the water is calm.

Today in Oklahoma...the skies were not clear...the waters not calm...and I know that helplessness hit these individuals as it does many of us now...but I pray that they find the comfort and peace that God can provide in times such as these...and may they hear and feel the words of Jesus...do not be afraid...I am with you...

lyp