My Rock and My Salvation!

The God of my rock; in him will I trust: he is my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, my saviour; thou savest me from violence. 2 Samuel 22:3
 
I met the Reverend Tom when I was a young boy living in Tucson Arizona. My mother and I were driving to California when our car broke down. Reverend Tom helped us find a small apartment and my mother a job at the local café. I stayed with Reverend Tom and his wife Angel during the day while mom worked. The local mechanic said it would take $300.00 dollars to fix the engine and mom said when she made enough money to have the car fixed we would move on to California, her dream was to be an actress.

Reverend Tom was a tall man, very thin with graying hair and a face full of wrinkles, he said they brought out his character. He was a Godly man full of love for his God. He once told me he was seventy years young and everyone who knew him called him sir. His preaching style was "Fire & Brimstone." In fact he was the only "Fire & Brimstone" preacher I have ever met, a very sad thing considering how much we all need the truth spoken to us in this day and time.

He taught me about God and Jesus and about grace and mercy but most of all he taught me about what it is to truly love without conditions and be loved by our creator beyond our understanding. We often sat on the porch swing and he read the Bible to me and told me all about God. One afternoon, while sitting on the porch swing, he told me about his childhood and his parents.



They lived on a small farm about three miles outside of town and only came to town on Sundays for church. He said his mom and dad were very religious and brought him and his sister up to honor God and to love all of God's creation. Sadly, he said that one night a band of renegade Indians had attacked their farm. His father had put him and his sister in the root cellar which was in back of the farm house. The root cellar had a small tunnel that led to the tree line just inside the forest. They escaped into the woods and turned to watch as their little farm house went up in flames. As they made their way up the ridge towards some caves they often played in, they saw the Indians looking at the tunnel exit. They had discovered it because there was smoke coming out of it from the burning house.



He said, "We ran as fast as we could up the ridge towards the caves hoping to be able to hide from the Indians. We went into the deepest cave and huddled together quietly near the back. As we waited we held hands and prayed. We knew our parents were dead and couldn't help us and the nearest neighbor was three miles away, God was our only hope."

I was mesmerized by his words, I asked, "What happened?"

Reverend Tom said, "I prayed, God please send us help or at least don't let the Indians find us." He continued, "We could hear the Indians coming up the ridge towards the caves. As they got closer we could hear them talking as they starting searching the caves one by one. We watched the entrance and suddenly noticed a spider building a web across the entrance." He sort of chuckled and said, "I asked God for help and protection and he sent me a spider. My sister started crying and it was all I could do to keep her quiet as I thought about my mom and dad and how we were soon going to join them."

I said, "Well you're here so the Indians must not have found you!"

He said, "That's true. When they reached the cave we were in they saw the spider web and moved on. I guess they figured the spider web had been there for a while so we couldn't have gone into that cave. I almost broke down as I thanked God and asked for forgiveness for doubting Him. I didn't realize that with God a spider's web can be as strong as a fortress.

6He only is my rock and my salvation: he is my defense; I shall not be moved.

7In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God. Psalm 62:6-7 KJV

 I have kept this story near my heart for nearly fifty years now and it has brought me through many times of trouble. We all face times in our lives when we have prayed to God for help and He has chosen to help in a way we didn't want. But then later on we realize that what God did was what was best. It's in learning how to put our trust completely in Him that we learn how to grow closer to Him.

 30As for God, his way is perfect: the word of the LORD is tried: he is a buckler to all those that trust in him. Psalm 18:30 KJV

 Whatever trouble you face today pray and trust and never let the enemy get a foothold. Pray and trust for He is a faithful God. There is no problem, no matter how small or large, that He won't find a way to do what is best for the child He loves. Because you see your problem didn't catch Him by surprise because He has written every day of your life in His book before one of them came to be.


Bob Goulding © April 2007
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