More than 30 men employed by the Cleveland Waterworks Company were at work in a tunnel about 250 feet below Lake Erie on July 15, 1916, when an explosion ripped through the area trapping the men in the tunnel and filling the air with deadly gases. Rescue workers arrived immediately, but the dense smoke prevented them from entering the tunnel. They didn't know from who to get help.
Inspiration came when someone remembered Garrett Morgan. Morgan had won a grand prize at a New York Safety and Sanitation Fair for a gas mask he invented.
Using Morgan's gas mask, the workers were freed from the tunnel.
News of the rescue traveled. Fire departments across America wanted Morgan's gas mask. Orders poured in until people found out that Morgan was black. Then business dropped off.
Christian Minister and Civil Rights Leader Martin Luther King, Jr., who was assassinated April 4th, 45 years ago, said in his I Have a Dream speech, "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."
Proverbios 18:16 Biblia Bilingue Version Reina-Valera 1960 dice, "La dadiva del hombre le ensancha el camino y le lleva delante de los grandes." Proverbs 18:16 Bilingual Bible New King James Version says, "A man's gift makes room for him, and brings him before great men."
In 1917 America entered World War I. Thousands of American soldiers used Morgan's gas mask to protect themselves from the enemy's deadly chlorine gas.
People probably faced fear when the Cleveland tunnel explosion happened and no way appeared to rescue those trapped. Morgan probably faced fear when business for his gas mask dropped when people found out that he was black. Many people have faced fear in the midst of crises and other difficult situations.
A Chinese proverb says, "Use incidents from the past as lessons for the future." Crisis need not stop commitment to self and social development. With courage and creativity Morgan didn't stop when crisis came into his life, and neither do you have to. He kept on perfecting his gas mask, developed other inventions and founded the Cleveland Call newspaper to improve media coverage of African Americans.
Creyentes (believers) have the power of the Creator of the Universe living inside of us. Be confidant in crisis. God will accomplish all His will. Psalm 115:2-3 Amplified Bible says, "Why should the nations say, Where is now their God? But our God is in heaven; He does whatever He pleases." What is something that please God? -- that good overcome evil.
Showing posts with label Will of God. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Will of God. Show all posts
Thursday, April 4, 2013
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Sick and Strong
The prophet Elisha, who had a double portion of the prophet's Elijah's anointing, became sick as recorded in 2 Kings 13. Earlier in his life Elisha had laid on a dead boy, and God used Elisha to return life to the boy. But this time Elisha couldn't lay hands on himself and be healed of his sickness. Why? Autism, cerebral palsy, diabetes, clinical depression and other disabilities and sicknesses are a part of the will of God. God heals us from some disabilities and sicknesses, but not all of them because God loves us.
Joni Eareckson Tada is paralyzed from the neck down, married and in full-time Christian ministry. She and Steve Estes write in their book When God Weeps: Why Our Suffering Matters to the Almighty, "God uses affliction like a hammer and chisel, chipping and cutting to reveal his image in you. . . . God uses suffering to purge sin from our lives, strengthen our commitment to him, force us to depend on grace, bind us together with other believers, produce discernment, foster sensitivity, discipline our minds, spend our time wisely, stretch our hope, cause us to know Christ better, make us long for truth, lead us to repentance of sin, teach us to give thanks in times of sorrow, increase faith, and strengthen character. It is a beautiful image!"
Elisha is a beautiful image. Elisha lived consistently in a golden state of mind, in the mind of the Messiah which is the mind of God the Father, God the Son Jesus Christ and God the Holy Ghost. Even when be became sick Elisha was strong; He didn't hide himself and give up his ministry just because he had a big problem. Elisha didn't segregate himself into a special, separate ministry for the sick and disabled that was rarely included, involved and integrated with the larger society. Elisha interacted with all kinds of people. Elisha used his time wisely to know and to do what God asked him to; he was not shaken and swayed by popular opinion. Elisha prophesied to Jehoash king of Israel a victory over the Syrians. Instead of self-hatred, self-pity, shame and guilt about his sickness Elisha trusted in His God. Sickness did not spoil his relationships with God, himself or other people.
Elisha was so close and committed to God that even after he died of his sickness 2 Kings 13:21 says, "As a man was being buried [on an open bier], such a band was seen coming; and the man was cast into Elisha’s grave. And when the man being let down touched the bones of Elisha, he revived and stood on his feet."
Instead of focusing on our imperfections and inadequacies focus on the will of God and His ability to make a way at all times. Seek to leave a legacy beyond this life. Elisha did. Ephesians 5:17 Amplified Bible says, "Therefore do not be vague and thoughtless and foolish, but understanding and firmly grasping what the will of the Lord is." No time is a good time to wonder around aimlessly a bit blank regarding God's will for you.
Los creyentes son el ojo derecho de Dios (Believers are the right eye (the apple) of God's eye). Since God thinks the highest of us, loves us passionately and fills us with His wonderful love, we have what it takes to allow the love of God to pour out profusely perfecting us into people able to please God. Christian rapper Lecrae sings in his song "Don't Waste Your Life," "Magnify the Father." We cannot magnify the Father unless the Father lives in us. If you have the Father, you have the Son and Spirit. Like the Spirit lived in Joshua (Numbers 27:18), He also lived in Elisha empowering Elisha to magnify the Father right though sickness and death. Instead of wasting his life, Elisha has an eternal witness for God, and you can too.
What are some ways to avoid wasting your life living outside the will of God irregardless of the disabilities and abilities you possesses?
Joni Eareckson Tada is paralyzed from the neck down, married and in full-time Christian ministry. She and Steve Estes write in their book When God Weeps: Why Our Suffering Matters to the Almighty, "God uses affliction like a hammer and chisel, chipping and cutting to reveal his image in you. . . . God uses suffering to purge sin from our lives, strengthen our commitment to him, force us to depend on grace, bind us together with other believers, produce discernment, foster sensitivity, discipline our minds, spend our time wisely, stretch our hope, cause us to know Christ better, make us long for truth, lead us to repentance of sin, teach us to give thanks in times of sorrow, increase faith, and strengthen character. It is a beautiful image!"
Elisha is a beautiful image. Elisha lived consistently in a golden state of mind, in the mind of the Messiah which is the mind of God the Father, God the Son Jesus Christ and God the Holy Ghost. Even when be became sick Elisha was strong; He didn't hide himself and give up his ministry just because he had a big problem. Elisha didn't segregate himself into a special, separate ministry for the sick and disabled that was rarely included, involved and integrated with the larger society. Elisha interacted with all kinds of people. Elisha used his time wisely to know and to do what God asked him to; he was not shaken and swayed by popular opinion. Elisha prophesied to Jehoash king of Israel a victory over the Syrians. Instead of self-hatred, self-pity, shame and guilt about his sickness Elisha trusted in His God. Sickness did not spoil his relationships with God, himself or other people.
Elisha was so close and committed to God that even after he died of his sickness 2 Kings 13:21 says, "As a man was being buried [on an open bier], such a band was seen coming; and the man was cast into Elisha’s grave. And when the man being let down touched the bones of Elisha, he revived and stood on his feet."
Instead of focusing on our imperfections and inadequacies focus on the will of God and His ability to make a way at all times. Seek to leave a legacy beyond this life. Elisha did. Ephesians 5:17 Amplified Bible says, "Therefore do not be vague and thoughtless and foolish, but understanding and firmly grasping what the will of the Lord is." No time is a good time to wonder around aimlessly a bit blank regarding God's will for you.
Los creyentes son el ojo derecho de Dios (Believers are the right eye (the apple) of God's eye). Since God thinks the highest of us, loves us passionately and fills us with His wonderful love, we have what it takes to allow the love of God to pour out profusely perfecting us into people able to please God. Christian rapper Lecrae sings in his song "Don't Waste Your Life," "Magnify the Father." We cannot magnify the Father unless the Father lives in us. If you have the Father, you have the Son and Spirit. Like the Spirit lived in Joshua (Numbers 27:18), He also lived in Elisha empowering Elisha to magnify the Father right though sickness and death. Instead of wasting his life, Elisha has an eternal witness for God, and you can too.
What are some ways to avoid wasting your life living outside the will of God irregardless of the disabilities and abilities you possesses?
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