Counting on God
Stories
Contents
“Counting on God” by Keith Wagner
“Trusting the Shepherd” by Keith Wagner
Counting on God
by Keith Wagner
Psalm 46
We all have times when we are afraid. When things happen beyond our control we live in fear. Extreme weather, tragedies, and changing circumstances knock us off balance. We feel helpless because we are not capable of saving ourselves from the forces against us. The psalmist reminds us that “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble,” and we are assured that “God is in our midst.” Therefore we need not fear for “God is with us.”
When I have doubts I look to my grandfather who spent his entire life in ministry. He and my grandmother never owned a home until after they retired. They lived in parsonages all during my grandfather’s career as a pastor. I never will forget the first day we all gathered on the sight where my grandparents would build their first house. There was much work to be done but my grandfather didn’t seem the least bit troubled of the task ahead of him. He had the faith that they would prevail and prevail they did. They had one more house after that and eventually moved into a retirement home. But none of those transitions seemed to phase the faith of my grandfather. He believed that God was always with him.
There are times when we lack the faith to take chances like building a dream house. Sometimes we are skeptical or don’t trust that God is with us.
One time a man went with a friend for a ride in the country. They drove off the main road and through a grove of orange trees to a mostly uninhabited piece of land. A few horses grazed there, amidst a couple of old shacks. Walter stopped the car and began to describe vividly the things he was going to build on the land. He wanted his friend, Arthur, to buy some of the acreage surrounding the project. Walter explained to his friend, “I can handle the main project myself. It will take all my money, but, I want you to have the first chance at the surrounding acreage, because in the next five years it will increase in value several hundred times.”
Arthur thought to himself, “Who in the world is going to drive twenty-five miles for this crazy project? His friend’s dream had taken the best of his common sense.” He mumbled something about a tight money situation and promised to look into the deal later. But Walter said, “Later on will be too late. You’d better move on it right now.” But Arthur failed to act. So it was that Art Linkletter turned down the land that surrounded what later became Disneyland, the land his friend Walt Disney had tried to talk him into.
My wife and I like to travel. Whenever we venture out we always make reservations. We don’t like to have to search for a motel late at night. We want to be assured that we have somewhere to sleep. Several years ago we headed for Myrtle Beach for our annual family trip. We made reservations in Asheboro, North Carolina, which is about two-thirds of the way there. Sure enough, when we checked in we had a room waiting. We had also been watching the weather since a hurricane was due to hit the Myrtle Beach area the next day. We couldn’t go on to the beach the next day because it was being evacuated. Much to my surprise the woman at the counter said, “Don’t worry, I heard about the evacuation at Myrtle Beach and I went ahead and reserved your room for an additional night.”
A complete stranger was taking care of us. It rained all day the next day but we found several things to do. We found an antique store where I was able to purchase some collectible books for less than they were worth. We found a shopping mall and a restaurant. More than anything we discovered that Asheboro was a very pleasant community with many wonderful people. Had we only stayed the first night we would not have met any of them.
Storms of life may blow about us, but it is not exterior storms that pose the gravest danger. It is the conflicts within us that can overwhelm us. By reforming our attitudes and actions we can realize real security. It is those feelings of fear, despair, guilt, or the difficulty of making a decision that keep us trapped. When we have faith that God is with us we are free of those inner conflicts and therefore able to live our lives with peace and assurance.
* * *
Trusting the Shepherd
by Keith Wagner
Jeremiah 23:1-6
God is the great shepherd who cares about us. God knows us and is watching over us. When God is the center of our lives we live with reassurance and hope, not fear and despair. Just as a shepherd protects his flock from the wolves, God protects us from those things in life that threaten us. When we find ourselves in the midst of a storm, we can find peace and safety by trusting in God.
In the book, Sunset with God, published by Honor Books, there is a story that reminds me of trusting God. One time two young women boarded a ferry to cross the English Channel from England to France. About halfway through their five-hour journey, the ferry hit rough waters and a crew member told them they were experiencing some of the roughest seas of the year. The ferry tossed about rather violently on the waves, to the point where everyone, including the crew, felt ill.
At the time the ferry hit rough water, the two women were eating a light lunch in the back of the boat. They quickly put their sandwiches away. One woman said, “It’s hard to eat while you’re riding on the back of a bucking bronco.” When it became apparent that the pitching of the boat was not going to abate, one of the women decided to return to her assigned seat in the middle of the ferry. She soon fell sound asleep and experienced no more sea sickness. Toward the end of the trip, after the ferry had moved into calmer waters off the coast of France, the other woman joined her. “That was awful,” she said, “I was nauseous for two hours!”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” said her friend, almost ashamed to admit that she hadn’t suffered as her friend had. “Weren’t you sick?” her friend asked. “No,” she admitted. “In this seat I must have been at the fulcrum of the boat’s motion. I could see the front and back of the boat were moving up and down but here, the motion was relatively calm. I simply imagined myself being rocked in the arms of God, and I fell asleep.”
Life can be very unsettling all around us and we can be bounced around by life’s storms, but by trusting the good shepherd we are taken care of. The woman trusted that she would experience little motion in her seat in the middle of the ship. Someone was looking over her.
This fall my wife and I will be on a cruise from Montreal to Miami. When we went on our very first cruise my wife was fearful of getting sick. As a precaution she went to her doctor and he prescribed a patch that keeps you from getting sea sick. Since I was in the Navy I knew that the safest place to be during a storm was mid ship. Therefore I made sure our stateroom was located in the middle of the ship. There you don’t experience the extreme motion of bouncing up and down and side to side when the weather is rough. Between the medical expertise of my wife’s doctor and my Naval experience my wife did not get sick on her first cruise. Nor has she ever had a problem on any cruise since. She trusted the experience of her physician and also I like to feel that she trusted me.
I counsel people who experience all kinds of crises or “storms” in their lives. They are anxious and unsettled because they live at the edge rather than the center. Sometimes life is like being on a teeter totter. The ride can be really wild if there is no balance. I believe many people are lost today because their lives are out of balance. When a sheep strays from the flock they are living on the edge and consequently they are very vulnerable. God is the good shepherd who goes after the lost. God is totally aware of the whereabouts of every single sheep. God knows when we are lost and attempts to nudge us back into the flock.
As God proclaimed, “I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the lands where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold…I will raise shepherds over them who will shepherd them, and they shall not fear any longer.”
The shepherd is tuned in to the flock. He hears our cries of despair. He is sensitive to our needs and has empathy for our pain. Although there are times when it seems as though no one is listening, God is. God hears our cries of help since God is tuned in to our problems, our trials and our tribulations. We can trust that he hears our cries for help.
In the midst of World War II, there was a father holding his young daughter by the hand. The building they were in was being bombed and they fled for their lives. Earlier in the day a bomb had exploded in the street and created a huge crater. Seeking shelter as quickly as possible the father jumped into the hole created by the bomb and he held up his arms, telling his daughter to jump. But she was terrified by the explosions that surrounded them. Unable to see her father because of the smoke she said, “Papa, I can’t see you.” Her father called back to her and said, “But, I can see you, honey, so jump!” The little girl jumped, not because she could see her father but because her father could see her. She trusted him and took a leap of faith.
*****************************************
StoryShare, November 24, 2019 issue.
Copyright 2019 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to the StoryShare service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons, in worship and classroom settings, in brief devotions, in radio spots, and as newsletter fillers. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to permissions@csspub.com or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
“Counting on God” by Keith Wagner
“Trusting the Shepherd” by Keith Wagner
Counting on God
by Keith Wagner
Psalm 46
We all have times when we are afraid. When things happen beyond our control we live in fear. Extreme weather, tragedies, and changing circumstances knock us off balance. We feel helpless because we are not capable of saving ourselves from the forces against us. The psalmist reminds us that “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble,” and we are assured that “God is in our midst.” Therefore we need not fear for “God is with us.”
When I have doubts I look to my grandfather who spent his entire life in ministry. He and my grandmother never owned a home until after they retired. They lived in parsonages all during my grandfather’s career as a pastor. I never will forget the first day we all gathered on the sight where my grandparents would build their first house. There was much work to be done but my grandfather didn’t seem the least bit troubled of the task ahead of him. He had the faith that they would prevail and prevail they did. They had one more house after that and eventually moved into a retirement home. But none of those transitions seemed to phase the faith of my grandfather. He believed that God was always with him.
There are times when we lack the faith to take chances like building a dream house. Sometimes we are skeptical or don’t trust that God is with us.
One time a man went with a friend for a ride in the country. They drove off the main road and through a grove of orange trees to a mostly uninhabited piece of land. A few horses grazed there, amidst a couple of old shacks. Walter stopped the car and began to describe vividly the things he was going to build on the land. He wanted his friend, Arthur, to buy some of the acreage surrounding the project. Walter explained to his friend, “I can handle the main project myself. It will take all my money, but, I want you to have the first chance at the surrounding acreage, because in the next five years it will increase in value several hundred times.”
Arthur thought to himself, “Who in the world is going to drive twenty-five miles for this crazy project? His friend’s dream had taken the best of his common sense.” He mumbled something about a tight money situation and promised to look into the deal later. But Walter said, “Later on will be too late. You’d better move on it right now.” But Arthur failed to act. So it was that Art Linkletter turned down the land that surrounded what later became Disneyland, the land his friend Walt Disney had tried to talk him into.
My wife and I like to travel. Whenever we venture out we always make reservations. We don’t like to have to search for a motel late at night. We want to be assured that we have somewhere to sleep. Several years ago we headed for Myrtle Beach for our annual family trip. We made reservations in Asheboro, North Carolina, which is about two-thirds of the way there. Sure enough, when we checked in we had a room waiting. We had also been watching the weather since a hurricane was due to hit the Myrtle Beach area the next day. We couldn’t go on to the beach the next day because it was being evacuated. Much to my surprise the woman at the counter said, “Don’t worry, I heard about the evacuation at Myrtle Beach and I went ahead and reserved your room for an additional night.”
A complete stranger was taking care of us. It rained all day the next day but we found several things to do. We found an antique store where I was able to purchase some collectible books for less than they were worth. We found a shopping mall and a restaurant. More than anything we discovered that Asheboro was a very pleasant community with many wonderful people. Had we only stayed the first night we would not have met any of them.
Storms of life may blow about us, but it is not exterior storms that pose the gravest danger. It is the conflicts within us that can overwhelm us. By reforming our attitudes and actions we can realize real security. It is those feelings of fear, despair, guilt, or the difficulty of making a decision that keep us trapped. When we have faith that God is with us we are free of those inner conflicts and therefore able to live our lives with peace and assurance.
* * *
Trusting the Shepherd
by Keith Wagner
Jeremiah 23:1-6
God is the great shepherd who cares about us. God knows us and is watching over us. When God is the center of our lives we live with reassurance and hope, not fear and despair. Just as a shepherd protects his flock from the wolves, God protects us from those things in life that threaten us. When we find ourselves in the midst of a storm, we can find peace and safety by trusting in God.
In the book, Sunset with God, published by Honor Books, there is a story that reminds me of trusting God. One time two young women boarded a ferry to cross the English Channel from England to France. About halfway through their five-hour journey, the ferry hit rough waters and a crew member told them they were experiencing some of the roughest seas of the year. The ferry tossed about rather violently on the waves, to the point where everyone, including the crew, felt ill.
At the time the ferry hit rough water, the two women were eating a light lunch in the back of the boat. They quickly put their sandwiches away. One woman said, “It’s hard to eat while you’re riding on the back of a bucking bronco.” When it became apparent that the pitching of the boat was not going to abate, one of the women decided to return to her assigned seat in the middle of the ferry. She soon fell sound asleep and experienced no more sea sickness. Toward the end of the trip, after the ferry had moved into calmer waters off the coast of France, the other woman joined her. “That was awful,” she said, “I was nauseous for two hours!”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” said her friend, almost ashamed to admit that she hadn’t suffered as her friend had. “Weren’t you sick?” her friend asked. “No,” she admitted. “In this seat I must have been at the fulcrum of the boat’s motion. I could see the front and back of the boat were moving up and down but here, the motion was relatively calm. I simply imagined myself being rocked in the arms of God, and I fell asleep.”
Life can be very unsettling all around us and we can be bounced around by life’s storms, but by trusting the good shepherd we are taken care of. The woman trusted that she would experience little motion in her seat in the middle of the ship. Someone was looking over her.
This fall my wife and I will be on a cruise from Montreal to Miami. When we went on our very first cruise my wife was fearful of getting sick. As a precaution she went to her doctor and he prescribed a patch that keeps you from getting sea sick. Since I was in the Navy I knew that the safest place to be during a storm was mid ship. Therefore I made sure our stateroom was located in the middle of the ship. There you don’t experience the extreme motion of bouncing up and down and side to side when the weather is rough. Between the medical expertise of my wife’s doctor and my Naval experience my wife did not get sick on her first cruise. Nor has she ever had a problem on any cruise since. She trusted the experience of her physician and also I like to feel that she trusted me.
I counsel people who experience all kinds of crises or “storms” in their lives. They are anxious and unsettled because they live at the edge rather than the center. Sometimes life is like being on a teeter totter. The ride can be really wild if there is no balance. I believe many people are lost today because their lives are out of balance. When a sheep strays from the flock they are living on the edge and consequently they are very vulnerable. God is the good shepherd who goes after the lost. God is totally aware of the whereabouts of every single sheep. God knows when we are lost and attempts to nudge us back into the flock.
As God proclaimed, “I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the lands where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold…I will raise shepherds over them who will shepherd them, and they shall not fear any longer.”
The shepherd is tuned in to the flock. He hears our cries of despair. He is sensitive to our needs and has empathy for our pain. Although there are times when it seems as though no one is listening, God is. God hears our cries of help since God is tuned in to our problems, our trials and our tribulations. We can trust that he hears our cries for help.
In the midst of World War II, there was a father holding his young daughter by the hand. The building they were in was being bombed and they fled for their lives. Earlier in the day a bomb had exploded in the street and created a huge crater. Seeking shelter as quickly as possible the father jumped into the hole created by the bomb and he held up his arms, telling his daughter to jump. But she was terrified by the explosions that surrounded them. Unable to see her father because of the smoke she said, “Papa, I can’t see you.” Her father called back to her and said, “But, I can see you, honey, so jump!” The little girl jumped, not because she could see her father but because her father could see her. She trusted him and took a leap of faith.
*****************************************
StoryShare, November 24, 2019 issue.
Copyright 2019 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to the StoryShare service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons, in worship and classroom settings, in brief devotions, in radio spots, and as newsletter fillers. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to permissions@csspub.com or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
