November Devotion:

God’s Word:


“And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and said to him, ‘Zaccheus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house’. . . and Jesus said, ‘Today slavation has come to this house . . . For the Son of man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.’” Luke 19:5,9,10 (NASB)

Devotional Thought:

The Anglican Church building in Fort Severn is condemned. The floor flexes under your feet, the ceiling drips with rain drops, and the frigid winter air blows through the cracks in the walls. This spring I called my friend Moses to set up the summer’s Vacation Bible School. He was humming and hawing and eventually told me he didn’t have a place large enough for LAMP’s small team of three VBS teachers to work with the kids. It was clear he was concerned for the security of the children telling me his church just wasn’t a safe place anymore.


Condemned Anglican Church in Fort Severn

Well, sometimes these things happen. As I tell my VBS teachers, “You have to be flexible.” I didn’t want to say it, but it came out of my mouth, that maybe after thirty years of VBS in Fort Severn we should skip a year and pray that a new church will be constructed for the following year. This was totally out of the question. Moses told me Bible school is very important in his community. In fact, he said, “Two weeks after the VBS team leaves our village, the children continue coming to the church every day, looking for the Bible School teachers.”

The kids in Fort Severn love VBS

 Realizing the positive impact of this one special week for the children of Fort Severn, Moses did some scrambling and sure enough there was another building in town that became available for our planned week of VBS.

In our relationship with God, sometimes it seems our “place of meeting” has become condemned. Our prayers barely reach the ceiling as we struggle to keep our footing on solid ground. Life doesn’t seem fair, and if there is a God, He is not moving too fast to fix this discrepancy. The walls of communication seem to be falling apart with no promise of repairs. Everything we try seems to be in vain. David in Psalm 6 says, “I am weary with my sighing; Every night I make my bed swim, I dissolve my couch with my tears”(NASB). Sometimes we are left without an answer to prayer.

However, God comes to us, looking for us as He searched for Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. “The Lord is compassionate and gracious, Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness….As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.” Ps. 103:8,12 (NASB). God finds a way, and opens the door for our salvation. (John 10).

Prayer:

Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer; . . . In the day of my trouble I shall call upon Thee . . . There is no one like Thee among the gods, O Lord; . . . For thou art great and doest wondrous deeds; Thou alone art God. Ps 86 (NSB).