Tag: prayer

Even When You Complain

On By LindaIn short stories1 Comment

She ran away. Like she always tried to do when confronted with too much stress. This time it was a decision she was having a hard time making. Go to the church service Ruth wanted her to go to? Or go to the prayer meeting at Louis’s house that she had been invited to, again. She didn’t want to do either but didn’t know how to say no. So she ran away to her favorite place – the beach.

Once on the beach, she sat down and began complaining and answering herself, not waiting for God to speak. Almost immediately, like a cool breeze and just as quick, she got the impression that Jesus sat down next to her. Even so, she continued to complain. “Why is hearing from God so hard? Why doesn’t He ever speak audibly to me? It’s not like it would make a difference in my faith or love for Him.  Why do I have to stay here in this small town? There’s nothing here for me. What would I do if I knew I was going to be here for a couple more years? Probably nothing more than what I’m already doing. Why do I have to go to Louis’s prayer meetings? That makes three meetings a week. That’s too much! How can I get out of it?  Maybe I could tell him that, although I won’t be attending the meetings, I would still like to be invited to any other gatherings they have. Like maybe if they have a picnic.”

That gave her a great idea – a beach party! She could invite all the believers she had come to know in this town – which weren’t that many actually. They could roast marshmallows and sing worship songs around the campfire!  That would be awesome! She got so excited, she forgot about complaining.

She looked up into the darkening sky and saw the moon. It looked to her like the eye of God was looking directly at her. She smiled up at it and asked God to help her with her new plans. Then as she left, still smiling, she thanked Jesus for the quiet time on the beach. And she was once again amazed at the unconditional love He had for her even when she was upset and full of complaints!

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The Attack… and Some Brown Leaves

On By LindaIn short stories4 Comments

Already feeling low from struggling with a decision she was finding hard to make, she was not prepared for her dad’s attack.

“Christians are all ignorant fools,” he told her. “Too stupid to use their own minds, they just follow whatever the church says. Blind faith. Stupid faith.”

“It’s not like that,” she tried to explain. But he wouldn’t listen.

“You’re no better than them. You have been brainwashed into believing God can actually love you. That He’s actually interested in your life. He is God! Creator of the universe! He doesn’t care about each tiny individual. He made the world and now it’s up to us.”

“But that’s not what Jesus said…”

“Jesus!” he interrupted her. “He may have been a good man, but he was not God. He didn’t know any more than anyone else. People just made him into something he wasn’t because they needed something to hold on to when life got tough. Jesus is nothing more than a crutch.”

“He’s more than that, dad. He is God and He is with us. I know! I met Him!”

“If you believe that, you’re no better than any of those other delusional people. If you were smart, you’d drop this fantasy and look at life as it really is.”

“What about the Bible? The Bible says that Jesus is God and..” She was cut off again.

“It was written by ignorant people trying to explain a world they didn’t understand. We know better now. Science has proven most of the bible inaccurate. It’s just a book of fairy tales…”

And on and on he went, his voice rising as his anger against Christianity grew. Eventually, he got tired of ranting and left the room. She sat there, feeling as sore and bruised as if he had actually beat her. She slowly got up and got ready for bed. She started to pray but stopped. How could she? She didn’t deserve to be with Jesus. She had not been able to defend Him, to speak up for Him, to make her dad understand. She had let Jesus down. She felt like she couldn’t have Jesus anymore – not because He didn’t want her, but because they just couldn’t be together anymore. And she wanted Him. Not just because she needed Him and without Him, she wouldn’t have life, but because she loved Him. And so she wept.

The next day was spent in misery. She felt like God was on her side concerning her belief VS her dad’s belief, but that didn’t help much. She still felt like she had let Jesus down.

That night, before entering the church hall for the weekly prayer meeting she attended, she decided to take a walk down the church yard. It was dark, and the ground was covered with brown leaves from the many trees in the yard. As she walked with her eyes down, she began talking to God, telling Him how she felt. She really didn’t feel like attending the meeting. She was in no mood to go in there and greet everyone with hugs and smiles and pretend everything was OK. So she asked God what she needed to do.

“Rejoice, and praise Me in song and with your words.”

She sighed. “OK. Fine. But it won’t be emotional.” Then she added, “Please keep me from being a wet blanket on everyone else.”

As she walked, she pictured Jesus walking next to her. As often was the case, her image seemed to take on a life of its own, and she saw Jesus act like He was feeling as down as she was and kick at the leaves.

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This made her smile. Jesus feeling down? And kicking at the leaves? She looked up at Him as she joined Him in kicking leaves, and she saw that He was smiling.

“Jesus, You are amazing! You always know just the right thing to do for me!”

And she went into the hall to greet everyone with hugs and smiles and act like everything was OK. Because it was.

A Dime for Your Thoughts

On By LindaIn short stories4 Comments

She loved finding stray coins on the ground. Usually pennies, she always picked them up as a reminder to trust in God. The words engraved on them actually told her to do that. But sometimes she thought of them as a hug from Him, or a pat on the back for making a particularly hard decision or finishing a hard job.

Finding coins of higher value were rarer, but they too got picked up with a quick, “Thank You, God” or “I love You, God.”  Sometimes she would get a sense of His love in return, but not any more than that.

On this day, however, it was different.

She had stopped at a gas station to fill her car and to get a cup of ice before heading to her brother’s house almost two hours away. She had been to his house numerous times over the last several months. Although seeing him was always nice, that was not the purpose of these visits. Her dad was the purpose. He had moved in with her brother and was no longer able to take care of himself. In fact, his decline was accelerating and she never knew what she would find when she arrived. Would he be his nice self and they would have an enjoyable visit? Or would he be his angry self, yelling at her because she couldn’t do anything exactly as he wanted? Or would he be sleeping her whole visit making her feel the four hour round trip was for nothing?  Calling ahead did no good because his mood often changed by the minute.

So on this day, as she entered the gas station, she was feeling a tug of war. She wanted to be there for her dad, but she didn’t want to go just to sit there while he slept. And she didn’t want to be yelled at. Looking down, she spotted a dime.

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“Thank You, God,” she said as she usually did. However, this time she was startled to clearly hear in her spirit,  “And thank you for going to your dad.”

Hearing from God was always amazing to her, But for God of the Universe to actually thank her for something? That was truly amazing!

Trust Me

On By LindaIn short stories1 Comment

After her walk in the rain, she got in her car to head home. Home was about an hour away, through mostly uninhabited areas. There was the one small town between where she was and where she was going, but it was too small for even a traffic light. So she thought it would be an easy drive, especially in the early pre-dawn hours. She prayed like she usually did before making the drive, only this time her prayer was not about getting her safely home without delays or problems. It was that He would get her home according to His will. Why did she change her prayer, she wondered. That was strange.  But she just shrugged and drove out of the parking lot.

Thirty minutes later, as she entered that very small town, her car began to overheat. She watched with growing panic as the needle on the temperature gauge climbed steadily towards the HOT section.

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She was still almost 30 minutes from home. No way would she be able to make it. As she slowed down and studied the few buildings she was passing, all closed up and dark, she began complaining.

“Why can’t this have happened after I got home?  There are people there who can help me. I don’t know anyone in this town. Besides, they’re all sleeping anyway. So what am I going to do?  I don’t even know where to get water.  This is just my luck! If something is going to go wrong, it sure will. Look at that gauge! I can’t keep driving, or the radiator might explode or something. Where should I stop? Man, I’m so tired! Why did I have to go walking in the rain? If I had come straight home, the gas station would have still been open…”  On and on she went, getting more worried by the minute.

Finally she turned to God.

“Why are you letting this happen, Lord?” she demanded. “Aren’t You supposed to be taking care of me?”

In her spirit she heard Him clearly. “What did you ask me before you started driving?”

She thought for a moment, then remembered.  ‘Get me home according to Your will.’

“Yeah, but I didn’t mean this!”

“Trust Me.”

Trust Him? He wasn’t the one in a overheating car in the middle of the night, without even a flashlight. Or was He?

“OK. Where do I stop?”

Just then she saw lights ahead of her. As she got nearer, she saw that it was a small restaurant. Could it actually be open? As she looked through the large glass windows, she could see a waitress serving a man. So she pulled into the parking lot and went inside. Despite, or maybe because of, her appearance – a young girl, soaking wet and all alone – the waitress and man were happy to help her. After a small mishap with the radiator cap, the man managed to refill the radiator with the water the waitress brought him. And the car was ready to make the last leg of the trip home.

Back on the road, she thought about what had just happened. And was thankful that that man just happened to be in that restaurant just as she was passing it. The restaurant could have been empty, considering time of day it was.  Coincidence? She shook her head. Jesus had told her to trust Him. And He was right. She learned that even if things go wrong, He can be trusted to take care of her.

Hmmm… maybe He was behind her changing her prayer in order to provide her with this experience in trusting Him. That would explain a lot. He was sneaky that way sometimes.

“You are amazing,” she told Him. ‘But next time, can we just wait until I get home?”

Can I Get a Cat?

On By LindaIn short stories4 Comments

“Can I get a cat?” Rachel asked her parents yet again.

And yet again her parents  tried to explain to her that it was impossible. They already had a cat-hating dog. If they adopted a cat, it wouldn’t be able to live safely with them in their tiny trailer. It would most likely become dog food.

But she couldn’t understand that. Dogs and cats can live together. She had seen and read enough to know that was true. But then, that was probably in someone else’s world, not her’s.

“God, someday, can I get a cat?”

Things changed when they moved to their new house.  A two-story house! Surely there was lots of room to add a cat!

“Can I get a cat now?” she asked.

“No, we told you. We can’t have a cat while Spike is around. He doesn’t like cats.”

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Not the answer she wanted, so she went over their heads once again.

“God, will You give me a cat?”

 

So it was with great delight that she found a kitten while on a bike ride with her family.  It was so tiny and so alone and so scared. This had to be her cat!

“It looks sick,” her dad said.

“We can’t leave it here. She needs to go to the vet,” her mom said.

Rachel added her voice to her mother’s, and secretly thanked God for her kitten.

They made a bed for it in the garage, and Rachel spent as much time with it as she could.

“Can we keep her?” she asked her parents.

“No, we’ve already explained. We can’t have a cat with Spike. He will end up killing her. We need to find this kitten a home.”

As her parents tried to find a home for this kitten, Rachel intensified her prayers to God.

“Don’t let them find a home. Don’t let them find a home. Don’t let them find a home.”

As the days became weeks, Rachel’s mom couldn’t understand why she couldn’t find anyone who wanted a kitten. But Rachel knew why.

And so did God. He knew that Rachel was going to need Cassi  to help her through some very rough teen years. So He protected Cassi as she went from living in the garage to living upstairs in Rachel’s room. And over next 15 years, Cassi became a symbol to the whole family of His love and compassion and how He sets things in motion, often years in advance, to take care of needs that only He can see. What an amazing God!

What If Statues Came Alive?

On By LindaIn short stories4 Comments

“Really?” She raised her eyebrows at him with disbelief. “You mean, for real?”

“Yeah, for real. Want to?” He smiled at her playfully.

“It’s storming outside!”

“No, it’s just raining now. The lightning is gone. It’ll be safe.”

“But it’s…” she looked at her watch, “two in the morning!”

“So?”

She didn’t answer.

“You afraid of the rain?”

“No. I love the rain.”

“So, let’s go!”

” But what if there’s someone else out there? Someone who might hurt us or rob us or something?”

“No one is going to be out there. It’s raining!”

“We’re going to be out there.”

“Yeah, but we’re crazy.”

Reluctantly she agreed. This was probably going to be one of the stupider ideas he’s had. Walking  down a street, in the middle of the night, in the rain?

But as they walked, hand in hand, hair and clothes plastered to their bodies, she had to admit it was fun. Way more fun than saying good bye to him and driving that long drive home.

Laughing with delight in the experience, they made their way to the end of the road, where they came to his church.

“Hey, let’s go inside,” he suggested.

“Won’t it be locked?”

“Nope. They never lock the door.”

“What if someone sees us? We’re a mess!”

“Who’s going to be there in the middle of the night? Besides us, that is.” He laughed again.

So she agree and they went inside.

“We should leave,” she said, looking at the floor. “We’re getting the floor all wet.”

“Don’t worry. It’ll evaporate.”

They walked down the center aisle and looked around at the stained glass and the large statues all around them.

“Just imagine if these statues came alive,” he said.

“That would be spooky.”

“But what if they did? What would they say?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know.” She wasn’t so sure she liked this game.

As they turned around to head back out, a large statue of Jesus caught their eyes.

“I have an idea,” he said. “Let’s imagine that statue of Jesus coming alive and coming down the aisle to stand right in front of us. And let’s listen to what He would say.”

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“He’d probably say we’re being stupid for being here instead of at home, considering tomorrow is a work day, and…”

He cut her off. “Let’s just see, OK? Close your eyes and listen.”

She sighed, but did as he asked.

Within seconds, an image filled her mind. An image of Jesus standing in front of her, looking at her with so much love all she could do was gaze at Him. Then He put His arms around her encouragingly, and walked her out of the church saying, “Let’s do it together.”

“Well, anything?” he interrupted her imaginings.

She shared what she had seen, and he smiled. “That’s pretty much what I got too.. Jesus loving me and holding me in His arms.”

As they left the church,  awed at His response to their silly game., she was filled with thankfulness to the amazing God who loved her and promised to do life with her.  Even in the rain.

That Wasn’t Fair!

On By LindaIn short stories4 Comments

“There she goes again,” Evil One said to Evil Two.

“Is she running with that four-legged beast again?” Evil Two asked.

“Yeah, ” Evil One said.

“I’ve got an idea.”

There was a long pause.

“Well, are you going to tell me?” Evil One glowered at Evil Two.

“Sure.”

Another long pause.

“Now would be a good time.”  Evil One spat at Evil Two. “I don’t have forever.”

“Umm… actually, you do.”  Evil Two smiled his evil smile.

“Enough of this! What is your idea?”

“Well, you know how she goes in that room every week to … worship God,” Evil Two barely got the words out, but then continued. “And then comes back out and runs down the block with her dog?”

“Yeah, so?”

“What if we gave her a little nudge.”

“A nudge? Like to make her go faster?”

“A nudge. Like to make her fly.”

“Oooo… that would be awesome! Then when she landed, on her face of course, she will get mad at God because she believes He protects her from everything!”

They both chuckled savoring the image her hitting the ground and cursing God.

Then Evil One turned to Evil Two. “Whose going to ask His permission to do this?”

“Hmmm, that’s right.”  Evil Two grimaced. “We have to have permission to touch her. So what can we say that would make Him agree to this?

Evil One said, after a moment, “I’ve got it! We can say we only want to help her run faster to get back to the safety of her car. After all, it is late at night and evil does hide in the darkness.”

“You mean like us?”

“Yeah. No. I mean like another human that would want to hurt her.”

“Think He’ll go for it?”

“Let’s go see.”

 

Moments later they were back.

“I can’t believe He fell for it.” Evil One said. “Whose going to do the honor?”

“Oh, you do it,” Evil Two responded with an look of anticipation. “I want to see her expression from the front.”

They began moving towards the girl and the dog, who were now running back towards the parking lot.

“Wait!” Evil Two said. “Make sure you nudge her to the right so she lands on her bad right shoulder. Another dislocation would be awesome right now!”

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“Well, that didn’t turn out too well.” Evil Two said sadly as they watched her get back in her car with her dog and drive away.

“Yeah. I didn’t see that coming. Who said anything about an angel protecting her fall? He sure came out of nowhere, didn’t he?”

“And did you hear what she said?” Evil Two’s face scrunched up in disgust. “She thanked Him! She actually thanked Him for His protection! She’s flat on her face and she’s thanking Him! The only one she got mad at was us.”

“Well, actually, she wasn’t flat on her face. I had the angle just right, but that angel rolled her in the air. Her face and right side never even touched the ground. ”

“That wasn’t fair. And angel was not part of the deal.”

Evil Two shook his head. “Just wait until next time. We’ll make sure we include a ‘no angels’ clause.

 

The next day, Evil Two asked Evil One, “Want to go see what she wrote in her journal? Maybe after thinking about it, she might not be in such a thankful mood.”

“You might be right. As hard as she hit the ground, she should be feeling pretty sore. It’s hard to be thankful when you’re hurting.”   He gave a nasty chuckle.

She was just finishing her journal entry when they appeared in her room.

They read: “I don’t know what happened. But somehow I fell last night and hit the ground pretty hard. It could have been so bad. If I had landed on my right side, my arm could have been dislocated again. But I didn’t. Somehow I didn’t even land on my face even though I fell face first. God is so amazing! He must have protected me and made me roll on my left side. I am so thankful to Him for His protection.  I know I can’t always protect myself. My trust is in Jesus…”

“Disgusting,” Evil Two said to Evil One. “Let’s get out of here!”

And God laughed.

Your Car Could Explode!

On By LindaIn short stories6 Comments

“I wouldn’t drive it again,” the man at the gas station told her. “It could explode.”

She looked with dismay, mixed with fear, at her car’s exhaust pipe. She had filled her tank with gas earlier that day and noticed when she got home that some gas was leaking from her tail pipe. She waited until it had quit leaking, then drove to the nearest gas station for advice and noticed gas had started leaking again.

“Don’t drive it.” was not the advice she wanted to hear. She needed to leave town within the next hour. Could the man fix it by then?

“Nope,” he answered when she asked him. “It’s just the overflow tank that was filled too much.”

She shook her head. No, that couldn’t be right. She had filled it like she always had and this had never happened before.

“So what do I do?” she asked him.

“Wait for the gas in the exhaust to dissipate or drain before you start the engine again. Any spark could cause your car to burn. Maybe even explode if it got bad enough.”

“But I have to leave town soon.”

“Guess you’ll have to cancel whatever plans you have.”

“I can’t. My parents are expecting me tonight. If I can get to their house, my brother can fix my car before I drive back home.”

“You really need to have this repaired before driving long distance. If it leaks while you’re driving, and it got too hot, it could explode.”

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She frowned. Was she stuck here at the gas station? She used the office phone to call everyone she knew in this very small town, back in the day before cell phones, but no one was home. She assumed they were all at the high school homecoming. What should she do?

She considered her options but didn’t like any of them. So she turned to the One with all the power.

“God,” she prayed. “This is Your car, remember? I gave it to You when I gave You myself and all that I had. Your car has a problem and I can’t find anyone here to help me. I’m going to go ahead and go to my parents’ house so my brother can fix it.  Please keep me safe as I drive. Amen”

With the faith of a new believer, she ignored the objections from the gas station man, and began the hundred mile drive. She drove very carefully, believing it could explode at any time. It was a long drive. A very long drive. Had it always been this long?

Finally she reached her parents’ driveway, pulled in, and, with a sigh of relief, shut off the engine. “Thank You,” she said as she climbed out of the car.

It was too dark, and the car too hot, for her brother to look at it right away. So he waited until the next day.

“All four gas hoses are cracked,” he said. “You’re lucky it didn’t start burning, or even explode on your way here. But I can get that fixed for you before you go back home.”

She knew it wasn’t luck that had kept her safe. She also knew her decision to go ahead and drive the car after being told not to was not very wise.

She looked up and said, “Thank You, Lord, for protecting me even when I’m doing something stupid. Your love and care for me is simply amazing!”