This came from the Devotional Book Beyond the in-a-pinch God.
It is rather fitting considering all that has happened in the last few weeks.
A Grand Forks Story
Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous
and willing to share.-1 Tim. 6:18.
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In April 1997 eight blizzards, an ice storm, spring rains, and an early
thaw destroyed a community. It was destruction on a massive scale.
Homes, cars, schools, stores, churches, everything was under water.
Kevin Lance, a staff writer for the Herald, the local paper in Grand
Forks, North Dakota, wrote, "Most of the sights were merely awe
inspiring. As the helicopter filled with reporters hovered over
downtown yesterday, the husks of historic buildings were full of
ghostly grandeur, like the archival pictures of bombed out cathedrals
after the blitz in World War II."
Lance wrote of swimming pools adding their water to the swollen Red
River. Trampolines, bikes, and toys shimmied their way down main
streets. Baseball diamonds, playgrounds, rows of evergreens-all
covered.
One woman wrote of her transformation into a bag lady. "With no
disrespect to the homeless," she began, "for the first time in my life
I join the homeless. . . . I find myself at the mercy of strangers."
She mentions the Lutheran minister in Manvel, North Dakota, and his
parishioners who housed and fed her. "I sleep in the church secretary's
office, and eat better than at home."
Perhaps the best testimony came from, of all people, a man who worked
arduously to block the building of a church across the street from his
house. He was very hostile to the members and the minister. But all
this changed when he saw the church in action, when the members
responded to those in need. He said with tears in his eyes, "Now I have
seen the church outside its walls."
The church, you and me, is the best advertisement for the saving,
transforming power of Christ. But we are effective in helping people
spiritually only to the degree that we help them physically. The church
outside the walls is more important than the church inside the walls.
Check This Out
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How does helping people in times of crisis help the church win them to
Christ in times of peace and safety? Why are we tempted to preach to
people instead of first meeting their needs? Read Luke 22:27 to learn
the importance of serving others.
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<u>Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
7 ¶ Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.</u>
It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in men.Ps.118:8
