God’s Help in Crisis

A Still Small Voice: Rescued by God at the last minute
By Dale Hurd, CBN News

There are so many stories of God's hand at work amidst the horror of the World Trade Center attack. This is the miraculous story of how God preserved the life of one woman who listened to the Holy Spirit's voice.

NEW YORK CITY - As two hijacked planes were heading on a collision course with the World Trade Towers, one woman was prayerfully making her way to her desk on the 61st floor. It was an ordinary New York morning, and then tragedy struck. An announcement said she should stay, but a silent voice told Dawn Robinson it was time to leave.

"Every morning I make it a habit while I'm getting ready to pray, 'God, please help me through the day. This is the day that You have made. I'm going to rejoice and be glad in it.' Daily that's what I do to get prepared to go to work. And even that morning as I walked to the 61st floor, I rounded the corner and I said, 'I thank You for a good day. This is going to be a good day,'" said Dawn.

It was shortly after that the first plane hit the World Trade Center. There was confusion and Dawn went to a lower floor with some friends to see what was going on. They were told that everything was okay and to go back their office.

"So I went toward my office, but halfway to the elevator something stopped me. I wasn't trying to decide, 'Am I going to go up to my floor?' I just knew in an instant that I needed to get out. I felt immediate claustrophobia. I never experienced that before. It was an awareness I had never felt before, and it was immediate. It wasn't, 'Maybe I shouldn't go up.' I knew right then I had to get out of there no matter what the cost. I had to get out. And I know for a fact that was the Holy Spirit that spoke to me right then," Dawn said.

"So I turned around and I saw some of the people that I worked with and I said, ‘We have to leave now. Now. We have to go.’ So we found the stairwell and I would estimate probably 75 percent of the people stayed because they did exactly what they were told to do. They either stayed and went to the cafeteria, or they were trying to get back up to their floors.

"But something inside of me told me, 'Go, no matter what the cost. Get out of here.' So we started running down the stairwell, and you have to remember, there were thousands of people that ended up running down that same stairwell by the time we were actually going. And I think, I'm not sure, but I think we were on the 42nd floor when it hit our building. At this point, we still didn't have the comprehension that planes were hitting our buildings. At this point, in fact, somebody said, ‘Oh, I think it's terrorists.’ We all started laughing because we thought, ‘There's no way it's terrorists,’" she continued.

"So we started running down and I think it was on the 42nd floor or so that it hit us and it knocked us up against the walls. At that point, people were screaming and hysteria broke out. There was smoke covering us. There was water coming down. So some of us were yelling, “Just go! Go fast!” Because you're scared to death, you know you're up 40 flights and it's going to take a long time to get down 40 flights of stairs with thousands of people joining you," she explained.

"So I held on to the banister. I'm 49, so I made sure I had something to hang on to so I wouldn't be knocked over. I just tried to remain focused and I held on to that all the way down. It was a circle of stairs."

"I just kept praying very loudly, 'God, please protect us. Jesus, be with us.' When we got to the second level-that's also the street level-we found some doors that we could get out of. Debris was constantly falling on top of us once we got outside. It was like you were running, literally running from the fire that you saw behind you. And then the same sound [of an explosion] I had heard up in my office was what I was hearing again. I thought that we were just constantly being bombed, because you couldn't look up and see, and you couldn't see your hand in front of your face," she said as tears welled up in her eyes.

But Dawn pointed out that God clearly intended to take care of her.
"I feel like I have a whole new chance at life now. Had God not stopped me and put that urgency inside of me, I wouldn't be here today, because our floor was on fire and the second plane hit our floor," she said.

* * *

Promises of Protection

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, even though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea (Psalm 46:1- 2*). *Verses are New King James Version unless otherwise noted.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; your rod and Your staff, they comfort me (Psalm 23:4).

“I am with you to save you and deliver you," says the Lord (Jeremiah 15:20).

Your God, whom you serve continually, He will deliver you (Daniel 6:16).

Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, "This is the way, walk in it," whenever you turn to the right hand or whenever you turn to the left (Isaiah 30:21).

I am with you always, even unto the end of the world (Matthew 28:20 KJV).

I, the Lord your God, will hold your right hand, saying to you, “Fear not, I will help you”(Isaiah 41:13).



Pentagon official recounts events that spared his life
By Lt. Col. Franklin Childress, Baptist Press

WASHINGTON - In Jeremiah 29:11-13 the Lord boldly declares: "I know the plans I have for you. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Those verses have never been truer for me than they were on Tuesday, September 11, 2001.


My office was ground zero for the jet that hit the Pentagon. My office was totally destroyed, most of my co-workers were killed or severely injured, but I was spared. On that particular day, I was at my apartment waiting to receive a baggage shipment.

I checked into the Pentagon on September 4 for an assignment as the public affairs officer for the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Army for Personnel. I was assigned to a newly renovated wing of the Pentagon. I was overwhelmed by the strangeness of the Pentagon-who does what, what my role is.

I went through the process of checking in and meeting everybody I would work with and completed my processing requirements by Monday, September 10. As part of my arrival requirements, I worked with the Transportation Office at a nearby military installation for delivery of my household goods from Hawaii.

They initially set up the delivery for my shipment to be on September 6. When I called back to check the confirmation of that date, the person I spoke to said that the previous clerk had dropped the ball and I would have to wait a week to get my goods delivered. I was a little angry, but I resolved to take it in stride and make another appointment.

Little did I know that the date I chose for the delivery would be a decision that saved my life. I thought that I might have to meet my new boss, Lt. Gen. Maude on Monday, September 10, so I chose to have my baggage delivered on Tuesday, September 11.

I was sitting on my balcony watching and waiting for the moving company truck that was to deliver my baggage to arrive at 9:32 a.m. when I heard what I thought was a sonic boom. Then I heard fire trucks and ambulances rushing through the streets. I turned on the TV and was appalled to see that an American Airlines jet had crashed into the Pentagon. My shock continued as I watched the news come in about the World Trade Center in New York. I was watching when the twin towers came crashing down. My reaction was that I was watching the end of the world.


Then the most tragic news of all hit me like a hammer blow. The office where I work was the impact point of the crash. I learned that my boss and many of my co-workers were unaccounted for. If I had been at work that day, I would not be writing this now.

What I have come to realize is that I have been given the ultimate gift from God-my salvation. If I had been there that day, I would have been ready for God to take me home. I also realize that I have been given a second gift, that God miraculously spared my life that day. I am truly grateful to Christ who gives me strength.

Some people describe me as lucky and say that I was saved by a coincidence, but I believe that I am blessed. I know who saved me, and His name is not luck. I do not believe that anything happens by accident. I believe that God spared me for His purposes; I have to be still and let Him reveal His purpose for my life. Until that happens, I will tell everybody that I can about my miraculous gift.

In closing, I pray that every man, woman, boy, and girl who reads my words will consider the meaning of life. I pray that after their careful and prayerful consideration they, like me, will give their life over to Jesus Christ and trust Him as their Lord and Savior. I promise that if they do that they will have the promise that Jesus gives everyone, that they will have life and have it more abundantly.

I also pray that every Christian would be bold in their own witness. I believe that we have a narrow window of time to reach the lost because people are now open to the Word and because Jesus Christ is coming [back] soon. We may have been born for such a time as this.

* * *

Jew saves 'brother' Muslim
By Nigel Rosser, News & City

A Pakistani Muslim told how he was plucked to safety by a Hassidic Jew ahead of an avalanche of shrapnel after the World Trade Center attack.

The story of Usman Farman, a 21-year-old banker, counterbalances the wave of anti-Muslim anger sweeping America. Mr. Farman said: "I was on my back, facing this massive cloud that was approaching.

"I wear a pendant around my neck, inscribed with an Arabic prayer for safety. A Hassidic Jewish man came up to me and held the pendant in his hand. He read out the Arabic. What he said next, I will never forget.

"With a deep Brooklyn accent he said, 'Brother, there is a cloud of glass coming at us. Grab my hand. Let's get the hell out of here.' He helped me stand and we ran." Mr. Farman finally stopped about 20 blocks away.

"He was the last person I would have thought would help me."

How to Cope

It is a great matter to know just how to rest--how to be quiet when all around seems tumultuous.

We irritate and excite our souls about the coming emergency, and we approach it with worn and feverish spirits, and so mar our Master's purpose and work.

When the crisis comes, He will tell me what to do. The orders are not given until the appointed day. Why should I fume and fret and worry as to what the sealed envelope contains? When the hour strikes, the secrets shall be revealed.

And when the crisis comes, He will tell me what to say. I need not begin to prepare my retorts and my responses. What shall I say when death comes, to me or to my loved one? Never mind, He will tell me. And what when sorrow or persecution comes? Never mind, He will tell me.
--J.H. Jowett (19th-century English Congregationalist)

* * *

Attitude Is Everything
By Francie Baltazar-Schwartz

Jerry was the kind of guy you love to hate. He was always in a good mood and always had something positive to say. When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would reply, "If I were any better, I would be twins!"

He was a unique restaurant manager because he had several waiters who had followed him around from restaurant to restaurant. The reason the waiters followed Jerry was because of his attitude. He was a natural motivator. If an employee was having a bad day, Jerry was there telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation.

Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up to Jerry and asked him, "I don't get it! You can't be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?"

Jerry replied, "Each morning I wake up and say to myself, ‘Jerry, you have two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or you can choose to be in a bad mood.' I choose to be in a good mood. Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or I can choose to learn from it. I choose to learn from it. Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining or I can point out the positive side of life. I choose the positive side of life."

"Yeah, right. It's not that easy," I protested.
"Yes it is," Jerry said. "Life is all about choices. When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice. You choose how you react to situations. You choose how people will affect your mood. You choose to be in a good or bad mood. The bottom line: It's your choice how you live life."

I reflected on what Jerry said. Soon thereafter, I left the restaurant industry to start my own business. We lost touch, but I often thought about him when I made a choice about life instead of reacting to it.

Several years later, I heard that Jerry did something you are never supposed to do in the restaurant business: He left the back door open one morning and was held up at gunpoint by three armed robbers. While trying to open the safe, his hand, shaking from nervousness, slipped off the combination. The robbers panicked and shot him.

Luckily, Jerry was found relatively quickly and rushed to the local trauma center. After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, Jerry was released from the hospital with fragments of the bullets still in his body. I saw Jerry about six months after the accident. When I asked him how he was, he replied, "If I were any better, I'd be twins. Wanna see my scars?"

I declined, but did ask him what had gone through his mind as the robbery took place.
"The first thing that went through my mind was that I should have locked the back door," Jerry replied.

"Then, as I lay on the floor, I remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live, or I could choose to die. I chose to live."
"Weren't you scared? Did you lose consciousness?" I asked.

Jerry continued, "The paramedics were great. They kept telling me I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled me into the emergency room and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared. In their eyes, I read, ‘He's a dead man.' I knew I needed to take action."

"What did you do?" I asked.
"Well, there was a big, burly nurse shouting questions at me," said Jerry. "She asked if I was allergic to anything. ‘Yes,' I replied. The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply. I took a deep breath and yelled, ‘Bullets!' Over their laughter, I told them, ‘I am choosing to live. Operate on me as if I am alive, not dead.'"

Jerry lived, thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude. I learned from him that every day we have the choice to live fully. Attitude, after all, is everything.

* * *

Dr. Alexander Whyte of Edinburgh was famous for his prayers. He always found something to thank God for, even in bad times. One stormy morning a member of his congregation thought, The preacher will have nothing to thank God for on a wretched morning like this.
But Whyte began his prayer, "We thank Thee, O God, that it is not always like this."

* * *

This too will pass
If I can endure for this minute
Whatever is happening to me,
No matter how heavy my heart is,
Or how dark the moment may be--

If I can remain calm and quiet
With all my world crashing about me,
Secure in the knowledge God loves me
When everyone else seems to doubt me--

If I can but keep on believing
What I know in my heart to be true,
That "darkness will fade with the morning,"
And that this will pass away, too--

Then nothing in life can defeat me,
For as long as this knowledge remains,
I can suffer whatever is happening,
For I know God will break all the chains
That are binding me tight in the "darkness"
And trying to fill me with fear--
For there is no night without dawning,
And I know that "my morning" is near.
--Helen Steiner Rice

* * *

A prayer for difficult times
Keep me, Lord. Darkness is setting in.
I don't have the strength to face it. I'm weak, but You're strong. Be strong for me, Lord.
Get me through the night and help me greet the dawn with praise, because You are there. You can meet whatever comes my way.
Thank You for keeping me, Lord.

The Eye of Faith

The Eye of Faith
By Ron Rhodes

It was a Wednesday afternoon. Shrouded in a dense fog, a large steamer edged slowly forward off the coast of Newfoundland, its foghorn crying out somber notes of warning. The captain, nearing exhaustion from lack of sleep, was startled by a gentle tap on his shoulder. He fumed and found himself face to face with an old man in his late seventies.

The old man said, “Captain, I have come to tell you that I must be in Quebec on Saturday afternoon.”

The captain pondered for a moment, and then snorted, “Impossible!”
“Very well,” the old man responded, “if your ship can’t take me, God will find some other means to take me. I have never broken an engagement in 57 years.”
Lifting his weary hands in a gesture of despair, the captain replied, “I would help if I could-but I am helpless.”

Undaunted, the old man suggested, “Let’s go down to the chart room and pray.” The captain raised his eyebrows in utter disbelief, looking at the old man as if he had just escaped from a lunatic asylum.
“Do you know how dense the fog is?” the captain demanded.
The old man responded, “No. My eye is not on the thickness of the fog but on the living God who controls every circumstance of my life.”

Against his better judgment, the captain accompanied the old man to the chart room and knelt with him in prayer. With simple words a child might use, the old man prayed, “O Lord, if it is consistent with Thy will, please remove this fog in five minutes. Thou knowest the engagement Thou didst make for me in Quebec on Saturday. I believe it is Thy will.”

The captain, a nominal Christian at best, thought it wise to humor the old man and recite a short prayer. But before he was able to utter a single word, he felt a tap on his shoulder. The old man requested, “Don’t pray, because you do not believe. And as I believe God has already answered, there is no need for you to pray.” The captain’s mouth dropped open.

Then the old man explained, “Captain, I have known the Lord for 57 years and there has never been a single day that I have failed to gain an audience with the King. Get up, captain, and open the door, and you will find the fog is gone.” The captain did as he was requested, and was astonished to find that the fog had indeed disappeared.

The captain later testified that this encounter with the aged George Mueller completely revolutionized his Christian life. He had seen with his own eyes that Mueller’s God was the true and living God of the Bible. He had seen incredible power flow from a frail old man-a power rooted in simple childlike faith in God.

The late Pastor Ray Stedman once delivered a sermon in which he said, “Faith has an apparent ridiculousness about it. You are not acting by faith if you are doing what everyone around you is doing. Faith always appears to defy the circumstances. It constitutes a risk and a venture.”

That is the kind of faith George Mueller demonstrated decade after decade in his long and fruitful life. During the final year of his earthly sojourn, he wrote that his faith had been increasing over the years little by little, but he emphatically insisted that there was nothing unique about him or his faith. He believed that a life of trust was open to virtually all of God’s children if only they would endure when trials came, instead of giving up.

George Mueller (1805-1895)
One of the early members of the Brethren, he founded five orphans’ homes in Bristol, England, with shelter for 2,000 children. During his lifetime he cared for almost 10,000 orphans and received $1.5 million [multi-millions of today’s dollars] by faith alone. Before his death he estimated he had received 50,000 specific answers to prayer.

Believe

(From an essay by Dick Innes, Narramore Christian Foundation, entitled "The Power of Belief")


"Down the streets of Portsmouth [England] more than a hundred years ago," said Lt. General Ira C. Eaker in a speech given some time ago, "walked a sailor with one arm, one eye, and a persistent state of nerves, unable to tread a ship's deck without being seasick. Indeed, he would probably have been in a home for incurables were his name not Admiral Lord Nelson. The man's spirit drove the flesh."

Born in 1758, Horatio Nelson, the son of a pastor, was a small, frail child who loved sailing. As a young teenager he joined the British navy and, while journeying to the East Indies, caught a fever that seriously damaged his health. But he never allowed this to hold him back. At age 18 he was appointed a lieutenant in the Royal Navy and by the year 1802 was made commander in chief of the British fleet.

Two years later, at the Battle of Trafalgar, Nelson defeated the combined French and Spanish fleets. This was the greatest naval victory in British history and left the British in control of the seas for the rest of the 1800s. Unfortunately, Nelson was mortally wounded during Trafalgar, but lived long enough to know that his fleet had won the battle. His last words were, "Thank God I have done my duty."

Nelson was a man of fearless courage and devotion. He believed in his country, in his cause, and in himself. He proved this with his words and more so with his life. He once said, "I am of the opinion that the boldest measures are the safest." Nelson was a man greatly admired by others, who said about him, "His frail body housed a great spirit."

The prominent British philosopher John Stuart Mill would have agreed. He said, "One person with a belief is equal to a force of ninety-nine who only have interest."

No matter what your limitations or your handicaps are, God has a plan and purpose for your life. Believe it and you will receive it. Act on it and you will achieve it, and like the apostle Paul you, too, will be able to say, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith" (2 Timothy 4:7).

* * *

Dear God, give me belief in You, strong faith and trust to withstand, carry on, and be victorious in the storms and battles of life. Help me to so believe and live that when I come to the end of life's journey, I too will be able to say, "Thank God that I have done my duty." Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer.

* * *

Victory belongs to the most persevering.-Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821), emperor of France who conquered much of Europe

* * *

Through perseverance many people win success out of what seemed destined to be certain failure.-Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881), British writer and prime minister

* * *

Obstacles cannot crush [us]. Every obstacle yields to stern resolve. He who is fixed to a star does not change his mind.-Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), Florentine painter, sculptor, architect, engineer, and scientist

* * *

It's not that I'm so smart, it's just that I stay with problems longer.-Albert Einstein (1879-1955), German-born American physicist

* * *

It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves.-Sir Edmund Hillary (b. 1919), New Zealand mountain climber and Antarctic explorer, one of the first two climbers to reach the summit of Mount Everest

What Is Faith?

Faith is not just hoping, believing or somewhat expecting, but faith is knowing--absolutely knowing!

Faith has lost its meaning to us today. Today the word "faith" means kind of a hazy, vague belief of some kind in something or other.

Hebrews 11:1 says, "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for" and the word translated "substance" in this verse is the Greek word "hupostasis". When the New Testament was translated from the Greek into English nearly 400 years ago, the translators were still puzzled by this word "hupostasis," as it seemed to be some kind of business terminology not normally used in classical Greek literature. All they knew was that it meant something fairly substantial, so they translated it as "substance."

But some years ago archaeologists uncovered the remains of an old inn in northern Israel. There they found a small iron chest containing the valuable papers of a Roman noblewoman who had owned lands and property in Israel. And almost every paper had this title in big letters across the top: "Hupostasis"! They were all title deeds to her properties! This Roman woman had perhaps never seen her properties in Israel, but she knew they were hers and she could prove her ownership because she had the title deeds.

Someone promised to give me a car once, and they sent the title deed to me by mail. Though I'd never seen the car and never driven it, I knew it was mine because I had the title in my hand. So faith is what?--The title deed! "Now faith is the title deed to things hoped for" (Hebrews 11:1). If you've asked the Lord for something but haven't seen the answer yet, don't worry. If you have real faith, then you've got the title to it in your hands, and your name is written on it! It's yours and you will see it eventually!

* * *

Faith is believing when all seems past hoping,
Although receiving no glimmer of light,
Leaving the grieving and doubting and groping
To those who are living only by sight.

Faith is still trusting completely God's promise,
When it would almost seem God has forgot,
Refusing to be a weak doubter like Thomas,
Seeking no sign nor bemoaning our lot.

Faith is believing in God, and in clinging
To hopes of a future that one day shall be,
Faith is the courage to trust without doubting
That all that we hope for we one day shall see.

* * *


"Without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him" (Hebrews 11:6).

* * *

How Do We Get More Faith?


It is impossible to have faith unless you have the Word, because your faith is something that is built by faithful study of God's Word.


Trying to have faith is a work of the flesh. Accepting faith through His Word is a work of God's grace.


If you're weak in faith it's because you're weak in the Word.


The very Words of God are mingled with supernatural power to be released by the touch of your faith.