Pray in Faith
When life is moving smoothly, it's always easy to preach that you should pray in faith that God will deliver. But your faith is tested when you are in a bind. That's when what you preach is tested - do you really pray with faith that God will provide and be beside you as you undergo your tribulation.
That moment of trial has descended on me. I'm in a bit of a financial limbo now as some of my financial investments have been hauled up by the authorities under suspicion of being money-laundering vehicles. This is despite the fact that one agency of the government approved the investment but another is being a wet blanket trying to suffocate you.
The organizers of the investment scheme have assured me that everything will be ironed out within 60 days, but the devilish voices keeping nagging that I will go under financially. Now is the time I'm being tested in my resolve to depend solely on God's wisdom and providence.
In the midst of this tumultous moments, my friend forwarded this story to me, that uplifted my spirit and assured me firther that Jesus is walking with me. I hope that it helps you too...
During World War II, a young soldier became separated from his unit on a Pacific Island. In the smoke and the crossfire, he had lost touch with his comrades. Alone in the jungle, he could hear enemy soldiers coming in his direction. Scrambling for cover, he found his way up a high ridge to several small caves in the rock and quickly crawled inside.
Although safe for the moment, he realized that once the enemy soldiers looking for him swept up the ridge, they would quickly search all the caves and he would be killed. As he waited, he prayed, "Lord, if it be your will, please protect me. Whatever your will though, I love you and trust you. in jesus name, Amen."
When he looked up from his despairing plea for help, he saw a spider beginning to weave its web at the entrance of the cave. As he watched the delicate threads being slowly drawn across the mouth of the cave, the young soldier pondered its irony. He thought to himself, "God really does have a sense of humor. I asked God for protection and deliverance and He sent me a spider instead. I needed a stone wall and God sent a spider. How can a spider save me?"
Soon he heard the sound of his enemies, who were now scouring the area looking for those in hiding. One soldier with a gun slowly walked up to the cave's entrance. As the young man crouched in the darkness, hoping to surprise the enemy in a last-minute desperate attempt to save his own life, he felt his heart pounding wildly out of control. As the enemy moved cautiously forward to enter the cave, he came upon the spider's web, which by now was completely strung across the opening. He backed away and called out to a comrade, "There can't be anyone in here. They would have had to break this spider's web to enter the cave. Let's move on."
The young man fell on his face and cried out to God, "Lord, forgive me, I had forgotten that in you a spider's web is stronger than a brick wall."
Years later, this young man, who become a preacher and evangelist, wrote about that ordeal. What he observed has stood by me in times of trouble, especially during those times when everything seemed impossible. He wrote: "Where God is, a spider's web is as a stone wall. Where God is not, a stone wall is as a spider's web."
We all face times of great trouble. When we do, it is so easy to forget the victories that God would work in our lives, sometimes in the most surprising ways, if we would only trust him. Nehemiah reminded the people of Israel when they faced the task of rebuilding Jerusalem, "In God we will have success!" [Nehemiah 2:20]
Whatever is happening in your life today, just remember... "Where God is, a spider's web is as a stone wall. Where God is not, a stone wall is as a spider's web."