God Goes with You

 CHAPTER  TWO
GOD GOES WITH YOU
I wasn't sure if I could make it to small group this morning. I woke up at 3:00 A.M. I had some discomfort in my stomach. It felt a little like food poisoning but not nearly as severe. It was not. I immediately had to go to the bathroom and there eliminated much waste material. I was glad that the colon cleanse worked to a significant degree like yesterday but was at the same time feeling weakness in my joints and so this morning walking to the bathroom was not easy. I went back to sleep only to wake up two hours later with more waste material to eliminate. Overall, after the elimination I felt like I had more energy and more clean, but my primary problem of my joints today was worse than yesterday. I had really struggled to get from the car to the house where small group was at. Even now, both my left knee and left ankle is quite uncomfortable. There are times where I wonder about God's presence and comfort in times of difficulty.
The author discusses two examples, one from the Bible and one from modern times about how God helps us when we cry out to him. The first is Danny Velasco. Danny was at one time a very successful hair dresser and makeup artist known both here and in Europe. He made a significant amount of money, but he had a dark side. He had a drug addiction.Near his downfall, one group of young women at the Brooklyn Tabernacle had their hair cut by him and they took that opportunity to share Jesus with him and pray for him. He refused to have anything to do with Jesus for a while until he ended up in the hospital. This is what happened.
"Suddenly all the voices in my head started screaming, creating total chaos within me. I was so disoriented, I wanted to die! But I couldn't jump out a window because they were barred.
"Then, in the midst of all my pain, something or someone whispered words I had heard before: The day you call on the Lord, he will set you free. All the other voices tried to drown it out, but they couldn't! I don't know if it was an angel or the Holy Spirit, but the words came through clearly: 'The day you call on the Lord, he will set you free.' In absolute desperation I screamed from my bed, 'Jesus, help me! O God, help me with everything! You're my only hope, so please help, Jesus!' I didn't understand anything about prayer, so I even used 'personal references' as I cried out: 'Jesus, Wanda said that when I called on your name, you would deliver me. So help me now, O God.'
"At that moment Almighty God swept over me and around me. 1 knew he was real because all the voices in my head suddenly stopped their hellish screaming and the ball of fear that had been weighing on me lifted. I knew everything had changed even though nothing outwardly had— I was still lying in my vomit in a hospital bed in the Bronx. But I was a million miles from where I had been before I said that prayer. The day I called on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, he did set me free!"
Danny Velasco went from that hospital in the Bronx to a three-month rehab program. In short order, he gained thirty-five pounds and his body began to heal. From there he eventually ended up in a Christian program in upstate New York, where he devoured the Bible like a man ravenous with spiritual hunger. He loved reading the New Testament, because that's where he could get to know this Jesus who had set him free. In the eight years since his conversion, Danny's spiritual growth has been strong and steady. He has wonderful compassion for people who are hurting and shows a gift for public speaking and ministry. It's exciting to see how the Lord is using this "hopeless case" of a man to show the world the depth of his grace and power. Today Danny also belongs to the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir and sings in two services each Sunday. Who can imagine the joy he feels whenever the choir members lift their voices and sing one of his favorite songs, "God Is Still Doing Great Things"! Great things, indeed!"
I love this story. It is really encouraging to see both the transformation in his life and the immediate way in which God responded to his prayer for help on the hospital bed. So many mornings and nights I cry out to God for help and yet so many times it seems like God has forgotten me. I long to desire God's healing hands and presence in my life. The title of the song is a great title. God is still doing great thing. These days I do not have the spiritual vision to see God at work. I mean I will see it from time to time like how God totally saved my dad three weeks ago when a huge delivery truck nearly sandwiched our Honda. I guess I don't see it often enough or as much as I would like. I long desire to see God heal and God do great things in my life. The other example shared in this chapter is from Judges.

"God was about to break Israel's twenty-year bondage because his people had finally humbled themselves and begun to cry out for his help. But his solution may not have been exactly what they had been praying for. No doubt they would have liked God to annihilate the enemy army and its nine hundred iron chariots immediately. Instead, the Lord sent a prophetic word to Deborah, who was the judge, or leader, of Israel at the time. Under the inspiration of the Spirit of God, Deborah delivered a message to a man named Barak:
"The Lord, the God of Israel, commands you: 'Go, take with you ten thousand men of Naphtali and Zebulun and lead the way to Mount Tabor. I will lure Sisera, the commander of Jabin's army, with his chariots and his troops to the Kishon River and give him into your hands'" (Judges 4:6-7).
Many of us can only imagine one specific method for God to answer our prayer:
1. We have a need.
 2. We ask for God's help.
 3. He sends the answer we ask for.
While God often does work in this manner, he also responds in more complex ways. That's what happened with the Israelites in this case. God's answer came in the form of a call to courageous action on the part of God's people. Barak was ordered to go forward and lead an army of 10,000 men to meet the enemy face-to-face. God could have slain all of Sisera's army in their camp, but instead he summoned his people into a cooperative endeavor with him."
This other way is far more frightening than God simply fighting our problems away. But, sometimes God does not operate like that. God sometimes calls us to courageous faith in partnering with Him to take on our problems. The difficulty is that sometimes we are called to be still and sometimes called to go. I desire to see God's power to bring a mighty deliverance as God provided here. I am right now going through something that requires faith. I cannot find a job locally but have found several jobs out of state. I feel like God might call out me once again out of my comfort zone to leave home. New York already was such a struggle, and I am not sure if I am ready to do that again. Sometimes God provides in a supernatural way if only we take huge steps of faith.
"Does Almighty God really need our help? Of course not. But when the Lord's method for accomplishing his purpose includes you and me, then it is both a wonderful privilege and a sacred responsibility for us to respond with faith. When Danny Velasco first called on the name of the Lord, God sent immediate mercy and grace to help him in his time of need. His story serves as a reminder of the awesome power of a prayer-answering God!
Even so, the next prayer Danny prays might be answered in a totally different manner. It may involve being recruited to attempt something he never imagined he could do. If that happens, the Lord will have gone before him and the outcome will be secure. The same is true for you and me as we serve the Lord.
Don't be afraid to ask God for great things. Anything less dishonors the One who has given us such awesome promises. When his answers and blessings come showering down upon us, let's praise him with all our hearts. But on those occasions when he whispers, "Go! Arise, and do what I've shown you to do," let us remember that many of the sweetest answers to prayer involve working together with God to accomplish his purposes."
Prayer,
Father, I long desire to see You do great things through my life. At present, I face so many impossible situations. My health situation, joblessness situation, absence of purpose and ministry, singleness situation, financial situation, and these are the ones most immediate on my mind. I long desire to see You heal me and that I may be restored to wholeness. I long desire to get hired for any job but this job quest has been a fruitless one. I am at a church where there is no one within fifteen years of my age and the average age is about 75. I am not sure about my role and purpose in Your kingdom but long desire to be an influence. I see so many impossible situations just like Danny and just like Your people in the book of Judges. You were faithful then, and I pray to see Your faithfulness in my life. Father, I long desire to experience Your healing, hope, and provision in my life.