Category: If You Need Comfort

The Legend of the Cherokee Indian Youth’s Rite of Passage

His father takes him into the forest, blindfolds him and leaves him alone.  He is required to sit on a stump the whole night and not remove the blindfold until the rays of the morning sun shine through it.  He cannot cry out for help to anyone. 

Once he survives the night, he is a MAN.   He cannot tell the other boys of this experience, because each lad must come into manhood on his own.   The boy is naturally terrified. He can hear all kinds of noises. Wild beasts must surely be all around him. Maybe even some human might do him harm. The wind blew the grass and earth, and shook his stump, but he sat stoically, never removing the blindfold. It would be the only way he could become a man!
Finally, after a horrific night the sun appeared and he removed his blindfold. It was then that he discovered his father sitting on the stump next to him.  He had been at watch the entire night, protecting his son from harm.   

We, too, are never alone. Even when we don’t know it, God is watching over us, Sitting on the stump beside us. When trouble comes, all we have to do is reach out to Him.    

Moral of the Story:
Just because you can’t see God, doesn’t mean He is not there.
“For we walk by faith, not by sight.” 

Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply.  Speak kindly. Leave the rest to God.

Mercedes Benz Story – We Have No Record

A man from London was vacationing in France, driving his Mercedes Benz automobile, when he heard a loud bang, and his car veered off the road.  He called a tow truck, which towed him to the nearest town with a Mercedes dealership.  The mechanic discovered that the rear axle was broken, and a day later was able to fix it. 

After a few more days of vacation, the man returned to London with his car.  As the car’s warranty was no longer good, he expected to receive a bill for the car repair.  Three weeks went by, and he had not received a bill, so he wrote the dealership a letter.

A few days later he received a letter from the regional office of Mercedes Benz, stating: 

Dear Mr. Jones:

Thank you for your inquiry regarding a bill for work on your car.  We sincerely regret the inconvenience to you on your recent trip to France.  However, we have no record of a Mercedes Benz automobile ever breaking an axle. 

Have a nice day.

Best regards,

See, that’s how the Lord works – Satan stands before God with a list of our sins, accusing us of our sins before the holy, righteous God of the universe.  But we repent of our sins, God says to Satan:  WE HAVE NO RECORD OF ANY SINS COMMITTED BY THIS PERSON.

Depart from me, you evil creature!  And he pushes the trap door button, and Satan falls back down into the lake of fire.

That is the incredible loving and merciful God that we serve!