Recently I was thrown into a challenge I really feared, but when it was over, I realized that it was God’s blessing to help me grow up. The challenge was to accept huge risk and trust that God would enable me to overcome it. Even more, the challenge was to accept the risk and trust that whatever the outcome, it would be God’s blessing and gift.

The problem was that our sailboat’s diesel engine, the power source that get us in and out of harbors or past tricky hazards, quit working when we were in a location where there was not a diesel mechanic to be found. We were hundreds of miles from help. Our sailboat was well designed for ocean passages, but we felt unready for this kind of a passage. We had never sailed anywhere without an engine to fall back on. To set out with sails only on a journey that would take days and cover hundreds of miles was a little scary.

We took the big risk, trusting that God would not abandon us. As we plotted our course and watched the weather, we prayed for wisdom and guidance. We had to trust that God’s gift of wisdom would enable us to know the right day to set out. Otherwise we might have continued to wait indefinitely for some specific sign that it was the right time to go.

The day came. We prayed Psalm 62 together, committing ourselves to use every gift and talent God had provided, trusting he would carry us through the challenges that exceeded our abilities. We raised the sail and headed out. We sailed through wild winds and strange currents. We sailed in the moonlight and the midday sun. We changed sails in the dark of night and in torrential downpours. Before things got better they got worse, as additional systems aboard picked this time to fail. We faced and solved problems we had never faced before, and at all times, we counted on God’s promise to be with us wherever we were. We grew in faith, and we grew in skill. This big risky situation became a rich blessing. Six days later, just before sunrise, we tied up at a dock in a boat service facility with a diesel mechanic.

Some people might suggest that we should have prayed for God to provide a diesel mechanic where we were. I have no doubt that God could have done exactly that, but we did not feel led to pray that way. We asked God for wisdom, and our best understanding of his response to that prayer was to sail the boat to some place where there already was a mechanic. We had to stretch ourselves beyond our experience. We had to take beginner skills and grow them into master skills. We trusted God to guide us all the way. We did not sit back and wait for God either to deliver a mechanic to us or to teleport us to a mechanic.

Some people might say that we ought to be able to take the risk of a sailing challenge on our own without bothering God. Save him for the diagnosis of cancer or the death of a child. The Bible teaches us that God will go with us through any challenge. He calls each person to unique challenges, because he has given each person unique gifts. God wants us to mature and develop the gifts with which he endowed us at creation. In fact, my experience leads me to believe that just as parents lead their children to new challenges in order to help them grow up, the Holy Spirit calls us into risky situations that help us mature in our faith.

God is never really done with us, either. At the age of eighty Moses was called by God to do a terrifying job. Moses tried every way possible to avoid doing it, because he saw how risky it was. God overruled all his objections, and said, “I will be with you.”

After the crucifixion of Jesus, his followers met in locked rooms, fearing that they, too, would be arrested and executed. Yet, on the day Jesus ascended into heaven, he told them to get out and tell the good news to everyone. Knowing their fears, and knowing how well justified the fears were, he told them to take that risk anyway, and he promised, “I will be with you.”

Moses took the risk. The disciples took the risk. My husband and I took the risk. Each of us discovered that when our resources had run out, when we could not think of anything more to do about the problem, God was still there. He carried us through. He didn’t speak a magic word and take us out of our troubles. Rather, he walked with us through the challenges. He nudged. He tipped the balance. He showed us a new idea. He inspired a new question. He comforted us in our fears.

We aren’t all called to lead half a million people across a sea. Some of us are called to explore creation and discover God’s handiwork in faraway places. Some of us draw. Some of us sing. Some of us repair diesel engines or build computers. Each of us is unique, and each of us has potential we will never discover if we sit on our hands and wait for God to prevent all the risks. The people who jump out of helicopters to snowboard down mountains know that reaching your limit and discovering that it isn’t a limit at all is a high that is better than drugs. We don’t have to be snowboarders to experience that rush. We simply need to be faithful followers of our Lord, ready to accept the risks we encounter, trusting that he always leads us for our blessing. It is a risk well worth taking.

The gospel of Matthew opens with the story of Joseph’s dream in which an angel reassures him about Mary’s pregnancy, telling him that it is the fulfillment of God’s promise of the Messiah, whose name, “Emmanuel” means “God is with us.” The gospel continues with the story of Jesus’ life and work. The last words of Jesus in this gospel are, “I am with you always, to the end of the age.” [Matthew 28:20] At the time when Matthew wrote, late in the first century, people who had seen Jesus in the flesh were dying off. The growing community of faith needed to be reminded that the indwelling Holy Spirit was the evidence that God truly was present with them and in them.

All these thousands of years later, we still need that reminder. When circumstances conspire to make us feel afraid and helpless, Satan tempts us to think that God has abandoned us. He makes us ask, “If God loves you, why did this terrible thing happen?” We need reassurance that the Holy Spirit is truly present and that in the person of the Holy Spirit, God never abandons us.

My husband and I recently had an experience that brought home the truth that God is always with us, even when we are not paying attention. It is important for us to remember that God’s presence with us does not negate the operation of the laws of physics or meteorology. God has promised that as long as the laws of nature work the way they are supposed to, his love is sure. We want those laws to work. However, when we become captive to them and unable to help ourselves, then it is very good to know that God is with us and that he will work for our good in amazing and wonderful ways. Above all that, whether or not the outcome is just what we hoped for, he is present with us to give us peace with the situation as it develops for good or ill.

We cruised southward one morning toward a destination about a day’s sail from our departure point. As will happen to sailors, however, along the way, we spied a little cove on the chart that looked attractive. We said to ourselves that we could go to our planned destination the next day as we turned aside to our new adventure. We studied the charts, and we studied the notes in guide books. I stood on the bow to spot hazards, and Larry was at the helm to steer to our anchorage.

As will happen sometimes, we became disoriented in the unfamiliar surroundings. Then, caught in a current and uncertain of the correct course, we ran aground. As we tried to steer off the reef, the engine stopped and refused to restart.

In the US, such a situation is annoying, but not the end of the world. Boaters unable to free themselves simply call for a tow, sigh at the cost if they don’t have insurance, and move on. In the Bahamas, the situation is much different. There is no tow service. The Bahamian rescue service is truly focused on rescue in life-and-death situations. A simple mistake that puts a boat aground is the boater’s problem. Boaters are responsible for themselves, and they are well-advised to stay out of trouble if they don’t know how to deal with it. “Knowing” that is the result of reading how to deal with the problem is not, however, the same thing as “knowing” as a result of having done it. We had read the solution, but we had never performed the solution.

On the off chance that there might be someone around who operated a tow service anyway, we made a radio call. No result. Hoping that the Bahamian rescue service could put us in touch with someone who could tow us off, we called them. They could not hear us, although later a marina manager served as a relay between us and them. Still, that communication confirmed their commitment to embark on a rescue only if lives were in danger. Our boat was not taking on water, and nobody was even injured, let alone in a life-threatening crisis. We were on our own.

Every day as we sail or motor in our adventures, I pray that we will have wisdom to use our skills and experience in whatever circumstances come our way. I always pray that we will be safe. This day was no exception, but sitting aboard our grounded vessel, not knowing how we would ever get free without an engine, I prayed that we would see a solution. We knew that the recommended course of action involved deploying an anchor in deeper water and using it to pull ourselves off the rocks, but it was going to take time to do that job, because our dinghy was deflated and wrapped up on deck. We could not possibly throw the anchor far enough to help, and we could not inflate the dinghy, deploy it in the water, attach the outboard and get the anchor out in less than an hour. Still, time was wasting and we got started.

Then we heard a call on the radio. “No Boundaries, No Boundaries. This is Duet.” When we answered the call, we learned that a couple anchored behind a nearby island had heard our radio distress call. They had the “knowing” that comes from experience with grounding, and they were on their way to help. I prayed thanks that someone was coming, even if all they did was keep us company. When they arrived, however, they wasted no time in helping us get started with the solution that would actually get us off the rocks.

I remember that when we first went aground, I began to pray, and even as the hopeless surges of fear arose in my stomach, I also felt reassured that something would work. Most of all, I felt reassured that God was with us, a sense of things that only grew more certain as Bill and Barb from S/V Duet worked side by side with us to get us off those rocks. We all worked for hours, because this was no trivial problem. The wind was blowing at more than 20 mph, a great speed for sailing, but problematic in this situation. The tidal currents at the time of our grounding complicated our problem, because they were running strongly in a direction that forced us farther onto the reef. Around noon, the tide changed, and by then we were ready to take advantage of the current, thanks to our wonderful new friends. Around 1:30 in the afternoon, we all sat down in the cockpit to rest. The boat was afloat. Two anchors held us in place against both wind and current. As our new friends departed in their dinghy, we gave thanks for their help and for our new safe location. We felt deeply blessed by the kindness of these people. The Bible tells of many situations in which angels arrive to give messages and help people, and we felt pretty sure that Bill and Barb were angels. In days to come, they followed up with radio calls to be sure we were doing well. When we overheard their response to another boat that had run aground nearby, we became convinced that they were, indeed, angels, and the crew of the other boat agreed with us.

Our situation was no longer dire, but we still did not have an engine. Because our boat is a sailboat, however, we did have the option to sail out of the anchorage if Larry were unable to repair the engine and if wind and wave were appropriate for sailing. Bill and Barb had specifically planned for that possibility when they left us anchored directly in front of the entrance to the cove. We all thought that position poised us for success if we had to sail out. When all was said and done, Larry and I gave thanks for our new friends, and we gave thanks for God’s care for us in the difficult situation. The heavy weight of fear that had seized us at the moment of grounding was lifted, and we felt genuine relief.

The next day, we were still safely at anchor, but much more uncomfortable. The weather had changed. Winds directly from the east were pushing big waves at us through the opening that had seemed so convenient the day before. We were pummeled by the combination of the waves from the ocean and the ferocious tidal currents. We could not possibly sail out against the combined force of wind and current. Our anchors were under fearful strain, which began to produce a new problem. Our primary anchor was equipped with heavy chain all the way to its point of attachment to the boat. Our secondary, however, had only 75 feet of chain, after which the remaining rode was rope. The way we had anchored the first day put the secondary anchor in a location that gave it the primary stress on the second day, and that stress was beginning to chafe the rope rode. We scrambled to find gear to prevent the chafing, but none of our interventions was reliable for any length of time. We could not remain anchored like this, because the chafing would eventually part our rope rode, and we would lose our secondary anchor, not to mention that we would risk being blown back onto the reef again. We could not go, and we could not stay. Larry struggled with the engine problem to no avail. We prayed and watched and did what we could to alleviate the situation.

Once again, Bill from Duet stepped in to help. He saw a passing boat with huge twin outboards, and he hailed the captain with a request to help us move to a better location. After M/V Cutting Edge arrived, he helped us raise both of our anchors and then towed our boat to a location out of the current and more sheltered from wind. We felt pretty sure that he was an angel, too, and we prayed God’s blessings on him as he departed to continue his fishing trip. Again, we felt blessed and secure. Our new location was a place where we could safely remain until we either got the engine going or saw the right window to sail out, even if that were many days hence. We could not doubt for a minute that God was present with us. Once again, just when we were at the end of our abilities, God provided what we needed.

The next day was Sunday. As we prepared for our normal worship aboard, we commented to each other that we had more reason than usual to worship and praise God. So many good things had happened to us that we surely needed to give him thanks and praise more than ever. We could not focus on the bad things. They seemed trivial by comparison with our blessings. We worshiped. We prayed. We sang psalms and hymns. We celebrated God’s presence and power in our lives. We had no doubt that he was watching over us, present with us.

That afternoon, Larry went back to work on the engine. He went back to step one for analysis and trouble-shooting. He worked deliberately through all the steps, and eventually the moment came when the engine roared back to life. Again, we had something to be thankful for. The final piece of the solution was in place. We were no longer refugees looking for a way out; we were again cruisers exploring and adventuring. We shouted our thanks to God, and then we prayed together.

Throughout this experience we had the comforting presence of God in the midst of all our troubles. God did not step in and overturn the laws of nature. He did not work any magic on the boat or the engine. He did not teleport us to a diesel mechanic, or teleport a mechanic to us. He simply remained with us all the way. The solution worked out in simple steps. At each step, we felt relieved and thankful, and at each step we first thought that we ourselves would be able to manage the next step. When that proved impossible, God gave us just what we needed, no more and no sooner than we needed it. Materials managers would call it “Just in Time.” We call it God’s faithful provision and presence in our lives.

This probably won’t be the last time we go aground. People who cruise in the Bahamas take that possibility as a given. If we do ground again, we have the experience, enlightened by our angelic friends from S/V Duet, to help ourselves. We are learning a variety of skills in navigation, weather and survival. All that learning and growth is good. The best thing we have learned, however, is not about us. It is about God. We have learned that God truly is with us. He never abandons us. He gives us peace when we have no idea how we will solve or survive the next problem. This peace transcends any skill level or accomplishment we might ever have.

I have not always relied on God the way I do now. I am learning more and more every day how critical his presence is. Far from making me reckless, the confidence that he is present makes me more careful. When I am frightened, it allows me to do what my mother called, “making haste slowly,” to take my time to get all the facts and move forward with care. Knowing that God is with us, we have the peace to assess the situation and make a better decision. Knowing that God is with us, we know that he won’t abandon us if our best guess is wrong.

I am glad that Matthew recorded the story of Joseph’s dream and the explanation of the name “Emmanuel.” I’m glad that Matthew’s story of Jesus repeats that theme as Jesus’ promise to all generations. The promise and the experience of God’s presence enrich my life every day. When Satan tempts me to wonder if God cares or to ask why God let this happen, I can respond with faith nurtured by experience. Faith must, by definition, act in the absence of certainty, but my certainty about past experience builds up my faith that future experiences will only reveal more about the wonderful presence of God. I don’t know what else I will learn about prayer as we travel, but I have already learned that God is not kidding when he says, “I will not leave you or forsake you.”

The gospel of Matthew opens with the story of Joseph’s dream in which an angel reassures him about Mary’s pregnancy, telling him that it is the fulfillment of God’s promise of the Messiah, whose name, “Emmanuel” means “God is with us.” The gospel continues with the story of Jesus’ life and work. The last words of Jesus in this gospel are, “I am with you always, to the end of the age.” [Matthew 28:20] At the time when Matthew wrote, late in the first century, people who had seen Jesus in the flesh were dying off. The growing community of faith needed to be reminded that the indwelling Holy Spirit was the evidence that God truly was present with them and in them.

All these thousands of years later, we still need that reminder. When circumstances conspire to make us feel afraid and helpless, Satan tempts us to think that God has abandoned us. He makes us ask, “If God loves you, why did this terrible thing happen?” We need reassurance that the Holy Spirit is truly present and that in the person of the Holy Spirit, God never abandons us.

My husband and I recently had an experience that brought home the truth that God is always with us, even when we are not paying attention. It is important for us to remember that God’s presence with us does not negate the operation of the laws of physics or meteorology. God has promised that as long as the laws of nature work the way they are supposed to, his love is sure. We want those laws to work. However, when we become captive to them and unable to help ourselves, then it is very good to know that God is with us and that he will work for our good in amazing and wonderful ways. Above all that, whether or not the outcome is just what we hoped for, he is present with us to give us peace with the situation as it develops for good or ill.

We cruised southward one morning toward a destination about a day’s sail from our departure point. As will happen to sailors, however, along the way, we spied a little cove on the chart that looked attractive. We said to ourselves that we could go to our planned destination the next day as we turned aside to our new adventure. We studied the charts, and we studied the notes in guide books. I stood on the bow to spot hazards, and Larry was at the helm to steer to our anchorage.

As will happen sometimes, we became disoriented in the unfamiliar surroundings. Then, caught in a current and uncertain of the correct course, we ran aground. As we tried to steer off the reef, the engine stopped and refused to restart.

In the US, such a situation is annoying, but not the end of the world. Boaters unable to free themselves simply call for a tow, sigh at the cost if they don’t have insurance, and move on. In the Bahamas, the situation is much different. There is no tow service. The Bahamian rescue service is truly focused on rescue in life-and-death situations. A simple mistake that puts a boat aground is the boater’s problem. Boaters are responsible for themselves, and they are well-advised to stay out of trouble if they don’t know how to deal with it. “Knowing” that is the result of reading how to deal with the problem is not, however, the same thing as “knowing” as a result of having done it. We had read the solution, but we had never performed the solution.

On the off chance that there might be someone around who operated a tow service anyway, we made a radio call. No result. Hoping that the Bahamian rescue service could put us in touch with someone who could tow us off, we called them. They could not hear us, although later a marina manager served as a relay between us and them. Still, that communication only confirmed their commitment to rescue if lives were in danger.

Every day as we sail or motor in our adventures, I pray that we will have wisdom to use our skills and experience in whatever circumstances come our way. I always pray that we will be safe. This day was no exception, but sitting aboard our grounded vessel, not knowing how we would ever get free without an engine, I prayed that we would see a solution. We knew that the recommended course of action involved deploying an anchor in deeper water and using it to pull ourselves off the rocks, but it was going to take time to do that job, because our dinghy was deflated and wrapped up on deck. We could not possibly throw the anchor far enough to help, and we could not inflate the dinghy, deploy it in the water, attach the outboard and get the anchor out very soon. We were in a big mess.

Then we heard a call on the radio. “No Boundaries, No Boundaries. This is Duet.” When we answered the call, we learned that a couple anchored behind a nearby island had heard our radio distress call. They had the “knowing” that comes from experience with grounding, and they were on their way to help. I prayed thanks that someone was coming, even if all they did was keep us company. When they arrived, however, they wasted no time in helping us get started with the solution that would actually get us off the rocks.

I remember that when we first went aground, I began to pray, and even as the hopeless surges of fear arose in my stomach, I also felt reassured that something would work. Most of all, I felt reassured that God was with us, a sense of things that only grew more certain as Bill and Barb from S/V Duet worked side by side with us to get us off those rocks. We all worked for hours, because this was no trivial problem. The wind was blowing at more than 20 mph, a great speed for sailing, but problematic in this situation. The tidal currents at the time of our grounding complicated our problem, because they were running strongly in a direction that forced us farther onto the reef. Around noon, the tide changed, and by then we were ready to take advantage of the current, thanks to our wonderful new friends. Around 1:30 in the afternoon, we all sat down in the cockpit to rest. The boat was afloat. Two anchors held us in place against both wind and current. As our new friends departed in their dinghy, we gave thanks for their help and for our new safe location. We felt deeply blessed by the kindness of these people. The Bible tells of many situations in which angels arrive to give messages and help people, and we felt pretty sure that Bill and Barb were angels. In days to come, they followed up with radio calls to be sure we were doing well. When we overheard their response to another boat that had run aground nearby, we became convinced that they were, indeed, angels, and the crew of the other boat agreed with us.

Our situation was no longer dire, but we still did not have an engine. Because our boat is a sailboat, however, we did have the option to sail out of the anchorage if Larry were unable to repair the engine. Bill and Barb had specifically planned for that possibility when they left us anchored directly in front of the entrance to the cove. We all thought that position poised us for success if we had to sail out. When all was said and done, Larry and I gave thanks for our new friends, and we gave thanks for God’s care for us in the difficult situation. The heavy weight of fear that had seized us at the moment of grounding was lifted, and we felt genuine relief.

The next day, we were still safely at anchor, but much more uncomfortable. The weather had changed. Winds directly from the east were pushing big waves at us, and we were pummeled by the combination of the waves from the ocean and the ferocious tidal currents. We could not possibly sail out against the combined force of wind and current. Our anchors were under fearful strain, which began to produce a new problem. Our primary anchor was equipped with heavy chain all the way to its point of attachment to the boat. Our secondary, however, had only 75 feet of chain, after which the remaining rode was rope. The way we had anchored the first day put the secondary anchor in a location that gave it the primary stress on the second day, and that stress was beginning to chafe the rope rode. We scrambled to find gear to prevent the chafing, but none of our interventions was reliable for any length of time. We could not remain anchored like this, because the chafing would eventually part our rope rode, and we would lose our secondary anchor. We could not go, and we could not stay. Larry struggled with the engine problem to no avail. We prayed and watched and did what we could to alleviate the situation.

Once again, Bill from Duet stepped in to help. He saw a passing boat with huge twin outboards, and he hailed the captain with a request to help us move to a better location. After M/V Cutting Edge arrived, he helped us raise both of our anchors and then towed our boat to a location out of the current and more sheltered from wind. We felt pretty sure that he was an angel, too, and we prayed God’s blessings on him as he departed to continue his fishing trip. Again, we felt blessed and secure. Our new location was a place where we could safely remain until we either got the engine going or saw the right window to sail out, even if that were many days hence. We could not doubt for a minute that God was present with us. Once again, just when we were at the end of our abilities, God provided what we needed.

The next day was Sunday. As we prepared for our normal worship aboard, we commented to each other that we had more reason than usual to worship and praise God. So many good things had happened to us that we surely needed to give him thanks and praise more than ever. We could not focus on the bad things. They seemed trivial by comparison with our blessings. We worshiped. We prayed. We sang psalms and hymns. We celebrated God’s presence and power in our lives. We had no doubt that he was watching over us, present with us.

That afternoon, Larry went back to work on the engine. He went back to step one for analysis and trouble-shooting. He worked deliberately through all the steps, and eventually the moment came when the engine roared back to life. Again, we had something to be thankful for. The final piece of the solution was in place. We were no longer refugees looking for a way out; we were again cruisers exploring and adventuring. We shouted our thanks to God, and then we prayed together.

Throughout this experience we had the comforting presence of God in the midst of all our troubles. God did not step in and overturn the laws of nature. He did not work any magic on the boat or the engine. He did not teleport us to a diesel mechanic, or teleport a mechanic to us. He simply remained with us all the way. The solution worked out in simple steps. At each step, we felt relieved and thankful, and at each step we first thought that we ourselves would be able to manage the next step. When that proved impossible, God gave us just what we needed, no more and no sooner than we needed it. Materials managers would call it “Just in Time.” We call it God’s faithful provision and presence in our lives.

This probably won’t be the last time we go aground. People who cruise in the Bahamas take that possibility as a given. If we do ground again, we have the experience, enlightened by our angelic friends from S/V Duet, to help ourselves. We are learning a variety of skills in navigation, weather and survival. All that learning and growth is good. The best thing we have learned, however, is not about us. It is about God. We have learned that God truly is with us. He never abandons us. He gives us peace when we have no idea how we will solve or survive the next problem. This peace transcends any skill level or accomplishment we might ever have.

I have not always relied on God the way I do now. I am learning more and more every day how critical his presence is. Far from making me reckless, the confidence that he is present makes me more careful. When I am frightened, it allows me to do what my mother called, “making haste slowly,” to take my time to get all the facts and move forward with care. Knowing that God is with us, we have the peace to assess the situation and make a better decision. Knowing that God is with us, we know that he won’t abandon us if our best guess is wrong.

I am glad that Matthew recorded the story of Joseph’s dream and the explanation of the name “Emmanuel.” I’m glad that Matthew’s story of Jesus repeats that theme as Jesus’ promise to all generations. The promise and the experience of God’s presence enrich my life every day. When Satan tempts me to wonder if God cares or to ask why God let this happen, I can respond with faith nurtured by experience. Faith must, by definition, act in the absence of certainty, but my certainty about past experience builds up my faith that future experiences will only reveal more about the wonderful presence of God. I don’t know what else I will learn about prayer as we travel, but I have already learned that God is not kidding when he says, “I will not leave you or forsake you.”

Does God need to orchestrate tragedy in order to bring good to pass? A lot of people think he does exactly that. I have heard any number of people accuse God of preparing tragedy in their lives as “tests” or as lesson plans for their instruction. It might even be possible to interpret the book of Revelation that way.

 The book of Revelation records a vision of an effort by humans to “fix” the world without any help from God, and it records some unspeakably horrific tragedies. The narrative of Revelation pulls back the curtain behind the events we see and touch to show us things we do not normally see and touch. It pierces the barrier between time and eternity, between the finite and the infinite, between the temporary reality we can weigh and measure and the eternal reality not subject to us. In Revelation we see our present reality played out against a backdrop of warfare between God and Satan, between pure good and pure evil. In this captivating story, God continually tries to get the attention of people who have been deluded by Satan, calling them to a relationship with Him which will save them from the clutches of Satan’s demonic plans for them. People don’t want anything to do with God, because they want to do it all themselves. They try personal empowerment, they try big government, and they try all sorts of twists on religion. They try anything but a relationship with God. No matter what is going on, the people who love and serve God appear to be in a minority, always under threat as enemies of the earthly powers, treated like traitors to the human hegemony.

 In the midst of the murder and mayhem of this vision, there is a pause. The pause is about prayer. The prayers and the testimony of believers rise up to the throne of God like incense and everything stops. It is a powerful image of the significance of the testimony and prayer of the faithful. It is an image that reinforces our understanding of the value of humans to God. Everything stops while God receives and rejoices in the prayer and testimony of his redeemed children.

Revelation makes it clear that God need not orchestrate terror in order for there to be terror. Christians need not wait for God to plan tragedy in their lives, because it is coming. The power of Satan working behind the scenes, acting through people who have rejected God, is guaranteed to produce plenty of tragedy on the earth for everyone to share. Christians will always have opportunity to grow in faith under duress without God applying the duress. Yet the additional message of Revelation is that no matter how horrifying the duress, people will continue to turn away from God.

The more important lesson for Christians under duress, however, is this: God wins. When we cling to God in terror at all that is around us, we are clinging to the Alpha and Omega who transcends all the terror. God wins. When we pray and testify and listen to the voice of the indwelling Holy Spirit, we are doing the only thing that will ever have any impact on the situation. Throughout the book of Revelation, the action stops only as the prayers of the saints rise up to the throne of God.

When I gather with my congregation on a Wednesday evening for communion by candlelight, I see a living image of the way our faithful testimony and prayer work to push back the darkness around us. Light a candle in a dark room, and the darkness cannot squelch it. In this image, I see our prayer and testimony to God pushing back evil. In the gathering of fellow believers our faith is nourished and replenished. We come into the light, we share the body and blood of the Lamb, and we testify to what he has done for us.

The world I live in today is certainly full of frightening and depressing news. It isn’t the worst of all times, but it certainly isn’t the best, either. I worry about the freedom and prosperity of my children and my grandchildren. I often feel helpless as I contend with my own drive to fix everything myself. I can’t do it. There is only one thing I can do that will have any value in the larger scheme of things. I can pray to the Eternal and Infinite God, and I can testify to the power of the Lamb in my own life. I can’t slay the Great Dragon, but I can push him back just a little every time I pray and testify. That is how I will handle the disasters in my life until time ends and God wins.