Valerie Rae Hanneman
Deuteronomy 4:7 (NL T) “ For what great nation has a god as near to them as the Lord our God is near to us whenever we call on Him?”
There are some Christian artists that I will travel quite some distances to see. Third Day is my favorite band. Their passion for Christ is irresistible. It doesn’t matter where they are playing - if at all possible, I will get there. Todd Agnew is my favorite single artist. He writes his own songs, and some of them are so powerful that they absolutely floor me. I have written more than one devotional based on his songs. His voice is not the best one out there- but again he has such a passion for Christ that I gladly travel to hear him. There are other artists that I like a lot, but I am not as much of a “groupie” over. Given the opportunity I will gladly buy a ticket to go and see them and sometimes I will even travel a bit to attend their concert. Mercy Me is a prime example of one of these bands. I’ve wanted to go to one of their concerts from the moment “I Can Only Imagine” hit the airwaves. They have played several venues in the Valley - but it just hasn’t been convenient for me to go to see them until here recently when they came to Fresno. Chris Tomlin is another one - I want to hear him and see his face when he sings “How Great is Our God.” I am nutso crazy over that song. Mark Shultz has a song out “I AM” that is another of my favorites, so when he was coming to Yosemite Falls Church in Merced I asked Char Cole if she wanted to go with me to see him. Shortly after I bought the tickets I realized that I had a conflict, an Emmaus event that I simply was not going to miss. Char and I decided that we would still go to the concert even though we were going to be late.
On the night of the concert I picked up Char at her house. We had our MapQuest directions so off we went. As we got near Merced we were looking for our exit only somehow we missed it because suddenly, we were in Atwater. We turned around and missed our exit again. Then we went into a convenience store to ask for help. The clerk knew where the street that connected to the street we needed was - it was right under the overpass - and we should take a right. Only we ended up in Atwater again, so we retraced our steps and ended up at the Merced Hospital. Char showed me another exit on the map that was a possibility but how were we going to find that exit? So far we had laid a big goose egg with our exit-finding ability! We’d been driving around lost in Merced for about 40 minutes and I was ready to chuck it and go home! We drove back towards the freeway and I was praying, “Father, if we don’t find our way really quick we may as well not bother, please help us.” As I finished, Char said “Look!” Up on the freeway was a sign for our new exit, it was one mile down Fwy 99. We got to Yosemite Falls Church just at the break between the opening acts and Mark Shultz. Instead of being 15 minutes late we were an hour late. I didn’t care - I had bought those tickets just to see Mark Shultz sing “I AM.”and I was going to although we would probably be standing at the back of the sanctuary when I did.
I wonder what my adventure would have been like if I had prayed for Father’s help BEFORE I left Fresno. But I didn’t. After all, I had the MapQuest directions and MapQuest had gotten me all across the United States and back. And I had Char as my co-pilot. She and I are strong, intelligent women used to figuring things out - and we were just going to Merced not Singapore! And in the unlikely event that all else failed we could stop and ask for help in Merced.
Unfortunately, MapQuest may of gotten me to South Carolina but it didn’t get me to Yosemite Falls Church. It failed. Char and I truly are strong, intelligent women used to figuring things out, but when you’re lost you’re lost. We failed. We stopped to ask for help in Merced but they only got us more lost than we already were (if that were possible). They failed.
Finally, when all else failed, I turned to Father. Why do we do that? Why do we go to Him last when we should be going to Him first? It isn’t because I doubt His power - I don’t. It isn’t because I doubt His love for me - I don’t. So why do I go to Him last? Do I not want to bother Him? Do I thing that God is so busy doing important things, like keeping the whole universe in the right place at the right time, that He doesn’t have time for me? Do I think that God is so busy answering important prayers, prayers for the lost, prayers for the dying, prayers for broken lives, hurting hearts, addiction problems and on and on that He will ignore my silly little prayer for help getting to a concert?
If that is what I am thinking than I am wrong and I have forgotten who I am in my Father’s eyes. I am His beloved daughter and His care for me is so detailed that He knows the very number of hairs on my head - in fact he knows how many of them have split ends! He doesn’t want to be my last resort, He wants to be my first resort. There is nothing about me that is too unimportant or too silly for Him to ignore. After all, it was not a coincidence that just as I finished my prayer for help, my car, Char and I were in exactly the right place to see the exit sign we needed.
Char and I were looking for somebody to take our tickets when I heard my name said behind me. I turned around and it was Pastor Dan, a much loved friend from Emmaus. Yosemite Falls is he and his beautiful wife, Maureen’s home church. I explained to Pastor Dan that we had just gotten there and needed to see if we could find seats. Pastor Dan told me that there were two seats next to them. We followed him further and further towards the front. Can you believe this? The two available seats were in the center of the third row! When Mark Shultz took the stage I was so close to him I could practically see his nose hairs!
We serve an astounding God. There is nothing about us that is beneath His notice or beyond His power. He wants to hear the prayers of the spiritually lost and of His two daughters lost in Merced. He wants to give us the glories of eternity in His presence and surprise us with the best seats in the house. He wants us to go to Him first - not last, and for us to come to Him confident in His love for us. He will never marginalize us, ignore us, or let us down.
Abba, the greatest joy of my life is knowing that I am Your daughter. Help me to be so confident in Your love and care for me that I come to You first - not when all else fails. I love You, LORD.
Contact Valerie or sign up for the e-Ministry of Fresno First at valerie@fresnofirst.org
Posted by Valerie at April 14, 2007 09:16 PM