With the celebration of Father's Day, I am sure many of us have reflected on memories of times spent with our own fathers. I have many.
One particular memory was that of a fishing/camping trip I took with my dad when I was about eighteen years old. The location was Branson, Missouri. We decided to camp along the banks of Lake Taneycomo. Why they call Taneycomo a "lake" I will never understand. It is actually a man-made river formed by the release of cold, deep tailwaters from Table Rock Lake Dam. As a cold-water "lake," Taneycomo is stocked with trout, which is what my dad and I were after.
We did a little fishing that evening, then decided to turn in so as to get an early start the next morning. However, camped that close to the river, we were swarmed by misquitos! Without a misquito net, sleeping was an impossibility. So we broke camp and moved several hundred yards away from the lake to higher ground.
Awaking the next morning, we emerged from our tent and looked with dismay at the location of our former campsight. It was under water! Sometime during the night, they had opened the spillway which flooded the area where we would have been sleeping. It was a sober moment as we realized what could have been.
Here is a theological question: Did God send the swarm of misquitos? I don't know. But dad and I both knew that God was watching out for us. Standing there deep in the heart of the Ozark Mountains, looking at the flooded campsight, I thought of the words of the 121st Psalm --
"I will lift up my eyes to the hills--From whence comes my help? My help comes from the Lord Who made heaven and earth. He will not allow your foot to be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, He who keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade at your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord shall preserve you from all evil; He shall preserve your soul. The Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming in from this time forth, and even forevermore."
As believers, we have a heavenly Father who is always watching over us. His love is everlasting. His care is constant. So take a few moments right now and thank Him for being the amazing heavenly Father that He is.
Pastor Todd Weston
One particular memory was that of a fishing/camping trip I took with my dad when I was about eighteen years old. The location was Branson, Missouri. We decided to camp along the banks of Lake Taneycomo. Why they call Taneycomo a "lake" I will never understand. It is actually a man-made river formed by the release of cold, deep tailwaters from Table Rock Lake Dam. As a cold-water "lake," Taneycomo is stocked with trout, which is what my dad and I were after.
We did a little fishing that evening, then decided to turn in so as to get an early start the next morning. However, camped that close to the river, we were swarmed by misquitos! Without a misquito net, sleeping was an impossibility. So we broke camp and moved several hundred yards away from the lake to higher ground.
Awaking the next morning, we emerged from our tent and looked with dismay at the location of our former campsight. It was under water! Sometime during the night, they had opened the spillway which flooded the area where we would have been sleeping. It was a sober moment as we realized what could have been.
Here is a theological question: Did God send the swarm of misquitos? I don't know. But dad and I both knew that God was watching out for us. Standing there deep in the heart of the Ozark Mountains, looking at the flooded campsight, I thought of the words of the 121st Psalm --
"I will lift up my eyes to the hills--From whence comes my help? My help comes from the Lord Who made heaven and earth. He will not allow your foot to be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, He who keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade at your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord shall preserve you from all evil; He shall preserve your soul. The Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming in from this time forth, and even forevermore."
As believers, we have a heavenly Father who is always watching over us. His love is everlasting. His care is constant. So take a few moments right now and thank Him for being the amazing heavenly Father that He is.
Pastor Todd Weston