Stuck at Home

It was 1963, in the middle of one of Boston’s very heavy snowstorms, and time for Wednesday night prayer meeting. Travel was impossible, so we could not go, and decided to conduct our own service in our warm safe home.

"Can't we drive slow to church? I want to see my friends, hear Pastor Starr, and find out who we should be praying for," six-year-old Donnie whined.

Donnie enjoyed prayer time. When the ladies went into one room and the men into another, he and his friend Chuckie got to pray with the adult men and earnestly participated.

"No, Donnie. It is too dangerous. Even the police department is asking everyone to stay off the roads unless it is an emergency. Only the people in walking distance or with snowmobiles will be able to get there."

We knew nothing would prevent the pastor from holding the prayer meeting. He lived two miles away but we knew he would have one of the parishioners with a snow mobile to come and get him.

When our private worship time of singing, reading Scripture, discussing what the passage meant to each of us, and praying was over, Donnie ran to our bedroom,. Leaning on the radiator in the front bay window, watching the snow pile up, he asked excitedly, “Do you think prayer meeting is over?”        

“Yes, I think so,” I answered.

“Do you think the pastor is already home?”

“Yes, he probably is.”

“Can I call him to see if anyone was saved tonight?”

“Yes, Donnie, I think he would be thrilled to know you were thinking about those who were able to get to church.”

He made that call and can you believe that on that snowy evening, in a meeting with just a handful of people, there was one person who accepted the Lord?

Donnie was delighted and jumped up and down as he told us about the phone conversation. His soul winner's heart rejoiced as he reported that "somebody who didn't know the Lord went out in that bad snow storm and heard that Jesus loved and died for him. Yippee!"

Psalm 119:81 says,  “My soul faints with longing for your salvation.”

Donnie and our other three children share this longing for others to experience God’s salvation. Oh that we were as burdened to reach the lost, to pray for friends and neighbors who don’t know the Lord, and to rejoice when we hear about or witness someone becoming part of God’s family.

Today we need to be bold in sharing our faith with others. This is a time to be outspoken, not hesitant, about our great God and the salvation that He has provided through His Son Jesus.

Our pastor just completed a series of messages called “God on God” - what the Bible says that God declares about Himself:

• God is a loving God; He longs for the unsaved to turn to Him.
• God is a gracious God offering us eternal life with Him.
• God is a merciful God who assures us that He has forgiven our sins and remembers them no more. “As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us” Psalm 103:12.

We can share the gospel of “God on God” and develop a heart of joy when we hear that another soul has joined God’s family, a co-heir to all the Father has given His Son.

We may not be kept at home because of a massive snowstorm. Actually, in some parts of the country, you may not have ever had snow. But let’s not be “kept home” from sharing the love of God and rejoicing in the relationship we have with the Father through the Holy Spirit.

Copyright 2016 Emily Pippin. Used with permission.