The fluorescent light in the kitchen flickered and went out. The fan on the oil stove stopped. Mother looked at the clock—the second hand had ceased to move. What had happened? Power failure! The electricity supply had been shut off for some unown reason. The refrigerator was dark inside and silent. The water pump couldn’t pump water. How many things suddenly ceased to go!
And then the thought—poor little chicks out in the brooder house, with no infrared lamp to keep them warm, and snow on the ground outside! Baby chicks must be kept warm, you know, or very soon they chill and die. What must be done?
“Boxes! Get lots of boxes! Catch the little mites and bring them into the house by the heater.” Already they had huddled down, but even so they tried to escape the hands that would rescue them. “Soft little bits of fluff that chirp, and have that precious spark of life—let’s try to save them all.”
Many things fail us in this life—money, friends, plans, machines, medicines—and just when most needed, too.
But there is a power that upholds the universe, and the One to whom that power belongs is God. To His own, He has said: “Be strong and of a good courage... for the LORD thy God, He it is that cloth go with thee; He will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.” Deut. 31:66Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the Lord thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. (Deuteronomy 31:6).
Would you not like to have Him for your Friend? You can, for He says, “Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out.” John 6:3737All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. (John 6:37). He is just the Friend you need. He, and He alone, can wash away your many sins in His precious blood, and shelter you from the judgment to come. He came from heaven to save you, and if you put your trust in Him as your Saviour, He will be your Friend too. You can then call upon Him in distress or trouble, for He neither slumbers nor sleeps.
The little chicks were soon transferred to the warm kitchen, but not a bit too soon. We had got them just in time or they would have died. After awhile the electricity came on again, and the chicks could be put back into their own little house.
Dear reader, how is it with you when trouble comes? Are you trusting the Lord Jesus who always watches over and cares for His own? His love will never fail, for the Bible tells us that. “Having loved His own which were in the world, He loved them unto the end.” John 13:11Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end. (John 13:1).
The Lord Jesus has already proved His great love by dying on the cross and bearing the punishment of sin.
How sad to think that each sin of those whom He came to save caused Him such agony in those hours of darkness on Calvary. Let us confess our sinfulness, and thank Him for what He has done for us in opening the way to heaven at so great a cost.
“The Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” Luke 19: 10.
ML 08/01/1954