Do Not Take Anything For Granted - Part I

On Wednesday November 24, 2010 I prepared to do devotions with my little brother who was having a special function at school and so would be leaving out later that morning. The Lord has impressed it on my heart each morning to ask Him where He would have me to read each morning. he told me Psalms 46. My first thought was but I read that already. Yet when I tried to remeber what Psalms 46 was about I couldn't until I opened the bible. I felt silly when I opened it and saw what it was.

Psalm 46

 ¹God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.  ²Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;  ³Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah.  ⁴There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High. ⁵God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early.  ⁶The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved: he uttered his voice, the earth melted. ⁷The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah. ⁸Come, behold the works of the LORD, what desolations he hath made in the earth. ⁹He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; he burneth the chariot in the fire. ¹⁰Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth. ¹¹The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.

So I invited my brother to get his bible and so on. This morning he wasn't really feeling like having devotions before breakfast, claiming to be dying of hunger. I asked him if he had given God thanks for waking him up that morning and he said he would do it when he was eating his breakfast. I told of the importance of doing things now because we are not sure of what can happen in a split secoond. I ignored his cry for breakfast and we prayedto God and went into the word. We read the passage alternately and then we discussed it for a few minutes. Now while I was talking and explaing and encouraging, my brother revealed to me that the day before, God saved him from being killed. I was once again humbled by the Holy Spirit. He was walking home with a couple of his friends and they came to a major thorough fare. They had crossed the first half of the major road and my brother was about to step down to cross the other half. He heard one of his friends call out, PHILLIPS! My brother stopped immediately and a car wizzed closely past him. Now its interesting to note that my brothers name is Romario Smith. So I asked him how he managed to stop when his friend called out since it was not his name that was called. My brother said he did not know why he stopped but all he knows that if he had ever stepped down he would have been hit.

So we took some time to thank God for sparing our lives and for speaking to us, to me especially through His word. I prayed with my brother and encouraged him and spoke the word over his life.

Now I got a call in the late afternoon telling me that my brother and his friends had just been robbed. The first thing that came to my mind was the devotion we had that morning and how i encouraged my brother not to be afraid because God is always there with him. I thought to myself and spoke to God in my mind. How could this happen right at this time after we had such a word of encouragement. I started to wonder what I was going to say to my brother and how he would react because this experience I'm sure must have been a frightening one. I gather my thoughts and prayed and thanked God that he was safe and alive. I asked God to give me the right words to say to him when he got home.

I must confess I was expecting my brother to ask a lot of questions about what happend and why it happened if God was with him and all of that. I was surprised to see a very calm and sober Romario come home and just talk about what happened. he confessed to being a little afraid but he was glad that they were not hurt. I was even more relieved at how the Holy Spirit handled the situation and we thanked God. I was like wow - how amazing God is to have prepared my brother and to prepare me also for this experience that had come. I would never have imagined it and I remeinded my brother about our devotion that morning and how we spoke about things changing in a split second. he agreed with me and just kept saying how happy he was that nothing happened to him and his friends apart from them losing their cell phones. I aske him if he was to die if he was sure he would have gone to heaven, he said yes.

My brother and I on the night of the robbery incident

Later that night, my brother invited me to come by his bedside, sit beside him and pray aloud for God's protection and guidance over his life. I was moved with compassion and I did just as he asked.

I will not take anything for granted because God has a purpose in everything, even when we don't understand, we just need to obey and believe.