{"id":1098,"date":"2011-07-11T05:18:03","date_gmt":"2011-07-11T09:18:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/simplelife\/?p=1098"},"modified":"2011-07-10T22:20:39","modified_gmt":"2011-07-11T02:20:39","slug":"hard-times-you-are-in-good-company","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2011\/07\/hard-times-you-are-in-good-company.html","title":{"rendered":"Hard times? You are in good company"},"content":{"rendered":"

I was fascinated by the story of man who had a Cadillac Seville that fell on him. \u00a0He prayed for an an angel to come and help him; and a college football player showed up. \u00a0The football player, Danous Esterner, lifted the car from the man.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Danous Esterner<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Esterner said that when he approached the scene, he tried to lift the car; but he wasn’t able to budge it. \u00a0Then as Esterner stepped away from the car, he felt a strength fill his body; and he was able to lift the vehicle and the man escaped.<\/p>\n

If you are like me, this story sounds impossible, except for God’s supernatural power.<\/p>\n

There are times that we are asked to do the impossible. \u00a0Perhaps for others the task would be easy; but we stumble and fall attempting to do what is required. \u00a0While the story of Mr. Esterner is encouraging, I’m equally encouraged by the stories found in the scriptures in which people feel they cannot do the task God is asking them to do.<\/p>\n

Ananias is on of those men. \u00a0Saul had come with permission from the High Priest to arrest the Christians in Damascus and take them back to Jerusalem. \u00a0On the way to Damascus, almost in the city, Saul had a supernatural encounter with God and he was struck blind.<\/p>\n

God told Ananias to go find Saul and to pray for him.<\/p>\n

Ananias was skeptical of the instructions God had given to him. \u00a0He questioned God; but then he obeyed. \u00a0His prayer for Saul was answered; and Saul regained his sight.<\/p>\n

Too often when we are following God, we expect to be able to be like the football player who lifted the car with supernatural power. \u00a0Yet, we find ourselves sitting in a corner shaking through the venture that we are attempting to complete. \u00a0Or worse we stumble though the night with little awareness of working through God’s plan for our lives.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Everyone’s life is hard at times. \u00a0Every person either is struck by the proverbial Cadillac Seville or we are asked to lift the vehicle from a person wallowing in blood. \u00a0God has not white-washed the scriptures to exclude the stories of men like Ananias who didn’t want to do the hard task that God asked him to do.<\/p>\n

These men and women encourage me. \u00a0Mark Twain has said, “Courage is not the absence of fear. It is acting in spite of it.” \u00a0Dan Rather told us, “Courage is being afraid but going on anyhow.”<\/p>\n

What has been a time that you were afraid but acted inspite of your fear? \u00a0Did you feel as though you were being courageous?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I was fascinated by the story of man who had a Cadillac Seville that fell on him. \u00a0He prayed for an an angel to come and help him; and a college football player showed up. \u00a0The football player, Danous Esterner, lifted the car from the man. Esterner said that when he approached the scene, he…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":387,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,20,3,182,40,186,49,16,85,12,4,41,1],"tags":[690,21,688,696,209,210,7,699,715,703,701,13,19,689,57,692,6],"class_list":["post-1098","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christianity","category-church","category-developmental-disabilities","category-disability","category-faith","category-hope","category-inspiration","category-intellectual-disability","category-prayer-2","category-religion","category-simple-truths","category-spirituality","category-uncategorized","tag-autism-spectrum","tag-christian","tag-christianity","tag-church","tag-courage","tag-danous-esterner","tag-developmental-disabilities-2","tag-faith","tag-hope","tag-humor","tag-inspiration","tag-intellectual-disabilities","tag-mental-retardation","tag-mentally-challenged-community","tag-prayer","tag-religion","tag-simple-scriptural-truths"],"yoast_head":"\nHard times? You are in good company - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2011\/07\/hard-times-you-are-in-good-company.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Hard times? You are in good company - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I was fascinated by the story of man who had a Cadillac Seville that fell on him. \u00a0He prayed for an an angel to come and help him; and a college football player showed up. \u00a0The football player, Danous Esterner, lifted the car from the man. 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