This has been a year of gratitude for our family. I’ll be honest … it has been one of the toughest years of our lives. There have been days when I have felt totally forsaken. I cried out to God, asking Him to let me know that He was even there.
But every now and then, God just hits you in the face with the reality that His word is true and that He is faithful to every promise. With every miracle, there is a promise. We want the miracles. We pray and pray for the miracle, but if we aren’t careful, we will miss the promise.
When I was younger, I was singing with my family. We had been asked to sing in Greece. We sang and stayed at the U.S. Embassy in Athens, Greece. We had military escorts everywhere we went. It was the first time we had ever heard of a car bomb or a roadside bombing.
We only had one day with no performances, so our military guide, who happened to be a Christian, asked if we would like to see some sights. He took us out in the middle of nowhere and told us that our first stop would be the ancient city of Philippi. There is much written to and about this city by the apostle Paul.
One of the most recognized accounts is in Acts 16, where Paul and Silas were thrown in prison. At midnight, they began singing praise to God when an earthquake shook the prison and freed all of the prisoners. When I looked in that innermost cell, I was shocked to see the shackles still hanging on the walls. I still get goose bumps when I think about it.
After the prisoners were set free from the earthquake, the jailer asked Paul and Silas how he could be saved. They answered him and said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved – and your household.†How did Paul and Silas know that the jailer’s family would be saved? It’s simple really. They knew what many husbands and dads need to hear today, which is this … your family will follow you wherever you lead them. It may not always feel like they are following, but trust me … wherever you end up is where they will end up. Whether it is a rehab facility, skid row, or the cross, they will follow you there.
Through most of 2017 when I didn’t feel like God was anywhere to be found, my youngest daughter Katherine, age 10, prayed and asked the spirit to come into her heart as she chose to follow Christ. Last month, I had the privilege to help baptize her. Katherine was the last of my kids to choose to follow the Lord. It was the fulfillment of the promise in Acts 16, “… and your household.â€
While I was praying for miracles, wondering where God was, He was faithfully fulfilling His promise in my life. If you focus on the miracles, you’ll miss the promise and faithfulness of God. Give thanks.
David Staton
As published by SGNScoops Magazine in November 2017
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