Christian Reflection and Prayer

Put on the whole armor, and take up your shield. Prepare
for battle, and come to my aid.
Psalm 35:2 NLT

Security is our nearness to God, not our distance from
danger.   Kenneth R. Hendre

In the gun sights

When Ira Sankey was at the height of his ministry, he was
traveling on a steamer in the Delaware River. Some passengers
had seen his picture in the newspaper and knew he was
associated with evangelist D. L. Moody. When they asked him
to sing one of his own compositions, Sankey said he preferred
a hymn by William Bradbury, "Savior, Like a Shepherd Lead Us."
One of the stanzas begins, "We are thine, do thou befriend us;
be the guardian of our way."

When he finished, a man stepped out and inquired, "Were you in
the army, Mr. Sankey?"

"Yes, I joined up in 1860."

"Did you ever do guard duty at night in Maryland, about 1862?"

"Yes, I did."
"Well, I was in the Confederate Army," said the stranger. "I saw
you one night at Sharpsburg. I had you in my gun sight as you
stood there in the light of the full moon. Just as I was about the pull
the trigger, you began to sing. It was the same hymn you sang
tonight," the man told an astonished Sankey. "I couldn't shoot you."
I. M. Anderson in Moody

Life is filled with near misses. We know only a fraction of the many
situations in which God preserves us from severe physical and
emotional injury.

Adapted from Men of Integrity Devotional Bible with devotions from
the editors of Men of Integrity, a publication of Christianity Today
International (Tyndale, 2002), entry for May 14.