The New Prayer (by Annie Johnson Flint)

Long have I prayed this prayer to Thee -
According to my need, give me
A little strength from day to day,
A little light along the way,
A little trust when fears are nigh,
A little peace when waves run high,
And with Thy love and joy fill up
The blessing in my little cup.

So have I prayed for long, but now -
According to Thy grace, give Thou!
Of my small measure take no heed,
Above, around my puny need
Pour out the treasures of Thy good,
Let Thy great goodness, like a flood,
My meager life fill and o’erflow
Till I unto Thy gifts shall grow,
Give joy exceeding all I sought,
And love beyond mine utmost thought;
Thy riches for my poverty,
According to Thy grace, give me.

Ephesians 3:16 That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; 17 That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; 19 And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. 20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, 21 Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.

Psalm 37:23 The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way.

God’s timings at time are difficult to comprehend, Annie’s Johnson Flint’s poem puts it so wonderfully

He that believeth shall not make haste
In useless hurry his strength to waste;
Who walks with God can afford to wait,
For he can never arrive too late.

He that believeth shall not delay;
Who carries the word of the King on its’ way
Keeps pace with Jahovah’s marching tune,
And he can never come too soon.

He that believeth shall walk serene,
With ordered steppings and leisured mien,
He dwells in the midst of eternities,
And the timeless ages of God are his.

Annie Johnson Flint

I’m God’s messenger from the gypsy tent. And it’s the message that’s important, not the messenger”

Rodney (Gipsy) Smith, evangelist.

I think simplicity is one of those imperative qualities, that puts everything in perspective.  I love these quotes by Gipsy Smith, they are so close to my heart and how I feel. Often we let our ideas of perfection to stop us from doing what the Lords wants us to, sometimes we wait too long  for “everything to be just right”, or to be “qualified enough”, “educated enough”, “to have enough so we can share out of our abundance”. But when the Lord calls us, He seem to believe that we will do good enough job for Him, if we just humbly follow and obey, He seem to trust us with the task and He does not usually waits for us to have just enough and over in order to share. After all what is enough. Lets trust Him with the proper judgement for that…

“With the staff that had failed in my need
Where the road had been stony and steep;
With the lamp that was smoking and dim,
Though the darkness was growing more deep;
Weary, too weary to pray
And too heavy-hearted to sing,
Faint with the toils of the way
I came to the court of the King.

A garment of praises I found
For the sullen, dark garb I had worn,
And sandals of peace for the feet
That the rocks and the briers had torn;
Joy for my mourning He gave,
Making my spirit to sing,
And, girded with gladness and strength,
I passed from the court of the King…”

Easter is indeed special time for us as Christians, it is a cornerstone of our faith. Here is a short compilation of thoughts and excerpts from a book by Lee Strobel, lawyer and former Chicago Tribune journalist, called “The Case for Christ”. This journalist investigation turned to be his personal journey to Christ.

(From LS:)  For much of my life I was a skeptic. In fact, I considered myself an atheist. To me, there was far too much evidence that God was merely a product of wishful thinking, of ancient mythology, of primitive superstition. How could there be a loving God if he consigned people to hell just for not believing in him? How could miracles contravene the basic laws of nature? Didn’t evolution satisfactorily explain how life originated? Doesn’t scientific reasoning dispel belief in the supernatural? As for Jesus, let’s face it: even a cursory examination of the evidence demonstrates convincingly that Jesus had only been a human being just like you and me, although with unusual gifts of kindness and wisdom. But that’s all I had ever really given the evidence: a cursory look. I had read just enough philosophy and history to find support for my skepticism–a fact here, a scientific theory there, a pithy quote, a clever argument. Sure, I could see some gaps and inconsistencies, but I had a strong motivation to ignore them: a self-serving and immoral lifestyle that I would be compelled to abandon if I were ever to change my views and become a follower of Jesus. As far as I was concerned, the case was closed. There was enough proof for me to rest easy with the conclusion that the divinity of Jesus was nothing more than the fanciful invention of superstitious people. Or so I thought.  

  Eyewitness testimony can be compelling and convincing. When a witness has had ample opportunity to observe a crime, when there’s no bias or ulterior motives, when the witness is truthful and fair, the climactic act of pointing out the defendant in a courtroom can be enough to doom that person to prison or worse. And eyewitness testimony is just as crucial in investigating historical matters–even the issue of whether Jesus Christ is the unique Son of God.

  But what eyewitness accounts do we possess? Do we have the testimony of anyone who personally interacted with Jesus, who listened to his teachings, who saw his miracles, who witnessed his death, and who perhaps even encountered him after his alleged resurrection? Do we have any records from first-century “journalists” who interviewed eyewitnesses, asked tough questions, and faithfully recorded what they scrupulously determined to be true? Equally important, how well would these accounts withstand the scrutiny of skeptics? 

  Ancient documents, including the writings of Papias and Irenaeus substantiate that the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke were actually written by Matthew, Mark and Luke in the middle of the 1^st century A,D,, not long after Jesus’ death (between 29 and 33 A.D.).

(From Benjamin B. Warfield:)  “If we compare the present state of the New Testament text with that of any other ancient writing, we must … declare it to be marvelously correct. Such has been the care with which the New Testament has been copied–a care which has doubtless grown out of true reverence for its holy words…. The New Testament [is] unrivaled among ancient writings in the purity of its text as actually transmitted and kept in use.” [Benjamin B. Warfield, Introduction to Textual Criticism of the NewTestament (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1907), 12-13.] 

  Archaeology’s repeated affirmation of the New Testament’s accuracy provides important corroboration for its reliability. In answer to Lee Strobel’s questions about the believability of the resurrection of Jesus, William Lane Craig, Ph.D., D.Th. said,

(From William Lane Craig, Ph.D., D.Th.:)   ”First, the empty tomb is definitely implicit in the early tradition that is passed along by Paul in 1Corinthians 15, which is a very old and reliable source of historical information about Jesus. Second, the site of Jesus’ tomb was known to Christian and Jew alike. So if it weren’t empty, it would be impossible for a movement founded on belief in the Resurrection to have come into existence in the same city where this man had been publicly executed and buried. Third, we can tell from the language, grammar, and style that Mark got his empty tomb story–actually, his whole passion narrative–from an earlier source. In fact, there’s evidence it was written before A.D. 37, which is much too early for legend to have corrupted it. A. N. Sherwin-White, the respected Greco-Roman classical historian from Oxford University, said it would have been without precedent anywhere in history for legend to have grown up that fast and significantly distorted the gospels. Fourth, there’s the simplicity of the empty tomb story in Mark. Fictional apocryphal accounts from the second century contain all kinds of flowery narratives, in which Jesus comes out of the tomb in glory and power, with everybody seeing him, including the priests, Jewish authorities, and Roman guards. Those are the way legends read, but these don’t come until generations after the events, which is after eyewitnesses have died off. By contrast, Mark’s account of the story of the empty tomb is stark in its simplicity and unadorned by theological reflection. Fifth, the unanimous testimony that the empty tomb was discovered by women argues for the authenticity of the story, because this would have been embarrassing for the disciples to admit and most certainly would have been covered up if this were a legend. Sixth, the earliest Jewish polemic presupposes thehistoricity of the empty tomb. In other words, there was nobody who was claiming that the tomb still contained Jesus’ body. The question always was, ‘What happened to the body?’ The Jews proposed the ridiculous story that the guards had fallen asleep. Obviously, they were grasping at straws. But the point is this: they started with the assumption that the tomb was vacant! Why? Because they knew it was!

      ”I would argue that the hypothesis that God raised Jesus from the dead is not at all improbable. In fact, based on the evidence, it’s the best explanation for what happened. What is improbable is the hypothesis that Jesus rose naturally from the dead. That, I would agree, is outlandish. Any hypothesis would be more probable than saying the corpse of Jesus spontaneously came back to life. But the hypothesis that God raised Jesus from the dead doesn’t contradict science or any known facts of experience. All it requires is the hypothesis that God exists, and I think there are good independent reasons for believing that he does. As long as the existence of God is even possible, it’s possible that he acted in history by raising Jesus from the dead.” 

 (From Apostle Paul’s account,  1Corinthians chapter 15:)  Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance:  that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures [prophecies from the Old Testament about the Messiah making atonement for the sins of humanity through his death, written between 1000 & 400 b.c.], that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James [the brother of Jesus, who was not a believer in Jesus as the Messiah until he saw Jesus after he rose from the dead!], then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born. For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. … Whether, then, it was I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed. 

  (From Lee Strobel:) Without question, the amount of testimony and corroboration of Jesus’ post-Resurrection appearances is staggering. To put it into perspective, if you were to call each one of the witnesses to a court of law to be cross-examined for just 15 minutes each, and you went around the clock without a break, it would take you from breakfast on Monday until dinner on Friday to hear them all. After listening to 129 straight hours of eyewitness testimony, who could possibly walk away unconvinced? Having been a legal affairs journalist who has covered scores of trials, both criminal and civil, I had to agree with the assessment of Sir Edward Clarke, a British High Court judge who conducted a thorough legal analysis of the first Easter Day: “To me the evidence is conclusive, and over and over again in the High Court I have secured the verdict on evidence not nearly so compelling. As a lawyer I accept the gospel evidence unreservedly as the testimony of truthful men to facts that they were able to substantiate.” [Michael Green, Christ Is Risen: So What? (Kent, England: Sovereign World, 1986), 34.] 

    (From William Hordern:)  ”Even the more skeptical historians agree that for primitive Christianity … the resurrection of Jesus from the dead was a real event in history, the very foundation of faith, and not a mythical idea arising out of the creative imagination of believers.” [Carl Braaten, History and Hermeneutics, vol.2 of New Directions in Theology Today, ed. William Hordern (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1966) 

     (In conclusion from Lee Strobel:)  My journalistic skepticism toward the supernatural had melted in light of the breathtaking historical  evidence that the resurrection of Jesus was a real, historical event. In fact, my mind could not conjure up a single explanation that fit the evidence of history nearly as well as the conclusion that Jesus was who he claimed to be: the one and only Son of God. The atheism I had embraced for so long buckled under the weight of historical truth. It was not what I had anticipated when I embarked on this investigative process. But it was, in my opinion, a decision compelled by the facts.

God does not call everyone to have the same kind of faith. But He does call us to hold on to our faith, because through it, we will perform our greatest work for Him. Faith will produce the most lasting accomplishments in your life.

You gain peace of mind as a result of your times of deep communion with Jesus. That is something that will never become outdated. Sometimes it is a fight to maintain your connection with Jesus. But.. That’s how we can have the peace of mind and spirit that we need in order to face every twist and turn along life’s path.

It was a drastic change for the children of Israel to leave behind their homes and head for the Promised Land, not knowing exactly what they were going to accomplish in the desert, just knowing that God had promised them a better life.

It will take faith for me and you, as it did for the children of Israel, to continue moving forward toward the future God had promised us. But as we keep on putting one foot in front of the other as we follow the path God is leading us on, we will arrive at our destination: a better and more successful life and work.” (From our Missionary Diaries)

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“God is able to care for whatever we entrust to Him. Sometimes we voluntarily leave things in His hands because we know that He has our best interests at heart, and will always do what is right for us. At other times, we put things into His hands because all of our other resources have failed, and He is the last option left. After all, we are imperfect human beens…

But through years of trusting Him I have learned, — regardless of our reasons for leaving things in God’s hands, whatever we give Him to take care of and whatever we rely on His help for, He will always prove sufficient. He is strong enough to bear our burdens, rich enough to supply our needs, and loving enough to work all things together for our good.(From our Missionary Diaries)

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“Whenever you’re tempted to worry about the future, that’s the time to make a beeline for Jesus and to strengthen your faith. Everyone is tempted to worry and fear; that’s human nature. But you don’t have to accept being in a state of worry and fear if you fortify your spirit with faith. Seek the Lord for His help and answers. Sometimes it can take a lot of time in prayer before you find that place of calm and peace, but when you do, it will bring rest to your mind and spirit.”

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“God’s Word is our faith-builder. Whenever you’re tempted to fear change or fear the future, go to the faith-builder. It will give you the sure footing that you need for each step that God asks you to take.”

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“No matter where we are or what we are doing, Jesus always there. “I will never leave thee nor forsake thee” is an eternal truth that never wanes with the times or conditions, or for that matter, even the seasons and cycles of the heart and spirit (Hebrews 13:5).

 During a storm, it’s easy to be preoccupied with keeping your boat steady and above water. That’s understandable. But it is important to never lose sight of the fact that God is at the helm of your boat. The key is seeing Him in all things—even in the wind and the waves—and then, in a spirit of faith, trusting Him to see you safely to the shore of victory, just as He always had.

The winds of change can come and go, but nothing can change the fact that we love the Lord and He loves us. Love is the cord that binds us, and our love is strong enough to steady our faith in times of difficulty, trial or change.” (From our Missionary Diaries)

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“One of the most important principals of living for God and trusting Him is to do what we can, but genuinely, truly, whole-heartedly trust Him for the rest. It’s too easy for us to think we are trusting God for the rest, but then to run off and try to do the rest in our own strength.

But trusting the Lord for the rest is not simply a state of mind—it affects our actions, it permeates our attitude, it comes out in our conversations. Trusting God for the rest is a way of life, it is the way of faith.” (Trusting God for the Rest, from our Missionary Diaries)

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“Our life is ordained by God, and if we continue to include Him in all our decisions, we’ll see that any path He leads us on will be beautiful. We’ll find hidden jewels of understanding and wisdom. We’ll find new ways to share Him with others, and we’ll be challenged and fulfilled. ” (From our Missionary Diaries)

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“Faith must remain a resolute feature in our Christian life and walk with Jesus wherever we go, whichever path we chose It is our faith that will give us the confidence to walk upon the new pathways that God has highlighted for us. It will enable us to explore the different things that we can do in the physical, but to ultimately rely on God to make up the difference in the spirit.

 The success of our future is about the combination of our faith in God and our practical effort both working together to bring about the results He is after in our life. Both are needed, and together they will culminate in success.” (Living by Faith, from our Missionary Diaries)

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“Living by faith isn’t an actionless state of being. Rather, it means that we are willing to trust God to bring about the right results as we set about doing what we can in the physical realm. Living by faith means that at the core of our being, we know that God is in control, and we know that we can count on Him to provide for us no matter what.

Faith is the light that illumines the path we walk down; it shows us where to go. Holding the flame of faith in our hand doesn’t cancel out the need for us to take each step upon that path, but it does make the way clearer. Faith provides us with comfort and reassurance, no matter how new or different the path is that we walk down.

Walking into the unknown without our lamp of faith is never a wise move. Our faith in God and in God’s  promises to care for us is a pillar of strength to our spirit. It provides us with the trust we need in order to launch out, to take on new challenges, and to be willing to explore new possibilities and avenues for success.

If we put aside our lamp of faith, or we don’t ensure that it retains its brightness through replenishing it with the oil of God’s Word, then we’re going to find it much harder to venture into the future with confidence. We’ll stumble more easily, because we won’t clearly see what obstacles block our path. We won’t have the resolve to remain triumphant when we encounter hardship…” (On life by faith, from our Missionary Diaries)

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 ”Faith is both the ballast in your life and the breath of God’s Spirit that pushes you forward.”

 A Surfing Story

—Arthur Gordon

 I was face down on a surfboard about half a mile off the beach at Waikiki. I had always wanted to try to ride the Hawaiian surf, but out here among these giant green swells I suddenly didn’t feel very adventuresome.

 “This is far enough,” said the brown-skinned beach boy who had accompanied me on his own board. “Now turn and face the beach. When a wave lifts your board, paddle hard. Then stand up.”

 Stand up? “Tell me,” I croaked, trying to keep the panic out of my voice, “what’s the main thing to remember?”

 “The main thing?” he repeated with a smile. “Don’t look back!”

 The next wave lifted the board. Ahead of me a great chasm seemed to open in the sea. The board tilted down and plunged deep into an emerald precipice that seemed almost vertical. I tried to stand up. Behind me, I knew, a million seething tons of saltwater were poised above my head. In that instant I forgot what the beach boy had said—I looked back. …

 Well, I didn’t drown. Not quite, anyway. I stayed there, floating in the Pacific while my board went plunging away by itself, until finally I summoned the courage to try again.

 I’ve always remembered what the beach boy said: Don’t look back. At past mistakes. At lost opportunities. At hurt feelings. At grievances, real or fancied. No, look forward. Face forward. Concentrate on what lies ahead. That’s the main thing to remember.

I read this story a long ago, and somehow it always brought things in perspective — a simple story that I kept on file for a while,  I cant not even give the credits, as I do not remember where it came from…

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It was just a few days before Christmas, and a young priest in a small town on the eastern plains of Colorado was building a nativity scene for the church, up front near the altar.

From “A Treasury of Christmas Miracles,” by Karen Kingsbury

It was exactly one month before Christmas when Katy Anderson got word that her mother was dying of cancer in their hometown an hour out of Des Moines, Iowa. At just 21 years old, Katy was newly married and living several states away when she received the tragic news. Her mother was only 45, and worse yet, she was alone and unable to care for herself.

“I can’t let Mom die by herself.” Tears streamed down Katy’s face as her husband, Steve, held her close. “She was always there for me; now it’s time for me to be there for her.”

Although the couple’s first Christmas together was fast approaching, they dipped into their savings account and scraped together enough money for Katy to fly to Iowa. It was a one-way ticket.

“God will help us find a way to be together, Katy.” Steve kissed her goodbye at the airport, unashamed of the tears in his eyes. “Christmas is about miracles, after all.”

Time passed, and though Katy’s mother greatly appreciated her presence, Katy was secretly terrified. Not only would she have to be strong while her mother wasted away, but she would have to do so without the love and support of Steve.

“You miss him, don’t you?” Katy’s mother took her hand one afternoon. “Go home, sweetheart. I’ll be fine. Me and the Lord had a little talk and He’s expecting me any time.”

Katy shook her head and smiled, ignoring the heaviness that welled up in her heart. “I won’t leave you alone. Besides, Steve says Christmas is a time for miracles. God will find some way for us to all be together.”

Back home in Montana, Steve stood up in church the Sunday before Christmas and asked the congregation to pray for him. “I want to be with Katy and her mother.” He paused, meeting the eyes of friends and family he’d known for years at First Central Community Church. “Pray that God will work a miracle and find me a way there.”

It was nearly a three-day drive from Billings, Montana, to Katy’s mother’s house in Iowa, and though Steve’s boss had agreed to give him five days off around Christmas, there was no way he could make the round trip by car and still have time with Katy and her mother. Finally, three days before Christmas, Steve got a call.

“Heard you need a little answer to prayer.” It was Joe Isaacson, a local business executive and longtime First Central Church member. Joe owned a two-seater Cessna that he often took out on the weekends as a way of relaxing. He was planning to fly on Wednesday, December 23rd, and was willing to go quite a ways farther if Steve needed a ride to Iowa. Especially at Christmastime.

Chills made their way along Steve’s arms and legs. He thanked Joe and made plans for when to meet him; then he called Katy and told her the news. “We’re going to be together after all, honey. I knew God would give us a Christmas miracle if we asked Him.”

Katy was quiet on the other end. “Hurry, Steve. Mom … she isn’t doing well.”

Small planes were not high on Steve Anderson’s list of reliable modes of transportation, let alone means of relaxation. In fact, he’d never flown before and had always figured when the time came to board a plane it would be a jumbo jet. But the opportunity to fly from Montana to Iowa to see his wife for Christmas was too irresistible for Steve to pass up.

“It’s a small plane, but smooth as silk in the air,” Joe told him the day before the flight. “Tell you what, you can be my navigator.”

In the recesses of his mind, Steve felt a slight wave of anxiety course through his body. He swallowed his fears and cleared his throat.

“I’ve never done any navigating,” he said with a laugh, “but I’d be willing to fly the plane myself if it meant getting back to my wife at Christmas.”

Steve met Joe the next day at a small airport outside of town. The morning was beautiful, clear and without any trace of bad weather. Strains of “Silent Night” played on the airport loudspeaker.

“The weather’s beautiful. Looks like we picked a good day to hit the skies,” Joe said, easily shifting his body into the cockpit.

Steve sized up the tiny aircraft and silently, almost unconsciously, whispered a prayer: “Lord, guide us as we go, and please get us there safely.”

For the first hour the craft flew easily through the clear skies, but as they neared the halfway point of their flight, they entered a thick fog.

“No problem,” Joe said, pointing out the windshield. “You can see radio towers there above the fog. If we keep our eyes on them we’ll know where we are. Besides, we have aviation maps on board. Everything will be fine.”

For a while, it looked as if Joe would be right. Then, when the plane was just outside Pierre, South Dakota, the fog worsened so that the plane became cocooned in a cloud with no visibility whatsoever.

Almost at the same time, the plane’s radio and instruments died. Suddenly the men could no longer see anything on the ground, and because of the instrument failure they couldn’t monitor the fuel or talk to people in the control tower.

Steve may have been inexperienced at flying, but he did not need a pilot’s license to know they were in grave danger. His thoughts turned to his wife and he began begging God for survival. Please, God, help us, he prayed silently, his hands clenched and his face white with terror. Please, get us through this safely.

At that moment they flew through a clearing in the fog and caught a glimpse of Pierre Municipal Airport just below. Joe maneuvered the craft through the opening in the clouds and smoothly down onto the runway.

“Thank God,” Steve whispered as the men climbed out of the plane and Joe began tinkering with the fuse box. A burned-out fuse had caused the instrument failure, and Joe replaced it while Steve telephoned Katy.

“Listen, honey,” Steve told Katy, “we’re running late because of bad weather. Meet me at the airport about an hour later than we planned.”

“Is everything okay? With the plane, I mean?” she asked. Steve could hear how Katy was trying to control the concern in her voice.

“It’s fine,” he said, sounding more confident than he felt. “And guess what? My boss says I can stay through New Year’s. It’s going to be the best Christmas ever, just being there with you and your mom. I love you, honey. See you in a few hours.”

As they climbed back in the craft, Steve again uttered a silent prayer: “You got us this far, God. Please see us through safely to Iowa.”

In less than an hour, the men were back in the sky, enjoying the fact that the sun had come out and the conditions were once again clear. By the time they flew over Sioux Falls, Steve’s fears had nearly disappeared and he began looking forward to being with Katy.

Then, as the plane passed over a series of valleys, the fog appeared once more and almost instantly engulfed the small craft in a dense, suffocating blanket of gray. Moments later they approached a mountain range, and Steve watched as Joe struggled to clear it safely.

“After these mountains, it should be sunny again,” Joe said, struggling to convince himself as much as Steve. “There’s never fog in this area.”

But as night fell, there was indeed fog, and it was so thick the men could see nothing past the plane’s windshield. The airport wasn’t far away, and Joe immediately contacted the radio control tower for assistance.

“We’re closed because of fog,” the air traffic controller informed Joe. “We have no capability for instrument landing. Return to Pierre Municipal Airport and land there.”

“That’s more than an hour back; I can’t,” Joe said, a tinge of panic creeping into his voice. “We’re almost out of fuel. We don’t have enough to fly back to Pierre.”

For a moment, the cockpit was eerily silent. They had no visibility, and Steve’s eyes fell on the fuel gauge and the needle, which danced dangerously over the letter E. Again he silently prayed, struggling to control his terror: “Please, God, please get us out of these clouds safely. Let me make it home this Christmas, please!”

Finally, a different voice broke the silence. “Okay. We’ll get the ground crew ready. Come in on an emergency landing.”

Steve clutched the side of his seat, his eyes wide in disbelief. There was no way they could make an emergency landing when visibility between the plane and the control tower was completely cut off by the fog.

Joe’s voice snapped Steve to attention.

“Get the aviation maps.”

Steve opened them instantly, and Joe estimated their location. According to the map, they should be directly above the airport. Gradually, Joe began to descend through the fog toward the ground. As he did, the voice of the controller came over the radio.

“Pull it up! Pull it up!”

Joe responded immediately, just as both men saw a split in the fog. They were not over the airport as they had thought. Instead they were over the lights of a busy interstate highway and had missed an overpass by no more than five feet.

Steve felt his heart thumping wildly, and he was struck by the certainty of one thing: short of divine intervention, there was no way they would escape their grave situation alive.

The memory of “Silent Night” playing in the airport earlier that day rewound itself in Steve’s mind. Now the words took on a terrifyingly different meaning. Without anyone to guide them down from the skies, the silence in their cockpit that night might be the last they would ever know.

At that instant, the controller’s voice broke the silence again. “If you will listen to me, I’ll help you get down,” he said.

Joe released a pent-up sigh. “Go ahead. I’m listening.”

Steve closed his eyes momentarily and prayed, begging God to guide them safely through the fog onto the ground.

Meanwhile, the controller began guiding Joe toward a landing.

“Come down a little. Okay, a little more. Not that much. All right, now over to the right. Straighten it out and come down a little more.”

The calm, reassuring voice of the controller continued its steady stream of directions, and Joe, intent on the voice, did as he was instructed. The trip seemed to take an eternity, and Steve wondered whether he would see his wife again. “Please, God,” he whispered. “Get us onto the ground. Please.”

The controller continued. “Raise it a little more. Okay, you’re too far to the left. That’s right. Now lower it a little more. All right, you’re right over the end of the runway. Set it down. Now!”

Carefully responding just as he was told, Joe lowered the plane, and when he was a few feet from the ground, the runway came into sight. As the plane touched down, Steve saw Katy standing nearby waiting for him, and his eyes filled with tears of relief and gratitude.

The two men in the cockpit looked at each other. Without saying a word, they bowed their heads and closed their eyes. “Thank You, God,” Steve said, his voice choked with emotion. “Thank You for sparing our lives today. And thank You for listening.”

Joe picked up the plane’s radio and contacted the control tower. “Hey, I just want to thank you for what you did. We couldn’t have made it without those directions. You probably saved our lives.”

There was a brief pause. “What are you talking about?” the controller asked. He had a different voice this time, and he was clearly confused. “We lost all radio contact with you when we told you to return to Pierre.”

Goose bumps rose up on Steve’s arms and he watched as Joe’s face went blank in disbelief. “You what?” he asked.

“We never heard from you again, and we never heard you talking to us or to anyone else,” the controller said. “We were stunned when we saw you break through the clouds right over the runway. It was a perfect landing.”

Steve and Joe looked at each other in silent amazement. If this controller hadn’t been in contact with them through the emergency landing, who had? Whose calm, clear voice had filled the cockpit with the directions that saved their lives?

Today Steve is aware that he still cannot specifically answer those questions. But in his heart he is certain that God did indeed grant him a Christmas miracle that December night.

“I believe that God protected us that day and that perhaps He allowed an angel to guide us to the ground safely,” Steve says. “It was a Christmas when Katy and I desperately needed to be together. God sustained me through that silent night and He continues to do so every day of my life.”