Quote from Forum Archives on October 16, 2010, 12:09 am

Posted by: wrather <wrather@...>

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The Burning Bush Devotional
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10.14.10

Flushed!

Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt
you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. - 1
Peter 5:6-8.

Daniel Collins may not have been literally flushed down the toilet, but he
might as well have been. Daniel was working on the Raymore, Missouri sewage
system as part of a crew employed by Rosetta Construction. Usually the work
is safe, and he had a safety line hooked to him. The trouble for the worker
began when that safety line somehow became detached, and he was suddenly
plunged down a pipe only 27 inches wide. He kept going down that pipe for
more than a mile. Meanwhile, his fellow workers and firefighters were
frantically searching for him. Daniel was able to call out one last time
loud enough for someone to find him. One of the firefighters, who is also a
paramedic, heard Daniel and was able to bring him to safety. The man had
bruises, and may have swallowed some of the nasty water; but everyone
believes it is miraculous for him to be alive, and in such good physical
shape.

Daniel did at least a couple of things right during his ordeal that helped
him to survive. He did not give up, and he kept on calling out believing
that someone would hear him, and come to his rescue. If Daniel had given up
on the hope of rescue any sooner, he might never have been found. If he had
believed that dying in the sewer pipe was going to happen whether he called
for help or not - then, it would likely have been a self-fulfilling
prophecy.

At times, you may find yourself in a situation in life that feels like you
have been flushed down a toilet or worse. However, it is doubtful that a
situation like that, is God's permanent will for your life. Some of God's
greatest servants did go through some horrifically difficult periods of time
in their lives. Moses for years hid out as a fugitive on the backside of the
desert and thought that he was doomed to live out the rest of his life that
way herding sheep. Elijah was so depressed that he was just going to lay
down and die. King David was living for a while in a cave being hunted like
an animal. Gideon thought that he was the lowest person in the social
hierarchy of his entire nation; being of the smallest tribe, and the
smallest family of the tribe, and the smallest or weakest person in his
family. Moses, Elijah, David, and Gideon were all wrong in their perceptions
of their real situation in life. God had more for all of them to do. In
God's
timing, He lifted them up to serve in greater and more powerful ways.

God wants to use you in a greater and more powerful way. How do you arrive
at that point when God calls you up from the reserves, and puts you on the
front lines? Number one, is that you simply refuse to give up on God. You
keep believing, keep trusting, keep doing what you know is right and good.
You keep reading your Bible, keep on going to church, keep on praying, keep
on serving in whatever way that you can. What you are doing is humbling
yourself before God, accepting what He has for your life. Then, at a time,
and possibly at a place you least expect it, when you have almost given up -
God will "exalt you in due time." I like the way the NIV puts this, that God
will "lift you up in due time." That is what God did for Joseph in the Old
Testament. Joseph stayed the course, stayed faithful no matter how miserable
his life situation became, and God lifted him up to be the prime minister of
the nation of Egypt.

Humble yourself under God's hand, stay faithful, and He will lift you up;
exalt you, when the right time comes.

Copyright © 2010. Ed Wrather. Permission is given for use of the devotionals
on a non-profit basis with source credited. The Burning Bush website has
been online since January 31, 1998. On June 8, 1998 the email version of the
Burning Bush Devotional was first sent. Ed Wrather began writing devotionals
in the early 1990s. The distribution of these first devotionals was
primarily through the Burning Bush Newsletter sent to prison facilities
throughout the United States and Canada.

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