Just last week our 12yr old son, John, left for a trip to Canada.  He traveled with a tour group from his school to Montreal and Quebec City.  This was a leap of faith for us, just in letting him go with them ... but WITHOUT US! 

The first night he was there he called us.  We had a "Canadian plan" set up on his phone so "he" could call us just like here, with no extra charges or phone bill surprises!  Anyway, we were visiting with him and he was so excited!  He was telling us about all that he had seen.  As he was talking to his Mom he suddenly said, "Mom, can you hold on just a minute ... "  He sounded worried, like something was wrong.  His Mom said, "John!  What's wrong?"  Now we could hear him breathing really fast, and it sounded like he was running!  You could hear him say, "Mom ...  I ... can't!"  and then the line went dead! 

Here we were, sitting there in our den ... our son is thousands of miles away, in another country ... and now it appears that something has gone wrong?  Was he lost?  Was someone chasing him?  Oh the devil was having a hayday with the various "possibilities" on this one!  And I assure you, he was speaking each of them into our ears as we waited!  We just sat there, looking at each other ... dumbfounded! 

What do you do?  Well, being a mother, the first thing pastor Jane did was, "I'm going to call him back!", as she was holding back the tears!!  Now I was hearing the same voices in my head that she was hearing!  However, I have a very good understanding of the spirit of fear and what it can do! 

I said, "Stop!"  Then I firmly told her, "Get a hold of your feelings on this ... NOW!"  I immediately sent a "text"!  The text to his group leader was simple:  "John is lost!"  Then I texted John and said, "Call me ... NOW!"

Then came the longest moment of silence I believe I have ever known.  What was only moments seemed like an eternity!!  As we waited, Jane was in tears, and starting to go into a panic attack.  I don't know what all goes through a mother's head in this situation, but I DO KNOW that fear opens doors to the devil, and I currently had his head stuck in the door, and I was pressing it hard!  He wasn't happy!  But neither could he get in, to my mind and my heart, or into my wife!  I was not about to let that happen!! 

I said to pastor Jane, "Honey, you have got to decide WHO are you going to trust?"  She took a deep breath ... a cleansing breath ... and let it out slowly.  You could still see it in her eyes, though ... she was terrified!  But she refused to say anything more, to ensure that she did not step into fear either!

Another moment of silence.  If we had owned a wall clock we would have heard it ticking ... tic-toc, tic-toc ... in the silence ... as we waited! 

Suddenly "my" cellphone rang.  The contact name said "John Allcorn".  I answered it.  There was a quiet voice on the other end.  It sounded rather sheepish, like he'd just had a scare and was getting over the adrenaline rush.  He said, "Dad?"  He was safe.  John was safe!  

After visiting with him, it turns out that he was talking to us on the phone and looking around, and he got separated from the group!  He started to panic!  He was running trying to find them, holding the phone in his hand.  His finger hit the hang-up button as he was frantically running, looking to see where they'd gone.  And they had already noticed him missing and were waiting for him, so there was no problem.  To him, though, he was for a few moments ... all alone, in a strange country, with his parents literally thousands of miles away! 

What do you do when you suddenly find yourself in a predicament?  Either on John's end - "lost" - or on our end, "with your little baby ... possibly lost, or running for his life, and thousands of miles from your protection"?  What do you do? 

This is important, because WHAT you do, will affect the outcome!  Faith is the force in the Kingdom of God that works on your behalf.  Fear is the perversion of that force, the opposite of that force, and it works "against" you! 

It is important in a crisis that you (1) do not fear, and (2) that you carefully select your words!  You will either say something to enable "faith" or something to open the door to the devil and all that he's been saying that "could happen"!  Is GOD faithful?  Do you trust Him ... with your son, or YOUR life?  Really?  Do you rrreally trust Him? 

Today is the time to "get into the Word" and feed your spirit man ... with faith.  Because when you are faced in a crisis situation ... an opportunity to choose faith or fear, which is it going to be?  Is your heart full of television, and examples of the very worst things that could happen?  Or it is full of faith examples of folks who have believed God and "seen" the deliverance of the Lord?  Yeah, think about it!  As for me, I was glad that my heart was "locked-in" to faith ... and my Daddy's ability to deliver me (and my son).  Will you be ready?

By the way, John finished his trip, and had a wonderful time!  But we were so, so happy to hold him in our arms once again at the airport!  Thank you so much Father ... you are faithful!

We'll be teaching on this soon!  Look us up! 
Make me proud!




NOTE:  It is important that you are actively learning and growing in the knowledge of the Lord. If you are not currently in a church where they are preaching the word of God, please consider coming by for a visit!