Beech Tree News Network

Thoughts:  The Bible tells us of a man who declared; “My barns are bursting and running over. I will pull them down and build bigger ones (and fill them too).”  To this God said, “You fool, this night your soul will be required of Me.”
To think we control our lives is self-deception. We are NOT “the masters of our fate, or the captains of our souls.” After 81 plus years I still remember things my daddy taught me- many times I heard him say: “Tomorrow I will do (thus and so), if God will.” It’s good to know the American Indians recognized God’s awesomeness. There is an aged Native American belief that says: “The Great Spirit (God) scratched his hand across the land and created the Finger Lakes (of upper New York).”
I heard a fellow say about a car wreck he was in: “Boy, I thank my lucky stars I wasn’t hurt.” I wanted to say (but I didn’t), “you ignoramus, God doesn’t deal in luck. He hung all the stars, but he called NONE of them ‘lucky’. What kind of God could we trust if He dealt in luck?”
But I supposed at times we’ve all carelessly used the luck. That’s really saying “things just happen.” But they don’t. In Ecclesiastes 3, we read, “There is a purpose for everything under the heavens.”  There is no such thing as happenstance with God… “His eye is (even) on the sparrow. (He knows when ONE falls we’re told.)”
We sometimes forget God said, “My ways are not your ways”
I’m reminded of the man who missed the boat.  He was late, and rushing toward Liverpool England to catch a ship to come to the United States. When he got to the pier the ship was on its way, almost out of sight. The fellow was angry, disappointed, and plain right down mad. “God why would you let this happen?” He shouted, “You know I have folks in America I was longing to see. What possible reason would you want to keep me from seeing them?”  The ship was the TITANIC.
Then of course, there are times we will never know God’s purpose, until we see Him, and maybe ask Him.  There was an unusual story from World War Two. It happened in a battle on one of the South Pacific Islands. There was a lull in the fighting. It had rained hard several days; neither side was doing much. An American recon patrol was ordered out to spy on the Japanese, to find out what they were up to. They came upon and unbelievable scene.  A being of high ranking Japanese officers had erected a tarp over a large flat rock at the mouth of a cave. They were sitting around a large table dining sumptuously- expensive looking table ware, numerous bottles of sake (rice wine), a number of Japanese enlisted men were waiting in attendance at the request… the whole nine yards.  The leader of the American patrol decided there was no way for clear rifle shots at the enemy, so he signaled for his two man motor team. They were in so close, they cranked the mortar tubes up to full limit of 86 degrees, and dropped in the mortar round. Then a strange thing happened. The mortar shell was right on. It came down through the tarp shelter and landed right in the middle of the enemy’s dining table.  IT DID NOT GO OFF.  Why?  They’d no bad round in that batch of ammo, before or after this incident. There could have been, but not likely. What then?  The guys in the patrol would always wonder. “Only God knows why,” one ventured. The soldiers could have been right. Maybe God knew none of the enemy officers were PREPARED  to meet HIM.  
  Kindest Regards…