If we knew how to listen to God,
We should hear him speaking to us.
For God does speak.

He speaks in His gospel: He speaks also through life -
That new Gospel to which we ourselves add a page each day.
But because our faith is too weak and our life to earth-bound,
We are rarely open to God’s message.

To help us to listen,
At the beginning of our new intimacy with Christ,
Let us imagine what He would say
If He himself interpreted His gospel to the men of our day.

God gave us eyes and we looked for alternatives,
He formed our ears and we listened to wrong voices,
He created our feet but we followed the wrong paths.
So God broke through into our situation.

When He opens our eyes we can see His glory
When He opens our ears we can hear His voice
When He takes our hand we can follow His path.

So look to the Lord and listen to His voice
Follow His way and he will make your paths straight.

Kelsey Shelton Smith-Briggs died on October 11, 2005 at the home of her mother, Raye Dawn Smith, and her stepfather, Michael Lee Porter in Meeker, Oklahoma. Evidence indicates that Kelsey died from a blunt force trauma to the abdomen. In the final months of her life she had suffered a broken collarbone, broken legs, and multiple bruises and abrasions on her face and body.

In January 2005, the Oklahoma Department of Human Services confirmed abuse against Kelsey’s mother after she was taken to a local emergency room with a broken collar bone, multiple bruises and abrasions to Kelsey’s lower back, buttocks, and thighs. In April, both of Kelsey’s legs were broken and it was determined these were spiral fractures in different stages of healing and were caused by child abuse. After this incident, Kelsey was taken into State’s custody.

Her case was watched closely by State authorities and the courts. At the time of Kelsey’s death, her biological father, Lance Briggs, was stationed at Fort Benning, Georgia awaiting separation papers upon his return from deployment in Iraq.

Prosecutors initially charged Michael Porter with sexual assault and first-degree murder, but in February 2007 he plead guilty to enabling child abuse and received a 30-year prison sentence. Raye Dawn Smith was tried on charges of enabling child abuse, and a jury returned a verdict of guilty against her on July 18, 2007, and sentenced to 27 years in prison. In March 2006, the Oklahoma state legislature passed the Kelsey Smith-Briggs Child Protection Reform Act.

My Mother’s father worked as a carpenter.

On this particular day, he was building some crates for the clothes his church was sending to orphanages in China. On his way home, he reached into his shirt pocket to find his glasses, but they were gone. When he mentally replayed his earlier actions, he realized what had happened; the glasses had slipped out of his pocket unnoticed and fallen into one of the crates, which he had nailed shut. His brand new glasses were heading for China!

The Great Depression was at it’s height and Grandpa had six children. He had spent $20 for those glasses that very morning. He was upset by the thought of having to buy another pair. “It’s not fair,” he told God as he drove home in frustration. “I’ve been very faithful in giving of my time and money to your work, and now this.”

Months later, the director of the orphanage was on furlough in the United States. He wanted to visit all the churches that supported him in China, so he came to speak one Sunday at my grandfather’s small church in Chicago. The missionary began by thanking the people for their faithfulness in supporting the orphanage.

“But most of all,” he said, “I must thank you for the glasses you sent last year. You see, the Communists had just swept through the orphanage, destroying everything, including my glasses. I was desperate. Even if I had the money, there was simply no way of replacing those glasses. Along with not being able to see well, I experienced headaches every day, so my coworkers and I were much in prayer about this. Then your crates arrived. When my staff removed the covers, they found a pair of glasses lying on top.

The missionary paused long enough to let his words sink in. Then, still gripped with the wonder of it all, he continued: “Folks, when I tried on the glasses, it was as though they had been custom made just for me! I want to thank you for being a part of that.”

The people listened, happy for the miraculous glasses. But the missionary surely must have confused their church with another, they thought. There were no glasses on their list of items to be sent overseas. But sitting quietly in the back, with tears streaming down his face, an ordinary carpenter realized the Master Carpenter had used him in an extraordinary way.

——————————————————————-

There are times we want to blame God instead of thanking him! Perhaps it is something we ought to try more often, “Thank you God for not allowing my car to start this morning.” He may have been saving your life from a car accident.

“Lord Jesus, thank you for letting me lose my glasses;

I’m sure they’ll be put to good use or there is a lesson to be learned.”