A seminary professor was vacationing with his wife in Gatlinburg, TN.

One morning, they were eating breakfast at a little restaurant, hoping to enjoy a quiet, family meal. While they were waiting for their food, they noticed a distinguished looking, white-haired man moving from table to table, visiting with the guests.

The professor leaned over and whispered to his wife, “I hope he doesn’t come over here.” But sure enough, the man did come over to their table.

“Where are you folks from?” he asked in a friendly voice.

“Oklahoma,” they answered.

“Great to have you here in Tennessee” the stranger said. “What do you do for a living?”

“I teach at a seminary,” he replied.

“Oh, so you teach preachers how to preach, do you? Well, I’ve got a really great story for you.” And with that, the gentleman pulled up a chair and sat down at the table with the couple.

The professor groaned and thought to himself, “Great… Just what I need another preacher story!”

The man started, “See that mountain over there? (pointing out the restaurant window). Not far from the base of that mountain, there was a boy born to an unwed mother. He had a hard time growing up, because every place he went, he was always asked the same question, ‘Hey boy, who’s your daddy?

“Whether he was at school, in the grocery store or drug store, people would ask the same question, ‘Who’s your daddy?’ He would hide at recess and lunch time from other students. He would avoid going in to stores because that question hurt him so bad.

“When he was about 12 years old, a new preacher came to his church. He would always go in late and slip out early to avoid hearing the question, ‘Who’s your daddy?’.

But one day, the new preacher said the benediction so fast he got caught and had to walk out with the crowd. Just about the time he got to the back door, the new preacher, not knowing anything about him, put his hand on his shoulder and asked him, ‘Son, who’s your daddy?’

“The whole church got deathly quiet. He could feel every eye in the church looking at him. Now everyone would finally know the answer to the question, “Who’s your daddy’.

This new preacher, though, sensed the situation around him and using discernment that only the Holy Spirit could give, said the following to that scared little boy… “Wait a minute!” he said, “I know who you are, I see the family resemblance now. You are a child of God.” With that he patted the boy on his shoulder, and said, “Boy, you’ve got a great inheritance, go and claim it.” With that, the boy smiled for the first time in a long time and walked out the door a changed person.

He was never the same again. Whenever anybody asked him, ‘Who’s your Daddy?’ he’d just tell them, “I’m a Child of God”

The distinguished gentleman got up from the table and said, “Isn’t that a great story?”. The professor responded that it really was a great story!

As the man turned to leave, he said, “You know, if that new preacher hadn’t told me that I was one of God’s children, I probably never would have amounted to anything!” And he walked away.

The seminary professor and his wife were stunned. He called the waitress over and asked her, “Do you know who that man was who just left that was sitting at our table?”

The waitress grinned and said, “Of course, everybody here knows him. That’s Ben Hooper. He’s the former governor of Tennessee!”

“What has God ever done for me?” grumbled an angry 23 year old man named Victor. “I mean, why should I believe this so-called God guy loves me as you say He does when He hasn’t done anything to help me or my life?!”

“Oh?” said his uncle sitting next to him on the bus. “What do you feel has gone wrong in your life that God caused?” he continued.

Victor snapped, “I didn’t say God caused it, but He sure didn’t do anything to help me out! I had to deal with some pretty bad things all on my own, and, no thanks to Him, I fixed them all on my own too!”

His uncle nodded slightly and replied, “I assume you are referring to the hard time you began having when you got involved in street drugs and heavy drinking?”

“That’s part of it,” responded Victor as he glared out the bus window.

His uncle turned to look at him, and then said, “Did your parent’s teach you, or tell you to get involved with these dangerous substances that can affect how you think and behave?”

“Of course not!” snapped Victor.

“I’m guessing they tried warning you, but you chose not to obey, correct?” responded his uncle as he straightened himself out in his seat. He continued, “And they probably taught you the importance of eating right, taking care of your health, staying close to God, and being careful about the friends you chose, right?”

Victor hesitated, then angrily replied, “Alright!, They were MY choices, not my parent’s! I take full responsibility for my actions!”

Victor’s uncle again turned to look at him, then quickly replied, “Do you? About everything?”

Victor looked puzzled. “What are you talking about?”

His uncle straightened his back one more time, and replied, “Do you also take responsibility for the fact it was YOU who turned your back on God? You keep asking what has God done for you, but it would seem to me that the question really is, what have YOU done for God lately?”

Victor immediately snapped at his uncle, “Hey, I prayed out to God a few times to make all the bad things go away, but He didn’t!”

His uncle nodded, reached for Victor’s hand, and said, “He (God) didn’t, or YOU didn’t?”

Victor quickly replied, “I kept on drinking, doing drugs, being disrespectful to my family, and other things I probably shouldn’t have, but God could have stopped me, made all the bad things go away, and He didn’t! He ignored me, or maybe He doesn’t even exist at all so that’s why He did nothing!”

As he held his nephew’s hand, Victor’s uncle calmly responded, “Victor, God is not a puppet master who pulls our strings so we will do what He wants us to do. He loves us so much that He gave us free-will. Even though you may have wanted God to take all the bad things away, your actions and choices revealed that you really didn’t want anything to change. How do I know that? Because isn’t it true you kept on drinking, taking drugs, and being disrespectful to your family?”

Victor was at a loss for words.

“Words are often shallow, Victor. It is our actions which prove what is really in our heart. What do you think your actions have showed God? Have they showed Him you love Him and want to be close to Him; that you want Him to be Lord of your life? Or, do they show Him that you want to ignore His commands, and remain in the lifestyle you have been living, and only call on Him when the going gets tough?”

The look on Victor’s face began to change. The anger and resentment he had been holding in so long toward his family and God suddenly seemed to melt away. “I guess I had been blaming my parents and God, when I should have been blaming my self,” he said quietly.

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Many people blame God for what they themselves have chosen. We must remember, when we choose the action, we also choose the consequence.

As a loving Heavenly Father, God wants the best for us, and He is willing and able to deliver us from even the most dire circumstances. However, we need to also want it for ourselves, not just through lip-service, but through word AND deed.

Contributed by Melanie Schurr — Melanie Schurr is the author of “Ecstatic Living: A Christian marriage manual and Life-guide”, “Son Salutations” and “Daily Contemplations” , a collection of read-one-a-day modern inspirations.

One day a while back, a man, his heart heavy with grief, was walking in the woods. As he thought about his life this day, he knew many things were not right. He thought about those who had lied about him back when he had a job. His thoughts turned to those who had stolen his things and cheated him. He remembered family that had passed on. His mind turned to the illness he had that no one could cure. His very soul was filled with anger, resentment and frustration.

Standing there this day, searching for answers he could not find, knowing all else had failed him, he knelt at the base of an old oak tree to seek the one he knew would always be there. And with tears in his eyes, he prayed: “Lord, You have done wonderful things for me in this life. You have told me to do many things for you, and I happily obeyed. Today, you have told me to forgive. I am sad, Lord, because I cannot. I don’t know how. It is not fair Lord. I didn’t deserve these wrongs that were done against me and I shouldn’t have to forgive As perfect as your way is Lord, this one thing I cannot do, for I don’t know how to forgive. My anger is so deep Lord, I fear I may not hear you, but I pray that you teach me to do this one thing I cannot do – Teach me To Forgive.” As he knelt there in the quiet shade of that old oak tree, he felt something fall onto his shoulder.

He opened his eyes. Out of the corner of one eye, he saw something red on his shirt. He could not turn to see what it was because where the oak tree had been was a large square piece of wood in the ground.

He raised his head and saw two feet held to the wood with a large spike through them. He raised his head more, and tears came to his eyes as he saw Jesus hanging on a cross. He saw spikes in His hands, a gash in His side, a torn and battered body, deep thorns sunk into His head. Finally he saw the suffering and pain on His precious face. As their eyes met, the man’s tears turned to sobbing, and Jesus began to speak. “Have you ever told a lie?” He asked.

The man answered, “Yes, Lord.” “Have you ever been given too much change and kept it?” The man answered, “Yes. Lord.” And the man sobbed more and more. “Have you ever taken something from work that wasn’t yours?” Jesus asked. And the man answered, “Yes, Lord.” “Have you ever sworn, using my Father’s name in vain?” The man, crying now, answered, “Yes, Lord.”

As Jesus asked many more times, “Have you ever . . ?” the man’s crying became uncontrollable, for he could only answer, “Yes, Lord.” Then Jesus turned His head from one side to the other, and the man felt something fall on his other shoulder. He looked and saw that it was the blood of Jesus. When he looked back up, his eyes met those of Jesus, and there was a look of love the man had never seen or known before.

Jesus said, “I didn’t deserve this either, but I forgive you.”

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It may be hard to see how you’re going to get through something, but when you look back in life, you realize how true this statement is.

Read the following first line slowly and let it sink in. If God brings you to it – He will bring you through it.

Lord I love You and I need You, come into my heart, today. For without You I can do nothing.