Seeing God’s Hand
Recently I read a stirring and inspiring autobiography called Running For My Life by Lopez Lomong – what a great book!
Lopez was just a little boy at the time of the Sudanese Civil War when he and others were kidnapped by soldiers during a church service and taken off to a camp where the boys were to be trained as soldiers. Many of the poor young boys died there, and eventually Lomong and three other boys managed to escape their imprisonment. Let me read his own words from the book:
Escaping the Prison Camp: Seeing God's Hand in the Impossible
"I could not believe the guards couldn't hear the clanking of the chain-link fence. However, like the squeaking door that fell silent on this night, I know God Himself was responsible for the guards not hearing us. I thought of the story in the book of Acts where the angels set Peter free from prison in the middle of the night. The angel made the chains drop from Peter's wrists and then threw open the prison gate. Peter walked right out of the prison and not one of the guards noticed. God did the same thing for me and my three angels that night."
Well, the boys ran and ran and ran and ran for days, not knowing where they were going, but just knowing that they wanted to escape. Lomong writes: "We did not run with our own strength but with strength from God. That is the only explanation."
Let's pause there today to think about this. Lomong sees God's hand as he looks back at this story. He sees God's hand deafening the guards so they couldn't hear the boys' escape, and he sees God's hand as the one giving him strength to run the way he did.
Where Has God's Hand Been at Work in Your Life?
I wonder if we need to consider for a moment how God's hand has been at work in our own lives, as we've been going about our business?
You see, Lomong could've said "somehow the guards didn't hear!" and "somehow we managed to find strength," but that's not what he says. He says God was the one who helped us! I believe that this mindset of seeing God's hand at work in our lives is very important. It keeps Him as the one getting the glory, and keeps us humble as we walk through our days.
So, share in the comments below would you: where has God been at work in your life? Breaking you free from a prison of sorts, perhaps? Or simply giving you strength to run further than you thought you ever could?
Let's celebrate these things together, and jointly say “God is the only explanation!”
Lopez Lomong's three friends vanished without a trace after saving his life, "just like angels in the Bible" - ask God today for eyes that notice the angels He may have placed around you.