So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Isaiah 41:10
“The people of God are repeatedly urged not to be afraid. This insistence is important. God knows that we are naturally fearful. It is a defense mechanism when we are faced with danger or an adversary who seems stronger than we are. We need to learn to trust in God’s help. He will transform situations, so that those that tried to make us feel ashamed will themselves be ashamed.”
Edouard Kitoko Nsiku (Democratic Republic of Congo) in “Isaiah” in Africa Bible Commentary, Tokunboh Adeyemo, General Editor (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2006) 864.
Yesterday was unforgettable. It felt like 13 Hours in Benghazi.
Except for one big difference. We did not fire a shot. We felt God fight for us. We experienced the deliverance of the Lord thanks to the hard working police of Senegal. Let me explain.
GTP hosted an all day Stations of Generosity training at Temple of Nations in downtown Dakar. Unfortunately, we were blocks from the epicenter of a protest that turned violent.
Despite the threat of danger we determined to meet. We heard protesters making noise. Anything left in the streets was burned. I shot this header photo from our training room.
Notice smoke rising up from the corner by the church compound. It got more intense. We heard two loud explosions nearby. After the first explosion nearby, we stopped to pray.
After the second one, which shook our building and caused our group to jump to look out the window, I will never forget what I saw.
In an instant, faster than I could pull out my phone to video it, I saw a flow of police and their vehicles go from right to left on the road below. God used them to protect the advances of any protestors. He turned our situation from panic to peace.
We prayed and continued on. Our prayers included Samson who had gone out to get lunch for the group. He was stopped by the police for taking pictures from his vehicle. Note to self, in such situations save the memories in your mind, not your phone.
By God’s grace after learning Samson was from Benin they let him go only after giving him a warning and forcing him to delete any photos from his phone. He was shaken up but not mistreated.
He knew he had to get back to our meeting. We welcomed him with cheers when he returned with lunch. We were glad he was well and lunch was late. God provided just what we needed: help.
The day ended remarkably well. The police cleared the streets of debris and we drove safely to our hotel. There were very few cars on the road but much debris like a war zone.
Sometimes God’s generosity takes the form of help from his righteous right hand. I give thanks for that today. If you are in difficult or dangerous situation, don’t panic. Call out to God. He’s hears and helps.
Today back in USA, a foundation is considering a major grant to GTP. Pray with me for favor for that grant for empowering national workers to build trust and grow local giving to God’s work.
God, please help with this matter and any other readers face today.