A true story by Josh and Karen Zarandona

Brenda was a young woman who was invited to go rock climbing. Although she was scared to death, she went with her group to a tremendous granite cliff. In spite of her fear, she put on the gear, took a hold on the rope, and started up the face of that rock. Well, she got to a ledge where she could take a breather. As she was hanging on there, the safety rope snapped against Brenda's eye and knocked out her contact lens. Well, here she is on a rock ledge, with hundreds of feet below her and hundreds of feet above her. Of course, she looked and looked and looked, hoping it had landed on the ledge, but it just wasn't there. Here she was, far from home, her sight now blurry. She was desperate and began to get upset, so she prayed to the Lord to help her to find it.

When she got to the top, a friend examined her eye and her clothing for the lens, but there was no contact lens to be found. She sat down, despondent, with the rest of the party, waiting for the rest of them to make it up the face of the cliff. She looked out across range after range of mountains, thinking of that Bible verse that says, "The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth." She thought, "Lord, You can see all these mountains. You know every stone and leaf, and You know exactly where my contact lens is. Please help me." Finally, they walked down the trail to the bottom.

At the bottom there was a new party of climbers just starting up the face of the cliff. One of them shouted out, "Hey, you guys! Anybody lose a contact lens?" Well, that would be startling enough, but you know why the climber saw it? An ant was moving slowly across the face of the rock, carrying it.

Brenda told me that her father is a cartoonist. When she told him the incredible story of the ant, the prayer, and the contact lens, he drew a picture of an ant lugging that contact lens with the words, "Lord, I don't know why You want me to carry this thing. I can't eat it, and it's awfully heavy. But if this is what You want me to do, I'll carry it for You."

I think it would probably do some of us good to occasionally say, "God, I don't know why you want me to carry this load. I can see no good in it and it's awfully heavy. But, if you want me to carry it, I will." God doesn't call the qualified, He qualifies the called.

Pilgrim

Yeah, and like I said in another thread, God said to Moses, "What's that in your hand?" Symbolically, He did not recognize it because it did not come from Him.

Many of our so-called gifts and talents have never been surrendered to the Lord. When we surrender them to Him we may get them back and we may not. Moses got his staff back, but when he did he had a completely different understanding of God and the staff that was given back to him.

Ever heard someone says about a really talented or famous person, "He would be a really great Christian and do a lot for the Kingdom of God", (Thus is born the beginning of an idol as we look on the outward).

Doing "a lot" for Christ is "decreasing" not "increasing".

Mary was doing more for the Kingdom sitting at Jesus' feet than Martha was doing in the kitchen with all of her activity.

"Speak Lord, your servant is listening."

Pilgrim

Amen... Good post,
The Lord does call His diciples to, "take up your cross."

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Richie

Dear Pilgrim,

Wow, what a post! Thank you. I like your username too...

This story brought encouragement, conviction, truth, and reality to my heart. It is amazing how quickly God saves us when all we do is just simply call out to him for help. It only takes a mustard seed of faith! Recently I have been meditating on the following verses:

"And a certain ruler asked him, saying, Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? "You know the commandments, 'DO NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, DO NOT MURDER, DO NOT STEAL, DO NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS, HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER.'" And he said, "All these things I have kept from my youth." When Jesus heard this, He said to him, "One thing you still lack; sell all that you possess and distribute it to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me." But when he had heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich" (Luke 18:18-25).

Many times when I have read these verses I have thought of the dangers of loving money and felt sad for the rich man, but the key I believe for me in this passage is that Jesus wants to reveal what is still remaining in my (our) heart that must be repented and surrendered to Him. Wesley called it “The Repentance of Believers.” It is all or nothing! Jesus could very well ask us to quit a job and go to the mission field, or remove our T.V. from the house, or sell our nice car/truck, etc., etc., and follow Him. And this is what I and all of us need every day, a fresh encounter with Christ where He is truly speaking to us and setting us free from bondage and all selfishness.

Lastly, I might have went away sorrowful like the rich man, but afterwards I would sell all and run after Him to follow Him. I realize the correct answer would be to immediately follow Him like the disciples did, but either way God gets the glory not us.

I also like when you stated let us decrease that He might increase. This is presently one of my favorite verses.

Thanks again for the post, it really blessed me! I will save this story. Could you share the cartoon that Brenda's father created? If so, you can find my email at my profile. :)

God bless,

Kenneth Martin

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Lisa