Fans, A/C & A Fiery Furnace
For those who grew up in the days with no air conditioning you know what it is like trying to stay cool on a hot summer day. Growing up without A/C was the norm. You lived with the windows open and as a child you stayed outside as much as possible.
In our home we had a window fan in the back of the house. Mama would set it on exhaust and open the windows in the front of the house to pull air through. On occasion my siblings and I would flip the switch to intake and stand in front of it to cool off. And then we would hear Mama say, “Who’s messing with the fan?” We would switch it back to exhaust as fast as we could, but of course we had been caught.
At church the windows would be open, no screens, and we would use funeral home fans. And you could see the ladies wiping perspiration (sweat) with their hankies. Tissues were not so common and if they had been they wouldn’t hold up to the task.
Let me say I carry a fan with me at all times because hot is not something I like to do. Recently we were in a revival in July in Mississippi. Now if you haven’t been in the South in July you haven’t experienced HOT! On Saturday evening we met at the church for a meal and prayer. When the Pastor opened the church to set the A/C for Sunday services he realized that the unit for the Sanctuary was not working properly. The other units were good. On Sunday morning the Sunday School class was nice, the Foyer was cool, the basement was cool, the Sanctuary was not. As I said I always carry a fan. During Opening Assembly I used my fan and that was fine. We were not in there long before we went to Sunday School. As Worship began I brought out my fan and as I began to fan it fell apart in my hand. It was so HOT my fan broke, not really, but that’s how it felt. The mechanism that held it together when you open it out came loose. There I was in church with no A/C and no fan. All I can say is, “Thank the Lord for church bulletins!”
In times when things seem to go wrong and you don’t know where to turn you may feel like the heat has been turned up or the A/C is on the blink and you have no fan. When times like these come, and they will come, all you have to do is turn to Jesus. He is always ready to listen and take care of your every need. He may not always take care of your situation the way you would like, but it will be for your good and His glory.
Romans 8: 28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to [his] purpose.
You may want to study Daniel to refresh your memory as to how God took care of the needs of the three Hebrew children.
Daniel 3
17 If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king.
* * *
24 Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonied, and rose up in haste, and spake, and said unto his counsellors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, O king.
25 He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.
* * *
28 Then Nebuchadnezzar spake, and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who hath sent his angel, and delivered his servants that trusted in him, and have changed the king's word, and yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God.
29 Therefore I make a decree, That every people, nation, and language,
which speak any thing amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a dunghill: because there is no other God that can deliver after
this sort.
30 Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, in the province of Babylon.
King James Version (KJV)
Always remember, whatever your need, give it to God.
He always knows what’s best for you!! 9/16/17