Ask. That's All That It Takes

I arrived at the end of the Kindle book this morning.  It was a novelette that I'd been reading during spare moments, for the past two days.  Colonel Henry, a writer in residence at a library, befriended one of the clerks.  This was particularly endearing since, because of her high-strung and noble personality, she had antagonized him from the start. 

Always challenging an issue or campaigning some cause or another, Stella rarely gets along with any co-workers at any work place.  She laments that trouble follows her everywhere, and to that the Colonel replies, Trouble's after everybody.  But we're praying people, aren't we?  Stella replies, But I haven't asked him anything for years.  I can't even remember the last time I prayed.

The Colonel tells her that he remembers her asking for help twice during the last catastrophe.  When she insists that it was nothing but sheer desperation, he insists that that's all that it takes.  He quotes a very good scripture to her: ...call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee. (Psalm 50:15, The Webster Bible)

Considering his response, Stella reasons with herself about what could have happened versus the blessed things that did happen, including help from the Colonel.  She marveled that all of it was a result of simply calling out to God in a stressful time of need, even though she couldn't remember when she had last thought of him.

God will hear us at any time.  Sometimes the answer is immediate and discernible.  Sometimes it seems that he does not hear us, that he does not care.  You can rest assured that if you haven't yet experienced an answer, that he is arranging it.  Even for those who experience prolonged suffering, often until death, when they've called out to God, I believe he heard.  I believe he answered them in some way that we cannot fathom.  

You will find this short and satisfying story, Home Before Dark by Lilly Maytree, at Amazon.
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Image Credit: /PeterS

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