Safely Through Another Week
By Taniesha Robertson-Brown
It was Friday, July 12, 2019, and as the Sabbath hours dawned, I stopped to reflect on the events of the previous day. The words of the hymn “Safely Through Another Week” rang in my ears. This particular hymn is one I have listened to and sung all my life, but this Sabbath the words carried a different meaning. My heart became overwhelmed with gratitude to God for His mercies.
As my workday on Thursday neared an end, all of the cell phones in the office began blaring an emergency alert. There was a flash flood warning in the area. I had never been away from home during an emergency alert, and was unfamiliar with the possible threat this warning posed. I decided to make a quick trip to the bank instead of heading home directly.
As my family and I traveled to the bank, the rain continued to pour down. The first sign of danger came when a road on our usual route was barricaded against traffic because of the flooding. Unfortunately, I did not consider this a warning to head for home and proceeded to take another route to the bank. After finally arriving at the bank, I quickly made the deposit and we traveled our usual route home, signs of impending danger looming all around.
The water level in the rivers began to rise, loose dirt, rocks, shrubs and tree trunks rolled into the roadway. Hundreds of gallons of water could be seen gushing from the hills, and large pools formed across the roadway. Terror began to engulf me. We cautiously pressed through and we were almost home when we had to turn around because of a fallen tree in the road.
Disappointment and fear now danced in my head. The roads were blocked all around so we decided to wait in a safe place for a short time while praying for safety and for the rain to stop.
I called my friend, Andrea, who tried to encourage me but I struggled to remain optimistic. I worried about what could happen to us if we miscalculated the depth of water on the roadway. What if we could not get home by nightfall? How would we feed our two year old? Where would we spend the night? I longed for home. Anxiety set in and I shook in terror. Within a few minutes of waiting, the rain began to ease and we decided to try heading home again.
Soon we learned that a section of our route was blocked because a rescue effort was underway. After trying multiple routes, we finally arrived home safely. Sadly, the rescue effort that we passed was unsuccessful and three members of the family died. I was heartbroken.
That night, our little community was featured on national news stations. That was the reason the words of the song “Safely Through Another Week” had new meaning to me. We had been spared.
If you had been there, you might not have been as fearful as I was, but there are probably other things that make you afraid. My challenge to you today is to hand your fears over to God because He will carry you through.
God answered our prayers for safekeeping and He can do the same for you.
Taniesha Robertson-Brown is a member of the Pine Forge Seventh-day Adventist Church in the Allegheny East Conference.
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World Church Prayer Requests
August 11 - 18, 2019
• PRAYER REQUEST: Please pray for comfort for those affected in the recent shootings in Texas and Ohio. Pray for the local church members to know how to respond to those who are hurting.
• PRAYER REQUEST: Please continue to pray for the Oshkosh International Pathfinder Camporee that concludes on the 17th. Pray for the Holy Spirit to be poured out on our young people. Pray for traveling safety, and safety during the Camporee for the thousands of young people.
• PRAYER REQUEST: Please pray for those who were baptized this past June during the Total Member Involvement meetings across India. Pray that the decisions made will be strong and each new member will continue to grow in the Lord. Pray for the follow-up work and on-going Bible studies.
• PRAYER REQUEST: Pray for the different evangelistic ministries around the world like It is Written, Amazing Facts, and others. Pray that God would continue to use these ministries to bring many to the truth.
• PRAYER REQUEST: Pray for the growing ministry of Adventist World Radio. Pray that many more will be able to hear the message of God’s love over the radio waves, and be brought to Him. Pray for the cell phone evangelism that is taking off through Adventist World Radio. Thousands of doors are opening to share the truth as we’ve never experienced before.
• PRAYER REQUEST: Pray for the 54 Hope Channels around the world, broadcasting in 60 languages God’s good news of a better life for today and for eternity.
• PRAYER REQUEST: Pray for the other Adventist media networks around the world that are also seeking to share the Three Angel’s Messages far and wide. Pray that God will help us know how to effectively work together for His glory, and that His coming may be hastened.