From time to time, the author and originator of this blog
“Avalon” (my husband Allen Clark) has encouraged me to write about some truth I
have gleaned and shared with him to be submitted for possible
publication.
It has occurred to me many times while observing Allen's
approach to life, that in the adversities and challenges of himself and others,
he immediately takes them to his Heavenly Father in prayer. Like a child running home to tattle on his
playmates and tell his dad so his dad can fix it for him, Allen races to his
Father in heaven in prayer asking and believing that all will be well and it
usually is. Much to my chagrin I have
observed this eternal optimist overcome overwhelming odds to achieve his goals
time after time until it finally dawned on me, Allen has the gift of
faith!
With his 'child on Christmas morning' joy and enthusiasm, he
welcomes each new day with expectancy and delight. Admittedly, though I sometimes defend my
pessimism by declaring that I am a practical realist, I believe Allen may be the winner in
that he seems to derive such joy by looking up rather than by looking
down.
The passage from John 6:21(KJV) reads “Then they willingly
received him into the boat and immediately the boat was at the land to which
they went.” This stung and resonated in
my spirit as I realized that when we invite Jesus into our life, our situation,
our boat, almost without effort we are immediately at the place we need to
be. Often the first thing He does is
give us His peace and we can then think more clearly about how to solve or
resolve what we are dealing with.
Sometimes we just have to accept the situation or go in a different
direction. Whatever the answer turns out
to be, with Jesus in our boat we soon reach land.
How many times have I heard Allen say in telling his story
about overcoming the loss of his legs, that when Jesus became Lord of his life,
he began to heal? I saw for the first
time, that the physical power that was taken from Allen was replaced by the
spiritual power given by going to the Lord His help.
We live in a world of walking wounded. Broken hearts, hard hearts abound in this
imperfect world we live in. There is a
hospital complete with a specialty for all the ills of mankind that is never
depleted. There is the great physician who never tires, who has a storehouse
that never becomes empty and that can minster to every need we can ever
have. Running to Him he can bind up
every wound, heal every broken heart and set every captive free.
Allen lives the example of someone who runs to Jesus (the Lord
of his life) for all his needs to be met and how completely and how beautifully
they are met. His prayers may not always be answered
exactly the way he asks or what he would like but they are always answered by
what he needs.
Linda
P.S. Dear
Reader:
I feel compelled to add that Allen was hesitant and shy to
publish this as he felt it was too laudatory of him. I encouraged him that he should do it before
I became “disenchanted” about something and changed my mind about the whole
thing. (If you are a wife you will
understand this).
