April 2022 Rick McPherson
I drove a ’55 Chevy in High School. Purchase price was $325.00 I had saved my money from my part-time job at Otis Bennett’s apple farm in Ancaster.
For the gearheads among us, it was a 265 c.i., V8, “3 on the tree”, with a Stewart Warner tach on the dash and an oil, water temp and amps gauge panel under the dash. It was a Bel Air, 2 door hardtop. It was green and white.
I also had a girlfriend, bought my own clothes and went to the stock car races, every Saturday night. I could put $2.00 worth of Sunoco gas in my Chevy and drive all week. Gas was 15 cents a gallon. I remember actual gas wars when gas stations would compete to see who could sell the cheapest gas. Those were the days… 15 cents for gas….imagine!
This week I pulled into Costco to buy diesel fuel for the Peterbilt. The big 12.9 liter Paccar engine gets 9.5 miles per gallon and has two 50 gallon fuel tanks. The price was $4.57 for diesel…imagine! I bit my tongue to keep from saying something I would regret later and pulled the lever. When I reached $200.00, I vowed to run for President and return the world to the sanity I had known when Otis Bennett was in charge. Sheesh! A friend called later and told me he had just paid $10.00 a gallon on a recent trip to Death Valley. Poetic justice, I thought. They had accurately named the place.
Now as I ponder the supply chain woes, inflation, economics, unemployment, lawlessness, political unrest, wars and rumors of wars, hypocrisy, corruption and fuel costs, (again), my head hurts; not to mention my heart. And, I think about our mission to help Native Americans. I also think about you. My thinking quickly turns to praying and my praying becomes very simple. Usually one word sums it up, “help!” Perhaps that one word is the most used in prayer language these days. Can you think of a better one?
“I will lift up my eyes to the hills
From whence comes my help?
My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth.
He will not allow your foot to slip;
The Lord is your keeper; The Lord is your shade,
The Lord will protect you from all evil;
He will keep your soul.
From this time and forever.”
Psalm 121:1-8
Notice the four distinct principles that will keep us from harm.
God is…Our Helper, Our Keeper, Our Protector and Our Preserver.
I feel better now that I’ve prayed and been reminded that my help is not Costco, Texaco or Sunoco. Rather it is this truth, “…greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.” I John 4:4
I feel better now that I’ve prayed and been reminded that my help comes from the One who made heaven and earth.
I feel better now that I’ve prayed and been reminded that my help is not dependent on the media, Big Tech, Wall Street, intellectual elites or politicians.
I feel better now.
*****
Special note…thank you very much for your ongoing financial help for this ministry serving Native American children, youth, parents and adults on Reservations. Your gifts enable us to provide the truth of God’s love, acceptance and forgiveness. God bless you abundantly for your gifts.