If we are faithless, he remains faithful— for he
cannot deny himself. 2 Timothy 2:13
In Armenia, in 1988, Samuel and Danielle sent their young
son, Armand, off to school. Samuel squatted before his son and looked him in
the eye. “Have a good day at school, and remember, no matter what, I’ll always
be there for you.” They hugged and the boy ran off to school.
Hours later, a powerful earthquake rocked the area. In
the midst of the pandemonium, Samuel and Danielle tried to discover what
happened to their son but they couldn’t get any information. The radio
announced that there were thousands of casualties.
Samuel grabbed his coat and headed for the schoolyard.
When he reached the area, what he saw brought tears to his eyes. Armand’s
school was a pile of debris. Other parents were standing around crying.
Samuel found the place where Armand’s classroom used to
be and began pulling a broken beam off the pile of rubble. He then grabbed a
rock and put it to the side, and then grabbed another one.
One of the parents looking on asked, “What are you
doing?” “Digging for my son,” Samuel answered. The man then said, “You’re just
going to make things worse! The building is unstable,” and tried to pull Samuel
away from his work. A determined Samuel kept working.
As time wore on, one by one, the other parents left. Then
a firefighter tried to pull Samuel away from the rubble. Samuel looked at him
and said, “Won’t you help me?” The firefighter left and Samuel kept digging.
All through the night and into the next day, Samuel
continued digging. Parents placed flowers and pictures of their children on the
ruins. But, Samuel just kept working. He picked up a beam and pushed it out of
the way when he heard a faint cry. “Help! Help!” Samuel listened but didn't hear anything again. Then he heard a muffled voice, “Papa?” Samuel began to dig
furiously. Finally he could see his son. “Come on out, son!” he said with
relief. “No,” Armand said. “Let the other kids come out first because I know
you’ll get me.”
Child after child emerged until, finally, little Armand
appeared. Samuel took him in his arms and Armand said, “I told the other kids
not to worry because you told me that you’d always be there for me!” Fourteen children
were saved that day because one father was faithful.
Dear brother and sister in Christ – Samuel is just a
human father– but we learn this of our Faithful Father “Be strong and
courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because.., for the LORD your God goes
with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Deuteronomy
31:6) Are you buried by sin, sorrow
or suffering? Remember that God is faithful to His elect. He is reliable and
trustworthy and He can be counted on always.
Abba, Father! ‘Great is thy Faithfulness!’ I thank you for always pulling me out of the debris that is suffocating me. I thank you in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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