Ram in the Thicket
Remember when you were a kid in Sunday School? All those stories of men and women in the Bible really grabbed us boys imagination. Most of us wanted to play like we were Samson, or Moses or David. There is no telling how many sling shots I made to throw rocks. I remember seeing how far I could get a rock to go. However I never hit a thing I was aiming at. It made me wonder how David was able to overcome Goliath.
We thought how neat it would have been to float down the river in a basket like Moses. One look at my puny arms convinced me I would never be a Samson. Samson was not popular with us boys. He was involved in stuff we did not understand. Like Delilah. Where did she come from? What was she doing in our lives? So we mostly just ignored Samson and worked on getting our muscles to grow big enough to climb a tree and swing across the creek hanging on a rope.
One story really caught my imagination was Abraham and Isaac. The story kinda faded in the mist of time except for God’s voice ringing out to Abraham to hold on! Don’t take Isaac’s life, there is a “Ram in the Thicket”. That picture was so vivid I could even see the bushes of the thicket where the ram was caught and could not escape. A reprieve for Isaac. I think that is what us boys looked for each day in English class, a “Ram in the Thicket”.
But as time so swiftly sped by we grew into teenagers and forgot those heros of the Bible. We went off to school, got a job, or started our own business and families. Our lives were filled with the demands of the days, the weeks and the months. Just making a living was adventure enough to keep us worn to a nub.
But as time so swiftly sped by we grew into teenagers and forgot those heros of the Bible. We went off to school, got a job, or started our own business and families. Our lives were filled with the demands of the days, the weeks and the months. Just making a living was adventure enough to keep us worn to a nub.
In time I had my own business with men working for me and looking for a pay day at the end of each week. One Wednesday about noon I realized we had no more work in the shop. And none was scheduled to come in. Two more days with no income but the need to make the payroll made a cold feeling creep up my back. The phone rang. I grabbed the phone with a plea and prayer in my answering. At that instant a picture flashed into my mind of a story I had heard long ago. A story learned in Sunday School. I fancied I heard God’s voice saying, “Hold on Hollis, here is a ” Ram in the Thicket”. The voice I did hear was a friend in another town needing my help in completing a job for him. Cash money was to be had. Pay roll in hand. We will be there at daylight in the morning.
Since that day, many difficult times have arisen in my life. I get anxious and stressed out like all of us do. Then I remember, the ” Ram in the Thicket”. And it has always been there. I trust you too will find your “Ram in the Thicket” when you have a need.