It was cold. All I could hear was the wind whipping through the trees. I looked up and saw the sun, but it brought no warmth to my frozen body. All I could feel was the bite of cold snow ripping at my open flesh. I kept trudging on, hoping that I would reach the city soon. What was I thinking; running away in the middle of winter. My situation was bad, but it wasn't this bad. It was at least bearable. Now, I just wish it hadn't happened. I wish that I had never run away. It didn't matter how sorry I was now; I had run away, and that was that.
I tripped on a tree root and fell, face down in the snow. I scrambled to my feet, and fell again. I crawled over to the tree and fell back on it. My Bible fell out onto my lap. It was all that I had brought from home. Now, I felt it was all that I could count on. It was all that could keep me alive. I opened it and started to read. Through the blazing snow, I read these words: The Lord is my shepherd, I shall lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside quiet waters, He restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for His name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I stopped. That's where I was. I'm in the valley of the shadow of death. What do I need? What can help me? I looked back down. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.1
I started to pray, but I didn't close my eyes because I feared that if I did, I would never open them again. Dear, Lord Jesus, I prayed. Please help me. I don't have the strength to live, but although I do walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I don't have to be afraid. You are with me, Lord. I believe you. I believe you…. My eyes fell closed, and I sat there, limp in the snow, with my Bible on my lap.
I woke up to the feeling of heat against my frozen face. It felt wonderful. I opened my eyes to find myself in a small wooden cabin, in front of a blazing furnace. I sat up just as a tall man walked into the room. He had a big brown beard and wore a plaid shirt. He set the trays that he was carrying on the table. "Ah, y've awaken, I see" His fresh Scottish words filled the room.
"Y-yes, sir." I replied terrified.
"Oh, don't be afraid . I mean you no harm."
"Wh-who are you?" I shivered as he handed me a cup of hot chocolate.
"Oh, I'm nobody special. When I saw y's up there leanin' against that tree there, I had t' bring y' in."
I sipped my hot chocolate, "Thank you."
"Y' like the cocoa?"
"Yes, sir."
"Oh please, call me Greg. I'm Greg Martin."
"Okay, Greg." I took another sip out of my mug.
"You was a goner out there. I'm sure glad I found y'."
After a short bit of silence, he spoke again. "What was y' readin' up there?"
"Huh?"
"What was y' readin'? When I found y' you had a book open on y're lap."
"Oh! Where's the book!"
"Don't be worried, laddy. I put it in y'r breast pocket."
I reached in and pulled my Bible out. "You mean this?"
"Yeah, what is it?" He repeated his question.
"Oh, it's the Bible."
"Ah, the Bible, the written Word o' God!"
"Yeah, have you read it?"
"Oh yeah, hundreds o' times."
"Really?"
"Yeah, how about y'?"
"Oh, well, I've never really, actually taken the time to read through the whole thing. I read little bits here and there."
"Oh, the Bible's a great book. It's got promises, reminders, and great stories in it, that teach y' about God, and show His greatness."
"And it's got rules."
"Rules? O' course, it's got rules. But the rules r' for y'r own good."
"Yeah, but there are so many of them."
"Oh, don't look at the Bible as a list o' rules. I like t' see it as a promise book. Sometimes I even call it that, the Book o' Promise."
"A promise book?"
"Yeah, it's full o' promises. There's probably at least one promise on each page. Even one o' the Ten Commandments has a promise."
"There are really that many promises? I haven't seen them?"
"All y' gotta do is look sonny. It's got plenty o' promises. Psalm one promises that people who want t' do God's will are blessed.2 One o' the commandments says that if y' honour y'r father and mother, then y'll live a long healthy life on Earth.2 There are plenty o' promises in the Bible. Y' just gotta look for them."
"Wow, I didn't know that the Bible had so many verses."
"Yeah, and there are lots more. God promises that He will take us to heaven if we believe in Him. He says that, if we ask for forgiveness, then He'll forget all our sins. He promised the Israelites that He would bring them out o' Egypt, and He did. The Bible's full o' promises, and God doesn't break His promises."
"How do we know that God doesn't break His promises. He says that He always listens to our prayers, but sometimes when I pray, He doesn't answer."
"He always answers prayers. Sometimes it's real quick and sometimes it's slow."
"But sometimes there's a time limit. Just last week I asked Him to let me go to a party on Saturday, and I wasn't allowed to go."
"God answered that prayer."
"What?"
"God answered that prayer. He said no. He didn't want y' t' go t' that party."
"Well, why not?"
"Y' could've got hurt."
"Well, how."
"Y' could've fallen when you where skiing."
"How do you know that?"
"I'm just answerin' y'r question." After about a minute of silence he spoke again. "Well, I think that I should take y' home now."
"Home, already? I just got here."
"Y've been talkin' t' me for two hours." He pointed to the clock.
"No way, we where only talkin' for a little bit."
"Time flies when y'r havin' fun, lad. Come along."
I followed him out to his snowmobile. "Hop on." I obeyed. He came on in front of me and we zoomed off through the snow.
I got off the snowmobile at the edge of town and thanked Greg for the ride. I continued on foot along the paved road. About five minutes later I arrived at my house and immediately my father and mother came running out to me.
"Oh, John! John! What happened to you? We were so worried!" Mom came out and put her arms around my neck.
"I got caught in a blizzard." I didn't want to tell them about me running away, because now, I was sorry that I did.
"Oh! How'd you escape?" Mom kissed me on the cheek.
"I didn't. I was rescued." I thought for a moment and then finished my statement. "I was rescued by Greg Martin, an angel from God."
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