NO WAY OUT, BUT ...

Four girls, aged 9 to15, were manhandled and dragged onto a plane by strong policemen. 

Their violent kicking and screaming upset the other passengers but it did not save them. They were flown to Italy against their will to join their father, leaving their weeping mother in Australia.

Ancient Greek dramatists also wrote about tragic situations, in which there could be no happy ending.

After reading the news and seeing the disturbing photos, I lay awake late into the night. If I were the oldest sister, aged 15, what would I do?
But then I prayed and wiser thoughts prevailed. I prayed for the girls to find wise adults who would love them, who would help them and not just manipulate and control.
 
What does the Bible say:
“Honour your father and your mother...” Wow! How could that work in this situation?

Then I read my Bible and I found an unexpected answer. Bible knowledge is no substitute for active Bible reading when the Holy Spirit leads you.

Now a leper came to Him (Jesus), imploring Him, kneeling down to Him and saying to Him, "If You are willing, You can make me clean."

Then Jesus, moved with compassion, stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, "I am willing; be cleansed." Mark 1:40-41 (NKJV)

Jesus says you have a Father in heaven who reads your every thought and longs to help you in the most hopeless situations. Why not talk to Jesus or even to your Father Himself?

As I read the story of the social outcast and how Jesus gave him his life back to him, the thought hit me. There are situations in life which can only end in tragedy. There simply is no way out except through Jesus, who died to provide a way out of hopeless situations.

I have seen so many wonderful turnarounds in my life.

• A baby boy is profoundly deaf but after the prayer of faith, Jesus heals him completely in a few weeks.

• My mother and grandmother lived all their lives without Jesus but made peace with God on their deathbeds.

• Dear friends are healed from apparently hopeless mental illness and their lives are restored.

I was on my way to Sydney airport.

• Delayed again and again, I am caught in traffic jams. I am lost in a strange big city and I can’t get my GPS to work. I ring my cousin on my mobile phone. She guides me by phone for about 10 to 15 kilometres and through the city centre. I return my hire can and then I have only a few minutes to get from the city centre to the airport.

• I pray for a taxi and immediately a vacant taxi turns into the quiet side street next to me. I reach the airport 20 minutes before the final boarding time. I have no time to check in my small suitcase but the airline staff let me take it with me on the plane.

A Muslim woman in Iran watches a Christian program on Satellite TV. She hears words of Jesus from the Bible.

Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.   Revelation 3:20 (NKJV)

She goes to her front door where she sees the risen Jesus Christ and invites Him to come in. He comes in to her house and she begins her new life as a persecuted follower of the Son of God. 
 
All over the Middle East, many stories like this are coming from people who have nothing to gain and everything to lose in this life by joining the persecuted church of Jesus Christ.

Why do these things happen? Because people pray and God answers.

If God can deliver Muslims from hopeless darkness like this, why should He not be willing and able to answer prayers for non Muslims, like your rebellious and drug addicted daughter, like your mentally ill son, like the girls in the news who were forced to fly to Italy against their wills?