ave
you ever had something happen to you that you needed help to fix it, because
you where just not strong enough or did not know how to? Well today I am going
to tell you a story of a boy named Doug who got into trouble and how he got
help!
Doug had lots of things he loved doing but most of all, he
loved playing his musical instrument and riding his bicycle. He would practice
all the time so he could be the best and when he wasn't playing music he was
riding all over the place. He would ride to the shops for his mommy to buy
groceries and would ride to his friend's houses to go play all the time.
Of course like most little boys, Doug would try and stay
out as long as he could before having to go home. Very often he would have to
go home just as it was starting to get dark. He did not like riding in the
dark and would ride as fast as he could so he could get home quickly. But ever
so often he would have to ride home after dark and he would make sure he rode
where the street lights where because it wasn't too bad riding where the light
was shining, it was not too dark.
The only problem was Doug's friends lived on the other side
of a ravine which did not have any lights in it, but it was the quickest and
only way home for Doug.
What is a ravine you ask? Well, let me tell you! It is when
a river slowly washes away the sand from the ground. After a long time of it
washing away little bits of sand on the ground, it ends up making a big, deep
hole. Some ravines are so big you cannot jump across them, so you would either
have to climb into it, or if there is a path going across it, like the one
Doug had, you could ride through it with your bicycle.
Well thank goodness the ravine Doug had to go through was
not to0 deep and all he had to do was go as fast as he could to build up
enough speed on his bicycle to make it up the other side. He had done it so
may times in the past he could do it with his eyes closed. In fact that is
what he did when it was dark and he did not want to look at the scary shadow
on the ground. This worked very well till the night something bad happened!
This is the story…
Doug had to go to band practice like he did every week. We
loved to go because he got to play in the band with all the other children
with their different musical instruments. It was fun playing by himself, but
there was nothing better then when everyone played the some music at the same
time with their different instruments. Each musical instrument playing
together would make the others sound great. And the more they practiced
together the better they sounded. It was so much fun that no one wanted to go
home and they would play till the very last minute they had.
This happened the one night and you guessed it - It was
well passed sunset and dark outside! As Doug made his way home and it seemed
the road was much longer than it ever was the other times he rode on it. To
make this worse, he could hear a different sound that he did not remember
hearing before. This made Doug even more scared than usual.
He pedaled as fast as he could and before long right in
front of him was the ravine. As Doug stopped and took a look in, all he could
see was BLACK! There was not a single light to be seen, except on the other
side where the streetlights shone.
Well Doug knew what he had to! He turned around and rode
back down the street a little bit, then turned around again to face the
ravine. He started to pedal as fast as he could to build up enough speed to
get through the ravine as quick as he could. With each push of the pedal Doug
could feel the speed getting faster and faster.
He was feeling quite good because he was going so fast as
he got to the edge of the ravine, where the light stopped. With an extra hard
push, he dropped down the edge and sped down the dirt path that ran through
the ravine. He could almost feel how far he had ridden along the path and just
as he was about to reach the bottom of the ravine, he started pedaling to have
enough speed to get up the other side. That is when everything went wrong!
Suddenly out of nowhere he heard a really loud SCREEEEEEEEECH! And if
that was not enough to make him scared out of his wits, his bicycle came to a
dead stop! It was as if something had grabbed the back his bike and stopped it
completely!
As he carefully got off his bicycle Doug fearfully looked
around in the dark to see if there was anyone there. As his eyes got used to
the dark, Doug could see that there was no one there. With a big sigh of
relief knowing that it was not some bad man that has stopped his bicycle, Doug
started to see what was wrong with it. He check the wheels to see if the where
flat - nope they both seemed nice and hard. He checked the brakes to see if
they had jammed - nope both where fine and working. Then he saw it!
On his bicycle he had mudguards. (These guards were just
above the wheels to stop all the mud and dirty water from splashing up on him
when he rode his bike in the rain or over a wet patch. It helped to keep his
clothes clean and dry.) Now what had happened is with all the bouncing and
rattling around on the sand path, the back mudguard had come lose, fallen and
jammed tight on the back wheel. That is what made the loud scary noise and
made his bike stop!
He was so happy it was easy to fix! All he had to do is
pull the mudguard out of the wheel and he could get out of that scar ravine as
quickly as possible. So got ready, the pulled on the mudguard as hard as he
could. Do you know what happened? The mudguard stayed tightly jammed on the
wheel and fell back on to the ground as he lost his grip. Try as he might he
could not get it lose and every time he tried to move his bike forward, it
would jam the mudguard against the wheel even tighter.
So there he was in the middle of the dark ravine with his
broken bicycle and no way to move it. Now he did not want to leave his bicycle
behind just in case he got back and it was not there. So there he stood not
sure what to do and listening to all the sounds that where around him. They
made him feel really scared and wished he could just wake up from this
horrible nightmare or if somehow some one could just come and help him!
Now before his legs started shaking and knocking together
and his mind started thinking up scary things that could happen, he decided to
do something better and think of what he had learnt at Sunday school. He
started thinking back to all the stories he had heard, then remembered the
story of Joshua who asked God to help him when he had a problem he could not
do on his own.
He had to knock down the walls of Jericho and there was no
way he could do it by himself. The walls where so big they could drive
chariots on them, chariots where the cars of those day, so you can just
imagine how big the wall was! Well, God sent help. He sent his special angel
to Joshua and He told Joshua exactly what he had to do to knock down the
walls. All the children of Israel just had to do exactly what the Angel told
them to do and they would win the battle.
And do you remember what they did? That's right they
marched once around the city for six days and then on the seventh day, they
walked around the city seven times and at the end gave the biggest shout they
had ever shouted. Well you know what happened? Those walls did come down and
the Israelites won the battle!
Doug knew just what he had to do! No silly, he didn't run
around his bike seven times and give a big shout! And no an angel didn't come
out of heaven and fix the mudguard! But he did close his eyes and pray to Lord
Jesus! And this is what he prayed:
"Lord Jesus I need your
Help!
I am really scared and can't do this by myself.
Please send someone to help me,
Some one strong that can fix my bicycle
And will come here to where I am.
Thank you Lord Jesus
In Jesus Name,
Amen"
It did not happen straight away but after some time, Doug
heard a familiar voice. It was he older brother calling him! Oh Doug was so
happy to see him that he dropped his bicycle and ran to his brother right
away. He explained everything that had happened and asked is brother if he
could help him fix his bicycle. Well his Brother was very strong and was
strong enough to pull the mudguard out of the wheel and back into place. With
a big YIPPEE! Doug got on his bike and his brother and him made their way
home, riding side by side.
On the way back Doug asked his brother what had made him
come to look for him. His brother told him that his whole family had become
worried when he had not arrived home so long after sunset. They knew he did
not like riding in the dark and even though band practice was so much fun,
they knew he wouldn't stay that long. So he decided to come and look for him.
He followed the route Doug would have taken.
Doug was so happy inside because, He knew that Jesus had
kept his promise and sent some one who loved him and was strong enough to help
him.
So if you are ever having a problem and it’s just too
much for you to handle, why not ask Jesus to send someone to help you. You see
He loves you so much and he will always send help, all you need to do is
believe in Jesus, ask Him to help you and he will always do it!
The End.
