A Great Cloud of Witnesses by Lane Jordan Burday

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. (Hebrews 12:1)

I heard a sermon by John Maxwell on the verse above and was so inspired! How easy it is to forget that God has placed angels and witnesses around us to help us on our journey with Him, as well as His precious Holy Spirit.

We are not alone, and we are here on earth for a purpose. I know you might think that you are only one person and what can you do? Let me give you some examples that I heard:

Noah. He was only one person, yet despite public ridicule and an enormous task for the next hundred-plus years, he obeyed God and built a boat—on dry land. What faith! And because of this one man, mankind continued so that the Messiah would come to our earth one day.

Noah is in the stands urging you on!

Rebekah. She was a beautiful, virgin young girl, living in a small town with not that many prospects for marriage. Yet because she was kind and generous by nature, when the patriarch of Israel sent his servant back to his hometown to find a wife for his son Issac, the servant sent up a prayer: “Lord, God of my master Abraham, make me successful today, and show kindness to my master Abraham. May it be that when I say to a young woman, ‘Please let down your jar that I may have a drink,’ and she says, ‘Drink, and I’ll water your camels too’—let her be the one you have chosen for your servant Isaac.’”

Now this was an impossible prayer! He had brought ten camels and that would mean around two hundred gallons of water! Yet, because of the nature of her heart, she was that generous and she replied exactly how the servant had prayed.

One person, Rebekah, made a difference. Because of her reply, she became a great-grandparent to Jesus.

Esther. This is the original Cinderella story. An orphan who was raised by her uncle and then taken by the King’s men, she became Queen. She probably felt out of place because she was Jewish and she was in a home she never would have expected. And as the story goes, an evil man, Hamon, wanted to wipe out the Jewish race. Esther’s uncle came to her and said she was the only one who could talk the king out of allowing this massacre to take place.

But she had not been called to see the king in over a month and if she arrived at his throne unrequested, she could be killed. So she prayed and fasted and told her uncle: If I die, I die for such a time as this have I been placed in this palace.

Esther was just one woman. Yet, because of her faith in God, she saved the nation of Israel.

I know you may think that you are unimportant and living an unimportant life. But the writer of Hebrews says there are thousands of God’s witnesses surrounding you daily! You and I are miracles if we have trusted in Christ for, we have the Holy Spirit living in us making us His children to do great things.

Never let a day go by without praising God for all He has done and will do in your life.

Lane Jordan Burday serves as a POP Talk Radio Co-Host, is coordinating a Pearls of Promise 52-Week Devotional, and is our POP Prayer Co-Leader.  Lane Jordan Burday is also an award-winning best-selling author of the 12 Steps to Becoming a More Organized Woman series of books. She is an international speaker, life coach, seminar leader, Bible teacher for 25 years, and an artist. She has served as the Associate Producer for the television program In Touch with Dr. Charles Stanley.

Lane’s latest book, Evangeline, is a historical fiction based on the book of Esther. You can reach Lane at: www.LaneJordanMinistries.com or her blog at: www.PathwaysToOrganization.com , Amazon:  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/164949369X Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58909052-evangeline