On July 31, 1976, the state of Colorado was in the middle of celebrating the country’s bicentennial. It had been 200 years since the United States had gotten their independence from England. It was evening and the area not far from Estes Park had received between 12 and 14 inches of rain in just 24 hours. Ed and Kenny Renner were on the other side of the Big Thompson River from the motel their parents owned, when a terrible flash flood struck. First, they saw the bridge over to the motel get washed out. Then they watched in fascination as water rose rapidly in the parking lot of the motel and floated all the cars down the river as if they were in a big, watery traffic jam.
A complete feeling of helplessness came over the boys as they watched the water continue to rise across the front of the motel from across the river. The rushing stream was now just below the windowsill of the first floor. There was still flickering candlelight in the living quarters where their mother and a girl named Tammy were staying. Then the water rose to about halfway up the windows, all went dark, and they thought it was all over for their mom and Tammy. All they could do was stand there as if paralyzed and pray to God for a miracle. As they continued to watch, the water rose above the tops of the windows and doors on the bottom floor.
It wasn’t until later that they found out that at the very moment they were praying, their prayers were being answered! The boys’ mom had checked in a couple with two teenage children from Georgia just before this nightmare had started. She had asked the father, Mr. Stanson, to invite his wife and family inside while he registered for the room, to get them out of the downpour. Only minutes after his family had entered the motel office, they watched their camper float away.
Mr. Stanson had the presence of mind to desperately tear a hole in the ceiling with the aid of only a butcher knife and an old hammer—the only tools available at the moment. He managed to quickly make a hole all the way through the ceiling, the ceiling tile, a double floor and a double layer of carpet, into the unit on the second floor. It was just large enough for Mr. Stanson to push their mom through, her cat Misty, Tammy and her dog, and his own family. The water was up to his neck before he too was pulled to safety.
Later, when the water had gone down far enough, Ed and Kenny worked their way across the river to the motel. There on the mountain behind the motel they found their mother and Tammy and several others who had escaped from the second floor of the building. Yes, God had answered their prayers. He is indeed a God who answers!
Children, perhaps you have heard the story of Noah and the ark, found in Genesis 6-8. That was not a flash flood but a terrible flood that destroyed the whole world! God provided a way to be saved from the flood by getting into a huge boat called an ark that Noah had spent 100 years building! We read in the Bible that Noah was a preacher of righteousness, but did anyone respond to his preaching? Oh, what a sad story! Not even one person beside Noah and his family believed God, entered that boat and was saved from that awful flood. The day arrived when Noah’s message was never heard again, because “the Lord shut him in.” Yes, God shut the door of the ark and then there was no way to open it. Perhaps as the rain came pouring down and the flood waters kept rising, there were people pounding at the door of the ark, wanting to get in. But it was too late because God had shut the door!
Oh, children, we beg you to come to the Lord Jesus before it is too late. In John 10:99I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. (John 10:9) it says, “I am the door: by Me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.” Come to the Lord Jesus, God’s door to eternal salvation! Come while there is still time... before the door is shut forever!
Messages of God’s Love 12/20/2020