“O.k. Lord! My hands are full; take us up!”

If you have ever studied the topography of California,
You will note that in the center of it,
Lies a large flat area,
Surrounded mostly by mountains.
Whether you refer to it as California’s Bathtub,
Or simply as The Valley,
Know that it has been the focus
of many believer’s prophetic dreams and visions.
God is warning His people of what is to come,
So that none of His children there will be caught unawares.

Below is the testimony of a stranger
I once met in the ladies rest room at a Kmart
Located in the higher hills of California…

*

It was a hot day in the spring
When I chanced to go to Kmart.

I entered into the rest room,
Relieved to find one of the two stalls open.

As I went in,
The other woman in the other stall came out.

She kept talking on and on
About how very hot it was,
And how hard it was
To go through menopause.

She was not content
To simply talk by herself.
She kept asking me questions
As if she was trying to draw me in to a conversation,

And I sensed it was O.K., and even good,
to respond to her. So I did.

I told her
That I had yet to face my own menopause,
But sensed it was close around the corner,
And that yes it was indeed
A very hot day.

There was something about
Her booming, compelling voice,
That urged my heart awake.

She claimed that Jesus
Was helping her through the worst of her symptoms,
And proclaimed His goodness for all in that room to hear.

This surprised me,
To encounter one so sure of the Christ,
Without us even having seen each other.

As I left the stall,
She was asking me if I believed in Jesus.
And as I looked straight into her eyes, I nodded my yes.

“Do you and your family live up here?”, she asked me.
She was talking so fast,
that it was hard to get a word in edgewise.
So I nodded my yes again.

“Oh! That is so good to hear!
I have just finished seeing my family move
Up into these mountains.
The last of my children and grandchildren
Have all moved up here.
My grandson just got his first job here at Kmart.”

I smiled, for I could see and hear
the pride, relief, and accomplishment
In her face and in her voice.

“Do you live up here with them?” I asked her.

I had figured this was why
she had prayed her family up here,
so they could be with her.

But I was wrong.

“Oh, no; I still live down in the valley…”

She must have seen the distress upon my face
when I heard that. Her words tore at me.
Hadn’t the Lord warned her about living in the valley?
Was God now wanting me to warn her?
Surely He would want His children
To know of the danger!

“But the valley is not a safe place!
A great destruction shall come upon it-”

“Ah yes!” She said, interrupting me with my concern,
“I know very well, that there will be a great earthquake,
And that the waters will come up and cover the land.
That is why I have moved all of my family up here
To this higher ground!”

“But what about you?!” I exclaimed.

“Oh honey, don’t worry about me!
I’ve already lived my life!
I’ll be ready when those waters come.
You see, as the waters will rise around me,
I’ll be grabbing a hold of as many people around me as I possibly can,
I’ll even grab them by their hair if I have to,
Before yelling, “O.K. Lord! My hands are full; take us up!”

“But what about your family?
Loosing you will hit them so hard…”

“Oh, they will be O.K..” she said on a sigh, before continuing.
“It’s those that are still left in the valley,
That I am now concerned for.
The Lord still has me working there for Him,
To bring as many to Him that I possibly can,
before the foreseen destruction falls upon it.”

“We need to pray for them,” she continued.
“And you be sure to keep your faith in the Lord!
Don’t let anything tear you away from Him, you hear?”

I nodded my yes again,
This time too choked up with tears to speak.

She then told me
That she had to be leaving,
For she was to meet her grandson for a celebratory dinner.

So I embraced her with a big hug,
And she returned it to me with her own,
And as she turned to walk out of the restroom,
She says just one more word to me
With a wave of her hand.

“Maranatha!”

Then she was gone.

*

“And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:” (Hebrews 9:27, KJV)

“For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.” (1 Corinthians 22, KJV)

“Do you think that I like to see wicked people die? says the Sovereign LORD. Of course not! I want them to turn from their wicked ways and live.” (Ezekiel 18:23 NLT)

“And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together.” (John 4:36, KJV)

“That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.” (John 3:15, KJV)

“Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.” (John 5:39, KJV)

Know Him, = know life.
Here in this world,
And in the next…!

* * * *