Evening Echoes: A Guide to Discovering God’s Voice in the Quiet Moments

By TRACY BARNETT

"The thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy, but I came that they may have life and have it abundantly." (John 10:10)

 

Inside this book, you will discover:

• Life is not a series of happenstance or coincidences. It can be filled with purpose, grace, and meaning.
• How God speaks through small events to convey significant meaning in your life.
• Ways to reflect on scripture and your unique circumstance and hear God's voice echo through the darkness and in times of uncertainty.

Praise for Evening Echoes

 

"Tracy Alan Barnett has a way of finding the profound meaning in the simple moments of life… We are blessed to have such a fresh sound among us."

• Pastor Michael Steve Brown, San Antonio TX

"In times of divisiveness and acrimony in almost every place, even the church, there needs to be a voice…to remind us that in each and every moment of life, God is Present."

• Rev. Dr. James Duke, Houston TX

"Not many things make it to my nightstand: my cell phone, my glasses, and now Evening Echoes."

Pastor Barbara L. Taylor, Philadelphia, PA. 

 

Following his first top-selling book, Whispers in the Morning, Tracy Alan Barnett offers readers this new, uplifting and encouraging devotional.  A Board-Certified Chaplain (BCC) specializing in Mental Health issues, he helps veterans recover from the trauma of war.  He holds a Master of Divinity from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and a Master of Human Relations from the University of Oklahoma.  With over 30 years of ministry experience and 26 years of military service, his experience has taught him that God continues to speak to us through his word, through problems, through people, and in the small everyday events of our lives.

• Language: English
• Publisher: TRACY BARNETT
• Release date: Apr 27, 2020
• ISBN: 9781733885133

Book preview

INTRODUCTION

West Palm Beach, Florida

2/28/2019 7:00 PM

The voice on the other end of the phone shattered the peace of a quiet evening, How soon can you make it back to the hospital? We‘ve got a report of an active shooter in the hospital, and they’re asking for the Chaplains to respond. I could hear myself saying, I’m on my way, before I could even analyze what was said. I stared at the silent cellphone for a moment, and then a hundred questions popped into my mind. He’d said, active shooter. Did that mean the shooter was still in the hospital roaming the hallways, terrorizing people? Were there casualties? How many people were hurt? There was no way this situation could be good, I mean, they were calling for the Chaplains. That couldn’t be a good sign.

As I murmur to myself, I find that I sound like all of the people I’ve watched on TV over the years. How could this happen here? I would have never thought something like this would happen at this hospital. What is wrong with people? Well, I guess I can’t be too surprised. Evil tends to pop up where we least expect it. As I speed toward the hospital, I realize I hadn’t spoken to my wife, and this might make the news, so I send her a quick text message (Hey, called back to the hospital for an emergency. Report of an active shooter. I’m fine. TTYL). I send another group text to family members, so they know I’m okay, and my phone doesn’t get overrun with phone calls of concern asking if I’m okay. As I speed toward the hospital, I whisper a prayer.

I pray for those that might be injured. I pray for the families affected. I pray for those treating the wounded. I pray for the shooter. I pray for the responders and officers I greet every morning. I pray that God gives me strength for whatever I am about to encounter and quiet my spirit to use me to minister to the hurt, confused, and those stunned into disbelief. I pray that God will use me through the Ministry of Presence. Winnifred Fallers Sullivan defined the Ministry of Presence as, a form of servanthood characterized by suffering alongside the hurt and oppressed. Lord, prepare me to suffer alongside those hurting right now.

I can see the flashing red and blue lights of police vehicles as I turn the corner. As I drive down the driveway, the bank of lights from the local news stations pierces the cover of night, turning the evening into an eerie artificial day. I make a quick stop to my office to retrieve my hat that reads, ‘Chaplain,’ so people know who I am without having to ask. I start walking toward the scene of the incident, and ready myself again for what may be around the corner. I feel my heart race a little as I walk past the suspicious gaze of the FBI agents. A security guard’s voice, who must have noticed my hat and my credentials hanging around my neck, catches my attention as he says, Hey, Chaplain, everyone is down that way. They’re waiting for you. He points toward the hallway leading to the emergency room, and as he points, in my mind, I remember a moment when I was sitting in Saudi Arabia in 1998 at the Prince Sultan Air Base.

I was the Superintendent of the 1621st Air Mobility Squadron Command Post deployed in support of Operation Southern Watch. On August 7, 1998, the Command Post received notification of an attack on two US Embassies in Africa. The US Embassy in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and the embassy in Nairobi, Kenya, were simultaneously attacked with a coordinated suicide truck bomb. A little-known group named Al-Qaeda and its little-known leader named Osama Bin-Laden announced an open war on the United States by attacking the embassies. The attack injured more than 4000 and killed 224 people. The Prince Sultan Air Base led the humanitarian response, and the command post played a central role in coordinating the effort. I had an office located near the runway, and after helping to respond to the incident, I walked out of the office and saw a sea of coffins waiting to be loaded on the next aircraft and taken to the scene of the attacks. As I stood at the sea, I realized those coffins weren’t meant for those killed in Africa but meant to carry me and those serving with me home, if the enemy had a little better aim. As I looked over the sea, the fragility of life consumed me, and the reality hit me that what the enemy tries to do is steal life away quickly. Jesus’ words came to mind as I stood at the sea: "The thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy, but I came that they may have life and have it abundantly (John 10:10)." A thief had stolen innocence lives, but as I stood there, what echoed inside of me were the words of the one who said, despite the thief, he had come to give me abundant life. As I draw closer to the emergency room, I wonder if I am approaching another