God's Plans for Us

Just five days from today, I will be on my way to Oklahoma.

I have five days left with my family. Five days of memories to be made before we are separated for three months by thousands of miles.

On Wednesday, my sister Emily and I are leaving home to attend Heartland Baptist Bible College in Oklahoma City. This is a huge step for two girls who have lived most of their lives in isolated Alaskan villages. Whenever we get out of the village it is a bit humorous. We exclaim over riding in a vehicle at 60 MPH, paved roads, trees (ha!), going to Wal-Mart, and other such "marvels." (chuckle) This is going to be a huge change for us. The college campus itself is the size of my village's population. You wouldn't think we would experience culture shock, would you?

Last summer while my family and I were on furlough in the States, we had the opportunity to visit Heartland's campus. As we toured the buildings I had this undeniable sense, This is where God wants me to be. I had such peace. And I loved everything about Heartland. I knew it could easily feel like "home away from home." It wasn't too big or impressive, nor was it too small. My sister and I prayed about the decision for some time and finally came to know that Heartland was indeed where the Lord wanted us to attend.

At this point I am at perfect peace. However, arriving at this point was a struggle. It is true that am very hesitant about these life-altering changes in my life. I dread the thought of saying goodbye to my precious family. Even so, I am absolutely certain that this next step is God's perfect will for me. I want to cling to the familiar, but I know that I must go forward with God.

God's plans for us often take turns that we never expected we'd come to. Two years ago when I graduated from homeschool, we were making plans for my sister and me to leave home for Bible college. However, various situations led us to consider studying at home for a few years via correspondence. At that point I was uncertain about God's will for my life. I questioned whether it was truly right for me as a young lady to leave my home and my father's protection to attend college. To be truthful, I was inwardly bucking against the idea of going away to college because I truly thought it would be the wrong thing to do. And then the Lord led us to study at home through Landmark Baptist College's directed studies. I was immensely relieved and so happy. 

So the Lord allowed my family another two years to be together as my sister and I took our classes. It was a wonderful experience; we both learned and grew so much spiritually. At the same time, we were able to continue helping in our home and serving in the ministry. Looking back now, I can't thank the Lord enough for giving us two extra years at home. They were absolutely essential to my life. It was a time of preparation.

In the past two years, I have learned so many needed homemaking skills that I would have neglected had I left home. I have been given the opportunity of working alongside my parents in our ministry. God has taught me so many valuable lessons in the past two years that I would otherwise never have learned. At 18, I know I would not have been ready to face the many challenges and responsibilities of being on my own. This season of waiting and learning was so important to my life. I don't doubt for a moment that I have been in the center of His will all along, for I have been so blessed and so happy. The center of God's will is the only place where you can be happy.

Perhaps some people have looked at my life during these past two years and questioned my sanity as I told them, "I am so happy here." They believed it was my right to leave the confines of this little Alaskan village and experience "real life" in the States. Were it not for the contentment God has given me in the center of His will, I would probably have thought the very same way!

Thoughts on Shattered Dreams

Christ is building His kingdom with earth's broken things. Men want only the strong, the successful, the victorious, the unbroken, in building their kingdoms; but God is the God of the unsuccessful, of those who have failed. Heaven is filling with earth's broken lives, and there is no bruised reed that Christ cannot take and restore to glorious blessedness and beauty. He can take the life crushed by pain or sorrow and make it into a harp whose music shall be all praise. He can lift earth's saddest failure up to heaven's glory.

J.R. Miller

This thought encouraged me so much the other day. I've seen the Lord do this incredible thing in so many lives. He raises up the shattered lives of His people and recreates them into something so beautiful. It's what He loves doing. He gets so much glory from it. 

We need to pray that God would break us because only then can He make something in us that will bring Him amazing praise. Right now I see Him doing that in my life. He's broken my hopes for the future, the goals that I believed would be the most glorifying to Him, and instead He's doing things in my life that are so much different than I ever dreamed He would do. And in these things, He is going to get more glory than I ever thought possible... if I will simply trust what He's doing in my life and walk in perfect unity with Him. I want so much to see His plans become true in my life. It is the only thing worth living for. Regardless of my feelings, I can't wait to see what's around the next corner. With my wonderful Lord leading, I have this perfect certainty that it's going to be beautiful.

With the amazing God that we have, shattered dreams are not a bad thing but sometimes the best thing that could ever happen to us. It's when our feeble, even sometimes foolish, plans are destroyed that God leads us into so much better ways than what we could ever have chosen. He is worthy of our trust!

In the photos: 1) Rain-drenched tundra grasses and flowers. It was the most incredible thing I had ever seen. The picture simply doesn't do God's handiwork justice! 2) Glowing and shimmering in the late sunlight, rustling grass in which I heard Him pass... He speaks to me everywhere.

I Am a Soldier!

Author Unknown

I am a soldier in the army of my God!

The Lord Jesus Christ is my Commanding Officer!

The Bible is my code of conduct!

Faith, prayer and the Word are my weapons of warfare!

I have been taught by the Holy Spirit, trained by experience, tried by adversity and tested by fire!

I am a  volunteer in this army and I am enlisted for eternity!

I will either retire from this army at the rapture or die in this army, but I will not get out, sell out, be talked out or pushed out! 

I am faithful, reliable, capable and dependable!

If my God needs me, I am there!

The Queen Who Chose to Be a Servant

Esther was a great woman. Her greatness did not come from prestige or riches, nor did it come from her beauty or personality. The source of her greatness was her simple willingness to do all that her Lord commanded her to do. God honored Esther in such wonderful ways only because she placed herself in the position to be an instrument to Him. She is the central figure of a marvelous story, a true story full of beauty and glory to God.

The story of Esther took place after the captivity of Judah and during the time of their restoration. Judah was first captured by Babylon, and Babylon was then overthrown by Persia. Therefore, Persia was the world power at this time, controlling a total of one hundred twenty-seven provinces. These provinces spanned from Ethiopia to India. The Biblical period of the book of Esther is between those of the books of Ezra and Nehemiah. The rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem had been completed under the leadership of Ezra but the walls of the city had not yet been rebuilt under Nehemiah's direction.

God placed Judah in captivity because of their rebellion against His laws and His prophets. Although He allowed them to return after seventy years of judgment, they did not even desire to do so. They were content to remain where they were, having little to do with the LORD their God and His righteous laws. It would seem that God would chastise them yet again in order to drive them back to their homeland, but we see from this story and others during this period that God was merciful to them; He loved His people with “an everlasting love.” (Jer. 31:3)

It was during this time that an enemy of the Jews, a man named Haman, sought to utterly destroy God's chosen people.  Though they were completely undeserving of His mercy, God rose up a deliverer to save them from certain destruction. Through the amazing story of a woman named Esther, we see God’s marvelous mercy and kindness toward His sinning people. It is also worth mentioning that, although the name of God does not once appear throughout this account, His hand can be traced through even the most minute of circumstances.

Children of the Storm

A book written by Natasha Vins

Today I finished reading an amazing true story about the Vins', a Christian family who lived in Soviet Russia. Children of the Storm is an autobiography written by the eldest daughter, Natasha. She shares events that took place as she was growing up in a Christian home during the 50's and 60's under the Communist government of Soviet Russia. While it is rated as a book for young adults, it is a must-read for people of all ages. I appreciated the book tremendously and highly recommend it.

Natasha's father, Gerogi Vins, was a Baptist preacher and a marked man. "As Nikita Khrushchev's anti-religious persecutions began in 1959, the state imposed new regulations on the Baptist church that drastically curtailed the small measure of independence they had enjoyed. As the Baptist movement split acrimoniously, Vins became one of the leading figures in the campaign to resist state pressure. He publicly opposed the pastor of his own congregation, in Kiev, who had accepted the new measures. Vins formed his own breakaway congregation, becoming its pastor, despite a lack of formal theological qualifications. The group met in a forest outside Kiev." (Source)  Despite these precautions, the KGB often discovered their places of worship and violently disrupted their services. During one invaded meeting, Natasha watched as her father was led away by the police. His crime was preaching the Word of God. Georgi Vins went into hiding so he could continue his ministry underground. After numerous arrests and brief imprisonments, Georgi Vins was sentenced to three years at a prison camp in the Ural Mountains. Natasha shares many memories of visiting her father at the prison camp during this time and other imprisonments.

Can you imagine sending your children to school where you know they will be constantly drilled into believing that God does not exist? As a young girl, Natasha was told to stand before her class as her teacher asked her, "Do you believe in God?" When Natasha said that yes, she did believe in God, her teacher mocked her before her classmates, and then Natasha was sent to the principal's office -- a terrible shame because only bad boys were ever sent to the principal! And following that first visit to the mean-tempered, shouting principal, she was sent back regularly for "re-education."

Simply Trusting Jesus, Part 2

From The Christian's Secret of a Happy Life by Hannah Whittal Smith (Chapter 6)

Remember, there are two things which are more utterly incompatible than even oil and water, and these two are trust and worry.

"Ye have not passed this way heretofore," it may be; but today it is your happy privilege to prove, as never before, your loyal confidence in the Lord by starting out with Him on a life and walk of faith, lived moment by moment in absolute and childlike trust in Him.

You have trusted Him in a few things, and He has not failed you. Trust Him now for everything, and see if He does not do for you exceeding abundantly above all that you could ever have asked or thought; not according to your power or capacity, but according to His own mighty power, that will work in you all the good pleasure of His most blessed will.

You find no difficulty in trusting the Lord with the management of the universe and all the outward creation, and can your case be any more complex or difficult than these, that you need to be anxious or troubled about his management of it? Away with such unworthy doubtings! Take your stand on the power and trustworthiness of your God, and see how quickly all difficulties will vanish before a steadfast determination to believe. Trust in the dark, trust in the light, trust at night, and trust in the morning, and you will find that the faith, which may begin by a mighty effort, will end sooner or later by becoming the easy and natural habit of the soul.

Simply Trusting Jesus, Part 1

From The Christian's Secret of a Happy Life by Hannah Whittal Smith (Chapter 6)

The child of God, having had his eyes opened to see the fulness there is in Jesus for him, and having been made to long to appropriate that fulness to himself, is met with the assertion on the part of every teacher to whom he applies, that this fulness is only to be received by faith. But the subject of faith is involved in such a hopeless mystery in his mind, that this assertion, instead of throwing light upon the way of entrance, only seems to make it more difficult and involved than ever.

"Of course it is to be by faith," he says, "for I know that everything in the Christian life is by faith. But then, that is just what makes it so hard, for I have no faith, and I do not even know what it is, nor how to get it." And, baffled at the very outset by this insuperable difficulty, he is plunged into darkness, and almost despair. 

This trouble all arises from the fact that the subject of faith is very generally misunderstood; for in reality faith is the plainest and most simple thing in the world, and the most easy of attainment.

Your idea of faith, I suppose, has been something like this. You have looked upon it as in some way a sort of thing, either a religious exercise of soul, or an inward gracious disposition of heart; something tangible, in fact, which, when you have got, you can look at and rejoice over, and use as a passport to God's favor, or a coin with which to purchase His gifts. And you have been praying for faith, expecting all the while to get something like this, and never having received any such thing, you are insisting upon it that you have no faith. Now faith, in fact, is not in the least this sort of thing. It is nothing at all tangible. It is simply believing God, and, like sight, it is nothing apart from its object. You might as well shut your eyes and look inside to see whether you have sight, as to look inside to discover whether you have faith. You see something, and thus know that you have sight; you believe something, and thus know that you have faith. For, as sight is only seeing, so faith is only believing. And as the only necessary thing about seeing is, that you see the thing as it is, so the only necessary thing about believing is, at you believe the thing as it is. The virtue does not lie in your believing, but in the thing you believe.

Some Through the Waters

We have really gone through some "watery" trials lately. =) It all started last month.

Our water heater gave up on us. It had given us trouble for some time. Whenever someone took a shower, we'd all keep an ear open for pounding on the wall. That was the signal to go push the button on the water heater. (chuckle) But then one day, it wouldn't start back up. (Oh, no!) So the menfolk tore the contraption apart. They worked on it for two days. It appeared that the old thing had truly given up the ghost, so we began shopping for a new water heater. But then my genius dad found out what the problem was. Now it's doing better now than it ever has! Praise God!

Our kitchen sink has a separate water heater, so we ladies were able to wash our hair in the meantime. Gracious, I never knew washing two and a half feet of hair could be such an exhausting undertaking. =D

Then, last Tuesday our water went out due to construction taking place on our street. By day three we were into a routine. It was just like the good old days. =) On Saturday we were able to get most of our laundry done at a friend's house and the local laundromat, and we all "imposed" upon some gracious friends who let us use their showers.

Sowing Seeds of Light

I discovered a really amazing verse recently. It's a bit of encouragement right from Heaven. It says, "Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart." (Ps. 97:11) "How can light be sown?" I wondered. So I did a little studying up on the verse. Albert Barnes says, "The figure of sowing light is an unusual one, but the meaning is plain. It is, that the righteous will not always be in darkness; that there is in preparation for him a harvest of joy; that it will as certainly be produced as a harvest will from grain that is sown; that though there may be present calamities, there will be ultimate peace and triumph." 

The Lord wants us to know that when we're in the dark, He's sowing light. He's sowing and planting on our behalf. He's steadily working, placing His precious seeds in the soil of our lives, and He's going to nurture  them to full growth. 

The thought of God sowing anything in our lives is an exciting one. But what's even more exciting is this: there are seven specific laws of harvest, and they most certainly apply to God's sowing of light in our lives.

1) We reap only what has been sown. What is not sown cannot be reaped. God wants us to reap light and gladness later, so He's making preparation for that future joy today.

2) We reap the same kind as we sow. He sows light and we will reap light, never darkness.

3) We reap in a different season than we sow. The way I see it, the Lord plants His seeds of light during the darkest seasons of our lives, rather than the springtime of life. When all seems dead and hopeless, He's working ahead to give us beauty for ashes. "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end." (Jer. 29:11)

4) We reap more than we sow. If God sows an abundance of seeds, then the harvest we will reap will be grander than we can ever dream! We will reap some of that harvest here on earth, but when we get to Heaven I think we'll be in complete awe of all that God will give to us. "And other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an hundredfold. And when he had said these things, he cried, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear." (Luke 8:8)

5) We reap in proportion to what we sow. The Lord doesn't "skimp" on anything He does. Our God is exceedingly gracious. He sows much and we will reap much.

6) We reap only if we faint not. The everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth does not grow weary! (Isa. 40:28) You can count on a full harvest!

7) We can't do anything about last year's harvest, but we can do something about this year's harvest. We may have prevented the Lord from bringing a full harvest of light and gladness into our lives in the past, but if we're faithful and patient as He sows and nurtures His seeds in our lives, we can depend upon Him to give us all we need and more.

Dear reader, make certain your heart is "good ground" for the Lord to plant His seeds of light in. This promise is given to "the righteous" and "the upright in heart." Put yourself in position for God's blessings by living up to His precious Word.

Sometimes the work preparatory to sowing is difficult. It means breaking up hard, fallow ground that is full of stones, roots and weeds, three things that would choke His seeds from springing up into fruitfulness. We need to be patient with the Lord as He breaks up the fallow ground of our hearts.

I don't understand why, but God is so, so gracious. I think the Lord told us "it is more blessed to give than to receive" because He knows. He endured the old rugged cross and the shame of our wicked sins all "for the joy that was set before Him." (Heb. 12:2) He knows that it was truly more blessed to give because of all the joy that He has had in welcoming every lost, weary sinner into Heaven.

God's loving heart is blessed when He blesses us. He so wants to fill us up with good things, but sometimes we simply won't let Him because we see no present advantage, or we don't like the preparatory work He is doing in our lives. Let God do what He wants! It's not important that we understand right now. Only trust that God has very good plans in the works.

Just think, God wants to do all of this for us. He wants to do all this work just so we'll find joy in the life He's given us. If we'll only allow Him to sow His seeds in our lives, one day we will reap a rich, bountiful harvest of light and gladness.

They Are His Mountains

"And I will make all my mountains a way, and my highways shall be exalted." (Isa. 49:11)

God will make obstacles serve His purpose. We all have mountains in our lives. There are people and things that threaten to bar our progress in the Divine life. Those heavy claims, that uncongenial occupation, that thorn in the flesh, that daily cross -- we think that if only these were removed we might live purer, tenderer, holier lives; and often we pray for their removal.

"Oh, fools, and slow of heart!" These are the very conditions of achievement; they have been put into our lives as the means to the very graces and virtues for which we have been praying so long. Thou hast prayed for patience through long years, but there is something that tries thee beyond endurance; thou hast fled from it, evaded it, accounted it an unsurmountable obstacle to the desired attainment, and supposed that its removal would secure thy immediate deliverance and victory.

Not so! Thou wouldest gain only the cessation of temptations to impatience. But this would not be patience. Patience can be acquired only through just such trials as now seem unbearable. Go back; submit thyself. Claim to be a partaker in the patience of Jesus. Meet thy trials in Him. There is nothing in life which harasses and annoys that may not become subservient to the highest ends. They are His mountains. He puts them there. We know that God will not fail to keep His promise. "God understandeth the way thereof and knoweth the place thereof. For he looketh to the ends of the earth, and seeth under the whole heaven"; and when we come to the foot of the mountains, we shall find the way. 

F.B. Meyer

Christ in Isaiah 

"The oak is not only tested by the storms, but toughened by them." 

Unknown

Believe in Order to See

"Then believed they his words; they sang his praise. They soon forgot his works; they waited not for his counsel; but lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, and tempted God in the desert. And he gave them their request; but sent leanness into their soul." (Ps. 106:12-15)

We read of Moses, that "he endured, as seeing him who is invisible." Exactly the opposite was true of the children of Israel in this record. They endured only when the circumstances were favorable; they were largely governed by the things that appealed to their senses, in place of resting in the invisible and eternal God.

In the present day there are those who live intermittent Christian lives because they have become occupied with the outward, and center in circumstances, in place of centering in God. God wants us more and more to see Him in everything, and to call nothing small if it bears us His message.

Here we read of the children of Israel, "Then they believed his words." They did not believe till after they saw -- when they saw Him work, then they believed. They really doubted God when they came to the Red Sea; but when God opened the way and led them across and they saw Pharaoh and his host drowned -- "then they believed."

Keep Your Hands Off

From Streams in the Desert by Mrs. Charles Cowman

"Neither know we what to do; but our eyes are, upon thee." (2 Chron. 20:12)

A life was lost in Israel because a pair of human hands were laid unbidden upon the ark of God. They were placed upon it with the best intent, to steady it when trembling and shaking as the oxen drew it along the rough way; but they touched God's work presumptuously, and they fell paralyzed and lifeless. Much of the life of faith consists in letting things alone.

If we wholly trust an interest to God, we must keep our hands off it; and He will guard it for us better than we can help Him. "Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass."

Things may seem to be going all wrong, but He knows as well as we; and He will arise in the right moment if we are really trusting Him so fully as to let Him work in His own way and time. There is nothing so masterly as inactivity in some things, and there is nothing so hurtful as restless working, for God has undertaken to work His sovereign will.

A. B. Simpson

Being perplexed, I say,

"Lord, make it right!

Night is as day to Thee,

Darkness as light.

I am afraid to touch

Things that involve so much;

My trembling hand may shake,

My skilless hand may break;

Thine can make no mistake."

Being in doubt I say,

"Lord, make it plain;

Which is the true, safe way?

Which would be gain?

I am not wise to know,

Nor sure of foot to go;

What is so clear to Thee,

Lord, make it clear to me!"

Anna B. Warner

It is such a comfort to drop the tangles of life into God's hands

...and leave them there.

The LORD Is My Strength

From Streams in the Desert by Mrs. Charles Cowman

Psalm 68:28 Thy God hath commanded thy strength: strengthen, O God, that which thou hast wrought for us. 

The Lord imparts unto us that primary strength of character which makes everything in life work with intensity and decision. We are "strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man." And the strength is continuous; reserves of power come to us which we cannot exhaust.

"As thy days, so shall thy strength be" -- strength of will, strength of affection, strength of judgment, strength of ideals and achievement.

"The Lord is my strength" to go on. He gives us power to tread the dead level, to walk the long lane that seems never to have a turning, to go through those long reaches of life which afford no pleasant surprise, and which depress the spirits in the sameness of a terrible drudgery.

"The Lord is my strength" to go up. He is to me the power by which I can climb the Hill Difficulty and not be afraid.

"The Lord is my strength" to go down. It is when we leave the bracing heights, where the wind and the sun have been about us, and when we begin to come down the hill into closer and more sultry spheres, that the heart is apt to grow faint.

I heard a man say the other day concerning his growing physical frailty, "It is the coming down that tires me!"

"The Lord is my strength" to sit still. And how difficult is the attainment! Do we not often say to one another, in seasons when we are compelled to be quiet, "If only I could do something!"

When the child is ill, and the mother stands by in comparative impotence, how severe is the test! But to do nothing, just to sit still and wait, requires tremendous strength. 

"The Lord is my strength!"

"Our sufficiency is of God."

You must remember that John was in the Isle of Patmos, a lone, rocky, inhospitable prison, for the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus. And yet to him, under such circumstances, separated from all the loved ones of Ephesus; debarred from the worship of the Church; condemned to the companionship of uncongenial fellow-captives, were vouchsafed these visions. For him, also, a door was opened.

We are reminded of Jacob, exiled from his father's house, who laid himself down in a desert place to sleep, and in his dreams beheld a ladder which united Heaven with earth, and at the top stood God.

Not to these only, but to many more, doors have been opened into Heaven, when, so far as the world was concerned, it seemed as though their circumstances were altogether unlikely for such revelations.

To prisoners and captives; to constant sufferers, bound by iron chains of pain to sick couches; to lonely pilgrims and wanderers; to women detained from the Lord's house by the demands of home, how often has the door been opened to Heaven.

But there are conditions. You must know what it is to be in the Spirit; you must be pure in heart and obedient in faith; you must be willing to count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Jesus Christ; then when God is all in all to us, when we live, move and have our being in His favor, to us also will the door be opened. -- Daily Devotional Commentary

God hath His mountains bleak and bare,

Where He doth bid us rest awhile;

Crags where we breathe a purer air,

Lone peaks that catch the day's first smile.

God hath His deserts broad and brown--

A solitude -- a sea of sand,

Where He doth let heaven's curtain down,

Unknit by His Almighty hand.

Can Thine Heart Endure?

From Streams in the Desert by Mrs. Charles Cowman

Romans 8:26 We know not what we should pray for as we ought.

Much that perplexes us in our Christian experience is but the answer to our prayers. We pray for patience, and our Father sends those who tax us to the utmost; for "tribulation worketh patience."

We pray for submission, and God sends sufferings; for "we learn obedience by the things we suffer."

We pray for unselfishness, and God gives us opportunities to sacrifice ourselves by thinking on the things of others, and by laying down our lives for the brethren.

We pray for strength and humility, and some messenger of Satan torments us until we lie in the dust crying for its removal.

We pray, "Lord, increase our faith," and money takes wings; or the children are alarmingly ill; or a servant comes who is careless, extravagant, untidy or slow, or some hitherto unknown trial calls for an increase of faith along a line where we have not needed to exercise much faith before.

We pray for the Lamb-life, and are given a portion of lowly service, or we are injured and must seek no redress; for "he was led as a lamb to the slaughter and... opened not his mouth."

We pray for gentleness, and there comes a perfect storm of temptation to harshness and irritability. We pray for quietness, and every nerve is strung to the utmost tension, so that looking to Him we may learn that when He giveth quietness, no one can make trouble.

We pray for love, and God sends peculiar suffering and puts us with apparently unlovely people, and lets them say things which rasp the nerves and lacerate the heart; for love suffereth long and is kind, love is not impolite, love is not provoked. LOVE BEARETH ALL THINGS, believeth, hopeth and endureth, love never faileth. We pray for likeness to Jesus, and the answer is, "I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction." "Can thine heart endure, or can thine hands be strong?" "Are ye able?"

The way to peace and victory is to accept every circumstance, every trial, straight from the hand of a loving Father; and to live up in the heavenly places, above the clouds, in the very presence of the Throne, and to look down from the Glory upon our environment as lovingly and divinely appointed.  -- Selected

Can thine heart endure, 

or can thine hands be strong, 

in the days that I shall deal with thee? 

I the LORD have spoken it, and will do it.

{ Ezekiel 22:14 }

I prayed for strength, and then I lost awhile
All sense of nearness, human and divine;
The love I leaned on failed and pierced my heart,
The hands I clung to loosed themselves from mine;

But while I swayed, weak, trembling, and alone,
The everlasting arms upheld my own.

I prayed for light; the sun went down in clouds,
The moon was darkened by a misty doubt,
The stars of heaven were dimmed by earthly fears,
And all my little candle flames burned out;

But while I sat in shadow, wrapped in night,
The face of Christ made all the darkness bright.

I prayed for peace, and dreamed of restful ease,
A slumber drugged from pain, a hushed repose;
Above my head the skies were black with storm,
And fiercer grew the onslaught of my foes;

But while the battle raged, and wild winds blew,
I heard His voice and perfect peace I knew.

I thank Thee, Lord, Thou wert too wise to heed
My feeble prayers, and answer as I sought,
Since these rich gifts Thy bounty has bestowed
Have brought me more than all I asked or thought;

Giver of good, so answer each request
With Thine own giving, better than my best.

{ Annie Johnson Flint }

His Tender Power

Dear restless heart, be still; don't fret and worry so;
God has a thousand ways His love and help to show;
Just trust, and trust, and trust, until His will you know.

Dear restless heart, be still, for peace is God's own smile,
His love can every wrong and sorrow reconcile;
Just love, and love, and love, and calmly wait awhile. 

Dear restless heart, be brave; don't moan and sorrow so,
He hath a meaning kind in chilly winds that blow;
Just hope, and hope, and hope, until you braver grow.

Dear restless heart, repose upon His breast this hour,
His grace is strength and life, His love is bloom and flower;
Just rest, and rest, and rest, within His tender power.
 

Dear restless heart, be still! Don't struggle to be free;
God's life is in your life, from Him you may not flee;
Just pray, and pray, and pray, till you have faith to see.

Edith Willis Linn

Getting Ready to Move

From Streams in the Desert by Mrs. Charles Cowman

II Corinthians 5:1 For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

The owner of the tenement which I have occupied for many years has given notice that he will furnish but little or nothing more for repairs. I am advised to be ready to move.

At first this was not a very welcome notice. The surroundings here are in many respects very pleasant, and were it not for the evidence of decay, I should consider the house good enough. But even a light wind causes it to tremble and totter, and all the braces are not sufficient to make it secure. So I am getting ready to move.

It is strange how quickly one's interest is transferred to the prospective home. I have been consulting maps of the new country and reading descriptions of its inhabitants. One who visited it has returned, and from him I learn that it is beautiful beyond description; language breaks down in attempting to tell of what he heard while there. He says that, in order to make an investment there, he has suffered the loss of all things that he owned here, and even rejoices in what others would call making a sacrifice. Another, whose love to me has been proven by the greatest possible test, is now there. He has sent me several clusters of the most delicious fruits. After tasting them, all food here seems insipid.

Two or three times I have been down by the border of the river that forms the boundary, and have wished myself among the company of those who were singing praises to the King on the other side. Many of my friends have moved there. Before leaving they spoke of my coming later. I have seen the smile upon their faces as they passed out of sight. Often I am asked to make some new investments here, but my answer in every case is, "I am getting ready to move." --Selected

Bless my soul! Doesn't that make you want to go -- right now?! I can't wait to see my Homeland, and I really can't wait to behold my King! The more I read of Heaven, the more I realize that what I call "life" really isn't life at all. Real living doesn't begin till we step inside the gates of pearl. This devotional continues...

The words often on Jesus' lips in His last days express vividly the idea, "going to the Father." We, too, who are Christ's people, have vision of something beyond the difficulties and disappointments of this life. We are journeying towards fulfillment, completion, expansion of life. We, too, are "going to the Father." Much is dim concerning our home-country, but two things are clear. It is home, "the Father's House." It is the nearer presence of the Lord. We are all wayfarers, but the believer knows it and accepts it. He is a traveller, not a settler. --R. C. Gillie 

The little birds trust God, for they go singing
From northern woods where autumn winds have blown,
With joyous faith their trackless pathway winging
To summer-lands of song, afar, unknown.

Let us go singing, then, and not go sighing:
Since we are sure our times are in His hand,
Why should we weep, and fear, and call it dying?
'Tis only flitting to a Summer-land. 

--Selected

Secret Lessons of the Tundra

This land looks barren and devoid of God's creative touch. There is not a single tree within hundreds of miles. It seems to be as lifeless as it is flat. But oh, His beauty is here! With my camera in hand, crouching as close to the ground as I could, I searched intently for the wonders which I knew were hidden from the casual glance. What treasures indeed I discovered! They opened before my eyes in such splendor. I want you to see where I found the Lord's beauty. Let me show you that the tundra is a land of wonders.

These lovely purple flowers were so very small that I nearly missed them. I wish I knew their name. Notice the fuzzy underwear God gave them! (giggle) Fluffy insulation is something I frequently observe in Arctic flowers. This lonely little group was all that I found growing in the area. They remind me of the rarity which virtuous young ladies are today. So many Christian girls are barely getting by -- they conform to dress standards but because they have not made modesty a matter of the heart, they step as close to the edge as they dare. They may consistently do their part in church but the power and the sweetness of the Holy Spirit does not flow through them. Like these flowers, girls with a real hope to lift up Jesus through their lives are few.

Praise Him for Your Puzzle

It puzzles me; but, Lord, Thou understandest,

And wilt one day explain this crooked thing.

Meanwhile, I know that it has worked out Thy best--

Its very crookedness taught me to cling.

Thou hast fenced up my ways, made my paths crooked,

To keep my wand'ring eyes fixed on Thee;

To make me what I was not, humble, patient;

To draw my heart from earthly love to Thee.

So I will thank and praise Thee for this puzzle,

And trust where I cannot understand.

Rejoicing Thou dost hold me worth such testing,

I cling the closer to Thy guiding hand.

--F.E.M.I., from Streams in the Desert 

Sometimes a puzzle is a very challenging undertaking. You wonder if you will ever complete it. It seems impossible that those innumerable little pieces could ever be assembled to create one beautiful picture...

Jeremiah 32:27 Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me?

Luke 1:37 For with God nothing shall be impossible. 

The Lord knows. It is all working--not by individual "puzzle pieces"--but together for good. What is indeed impossible it that evil could have a part in His perfect plan! He "worketh all things after the counsel of his own will". He is working, piece by piece, bringing each one out of a confusing pile, to create a beautiful picture of grace in your life.

  

When you are making a puzzle with a friend, how much fun it becomes! My dear little friend is very clever. She did most of this Big Clifford puzzle all by herself! What a sweet time we had together. (Unfortunately, Clifford had a hole in his tent--aside from it being a tad too tiny. =)

Continual Commitment

This is a brief biographical sketch which I was assigned to write for last semester’s Life of Paul class.  It is basically an overview of what I learned about three men of God, used greatly of God: the apostle Paul, Hudson Taylor, and David Livingstone.  I enjoyed every moment of the class.  I praise the Lord for the ready and willing vessel the professor was.  God used him to work in me.  The recurring theme of the class was Paul’s total commitment to God’s will.  He daily lived out his initial request--“Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?”  God’s will was everything to Paul!  Oh, may it be everything to this handmaid of the Lord.

I am now full swing into my next semester of Bible “homecollege.”  What a blessed opportunity and provision this is!  Presently, I am taking only two classes, Fear of the Lord and Old Testament Survey, as I need to be finished by mid-April; my family and I will be going on furlough early this summer.  I am expectant to learn rich new truths from God’s Holy Word as I continue my endless growing process in Christ Jesus my Lord!

~ ~ ~

Paul is referred to as the apostle to the Gentiles while Hudson Taylor is called the most widely used missionary in China’s history.  The efforts of David Livingstone opened up Africa, a country which was once dark and secluded from the Gospel and its bearers.  These three men were used tremendously by God to reach the world for Christ.

God was ready with an answer before Paul asked Him, “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?” (Acts 9:6)  Paul was chosen specifically by God for a specific work.  The only thing which stood between the fulfillment of God’s plan was Paul’s own will.  Because Paul faithfully bowed to God’s will, he was instrumental in reaching countless nations for Christ.

Let's Continue On

Devotional by Evangelist Tim Green; from Baptist Bread

Hebrews 6:1b & 19 ...let us go on unto perfection... Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil;

Lots of folks quit way too soon--let's keep on keeping on! Let us go on in spite of the spirit of the age and even our own faults and failures. There is great nobility in getting up and going on after you have been flattened by circumstances and conditions. It is great to have the illuminating attitude of I won't quit! Dr. Tom Malone once said, "If preachers wouldn't quit, U-Haul would go out of business!" I think too, that it would be ridiculous to quit due to others' discouraging displays or outright defections. Let's continue on! So what if resources have dried up, material blessings have been besieged, or physical health decimated--who cares! What you have in Christ, you have in spite of all the diversions and defeats the devil can throw your way. What you have at hand is sufficient for the day. Think about it, all Moses had was a rod. All David had was a sling. All Samson had was an ass' jawbone (think about what he could have done with a 30.06!). Hey, even Paul's thorn became a long-range positive in his life. What you have is what God has supplied you at this point in your life--use it! Let's continue on! Our hope is in the Lord, and He can do with our widow's mites, handfuls of meal in barrels, and poured-out lives.

Remember: "And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure" (I John 3:3).