Praise be to Jesus, the
Author and the finisher of our faith. He is our Eternal Contemporary.
indeed, in Him alone we live, move, and have our being. He is our
peace. He is our source of eternal joy. He makes the
mournful heart to sing.
We
spent a couple days with our grandchildren from Boston, Micah,
Simeon, and Ada. I call them our "Fresh Air"
children. They came to spend a couple days in the country in Chenango
County where my wife Alice was born and raised. We took the children
to Rogers Conservation Center for some "bird Watching", and we
watched the Fish and the turtles in a pond studded with water lilies in
full bloom. Our grandchildren were able to spend some fabulous
time at the dairy farm where Alice grew up. They rode on the Four wheeler
in the open fields and beautiful meadows, and along country roads.
They saw a new born calf and helped it to get back to the barn, and then
they helped to feed the calves. It was refreshing and soul filling.
Alice and I were privileged to visit one of her aunts who was
"in town" for part of the summer. Alice's Aunt
Kay will be 90 years old this year. She was born and raised on the
neighboring farm along with her 7 siblings. She graduated from
Keuka College and attended Union Theological Seminary in New York City
where she attended the lectures by Richard Neibuhr, Paul Tillich and other
world renowned Christian theologians Biblical
Scholars. She met her husband, who was a young Methodist
preacher. They got married and moved to North Carolina where
they served the Lord faithfully for many years.
The
Lord blessed us with a beautiful day in His House yesterday. Alice and I
attended a baptismal service for our nephew and nieces on Sunday
afternoon. It was all celebrative and festive.
I am reflecting today on Psalm 34, “The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their cry. . . . The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. A righteous man may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all” (Psalm 34:17-19).
The Bible says there are many things which seem absurd to those who have no faith. The Word says, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything” (James 1:2-4). We have the assurance that God cares for us, is watching over us and using even the ugly places in life to do something beautiful in our lives.
I love the Old Testament story of the prophet Elisha and his servant as they were staying in the town of Dothan. The king of Aram and his massive army came to make war with Israel, and surrounded the city. When Elisha’s servant got up early in the morning, he went to look out over the city wall. When he did so, he saw the great army of the enemy amassed around the city. He ran back to the prophet Elisha and told him about the threat of terror. He assuredly gasped for breath as he tried to get the words out fast enough to the old prophet, but Elisha was calm and said something that his servant found incredulous, “Don’t be afraid. Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”
The
servant must have thought Elisha was hallucinating since there were not more
people in the city, even if you counted women and children, let alone
warriors. Elisha then prayed, “O Lord, open his eyes so he may see”, and
the Bible says, “Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw
the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha” (2 Kings 6:16-17). There was a heavenly army which
surrounded the people of God of which Elisha’s servant had
been totally unaware. They had been invisible until his eyes were
opened. The unseen was the reality, and what was seen was the
illusion. The unseen reality can only be seen by faith.
The
book of Hebrews tells of the trials of many biblical characters. As
it speaks of them it says, “All these people were still living by faith
when they died." They did not receive the things promised; they only
saw them and welcomed them from a distance. People who say such things
show that they are looking for a country of their own.
François
Fénelon, the seventeenth-century French Bishop, said, “Don t worry about the
future — worry quenches the work of God within you. The future belongs to
God. He is in charge of all things. Never second-guess him.”
You cannot see the whole picture — only God can. Just because your life
seems out of control does not mean that God is not in control. So you
have to trust that there is a plan, even if you don’t understand what the plan
is. Just because you cannot grasp it does not mean it does not
exist.
Dr. E. Stanley Jones, the great missionary to India, has a beautiful passage in his book Transformed by Thorns. He wrote: “I am inwardly fashioned for faith, not for fear. Fear is not my native land; faith is. I am so made that worry and anxiety are sand in the machinery of life; faith is the oil. I live better by faith and confidence than by fear, doubt and anxiety. In anxiety and worry, my being is gasping for breath — these are not my native air. But in faith and confidence, I breathe freely — these are my native air."
Dr. E. Stanley Jones, the great missionary to India, has a beautiful passage in his book Transformed by Thorns. He wrote: “I am inwardly fashioned for faith, not for fear. Fear is not my native land; faith is. I am so made that worry and anxiety are sand in the machinery of life; faith is the oil. I live better by faith and confidence than by fear, doubt and anxiety. In anxiety and worry, my being is gasping for breath — these are not my native air. But in faith and confidence, I breathe freely — these are my native air."
In Christ,
Brown
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