Overheard in an Orchard

I am organizing our Great Room - the room where we study, do crafts, create and learn.  I found a collection of old cards that I inherited from various aunts.  This card is particularly meaningful to me today.

Said the Robin to the Sparrow,
"I should really like to know
Why these anxious human beings
Rush about and worry so."


Said the Sparrow to the Robin,
"Friend, I think that it must be
That they have no Heavenly Father
Such as cares for you and me."


~Elizabeth Cheney

"Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? (Matthew 6:26)."


Elisabeth Elliot is worth reading on this subject:  His Eye is on the Sparrow.

Where the rubber meets the road.

Yesterday I wrote about the story of Ahab and Jehoshaphat and Micaiah.  There were so many lessons in that story, but the one that jumps out at me is God's Sovereignty over the length of our days.  Whether we're thrown in prison like Micaiah was, or whether we're disguised out of fear of death, or wearing royal robes so we're the target of the enemy, we simply will not die unless it is our time, ordained by God.


NOTHING happens to us that is outside of the will of God.


I know this.


Yet this morning I forgot all about it.


My daughter Linda works at Carey Outreach Ministries three days per week.  (She loves her work - writing theological books as a ghostwriter for the Pastor.)  Anyway, the drive is long and somewhat dangerous.  She starts out with country roads that are icy and snowy this time of year, and heads into rush hour traffic for a bit of time on the 401.  I always look for the little green dot in Google chat that lets me know she arrived safely at her destination.  


This morning, the dot didn't appear.


I wasn't worried.  I prayed, committing her to the Lord, reminding myself (And HIM) that He who protected Jehoshaphat even when 32 captains were attacking can certainly protect my daughter.  I had peace for a time.


But the minutes ticked by.  Every time I walked by the computer, I check for that little green dot.  Sigh.  Not there.


I had to run out to mail something for Rick.  My stomach was in knots.  What if I missed  a call?  What if she ended up in a ditch?  What if someone called while I was out, and I missed the call?


I couldn't stand the suspense.  Picked up the phone and called Pastor Bob.


"Oh, yes, dear... Linda's here."  Relief.


She'd been working away, and didn't bother opening her email.


Silly me.  What was that I read yesterday?  God is Sovereign over the hour of our death, over every step we take, over every breath we breathe.  


How about you?  Do you read the Word to strengthen yourself, then walk away and start to worry?  Silly you.  Don't you know that God works ALL things together for good to those who love Him?


I know it.


And I was reminded today that I ought to live like I know it.  

Hebrews 11: 1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 

6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and  that he rewards those who seek him.

Trapped!

We all face trials and troubles of many kinds.  It's the human condition.  Job tells us that man is born to trouble as surely as sparks fly upward.


What are you facing today?  


Is it financial pressure?  Could it be that you are down to scraping together the last few pennies in the bottom of your junk drawer in order to buy milk for your children?


Is your marriage falling apart?  Did your wife leave you after a quarter of a century of raising a family together?


Are you in court today?  Were you unfairly accused or badly treated by someone in authority?  


Do you feel helpless?  Do  you feel squeezed?  Have you been backed into a corner with nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, nowhere to turn?


Then, FIX YOUR EYES ON JESUS.  Look to Him, and live!


Think about His life on this earth.  Financial pressures - He had nowhere to lay His head.  Relationship issues - His own family thought He was out of His mind.  Abusive authorities - both the Roman ruler and the leaders of Israel treated Him shamefully.


What did He do?  


He did exactly what we should do when we face trials of any kind.  He cast Himself on His Heavenly Father, and trusted Him to do what was best.

Psalm 121 My help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth.

The very Creator God who made everything and everyone around you is our Helper.  He will not allow your foot to be moved, because He is immovable.  He never slumbers or sleeps, because He is always alert, always aware, always omniscient.  He is your Keeper.  He protects  you day and night.  He preserves you from all evil, and will do so forevermore!

Proverbs 29:25  The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe.

Are you trapped in fear?  Are you caught in a snare?  Are you fretting about your circumstances, worried about the next phone call from a creditor, or what the judge will decide about your case?  


Trust in the Lord!  He will keep you safe!

Proverbs 29:26 Many seek the face of a ruler, but it is from the Lord that a man gets justice.

Remember Who can move the heart of the judge.  Remember Who can turn the tide, or send a new job, or open the heavens to sunshine instead of the dark clouds of storm.  


Creator God, 
        There is no one like you.
        There is nobody we can turn to 
               that cannot be moved
               that is always alert
               that can protect us from evil
                      and sustain us forever
        EXCEPT YOU!
You are our Keeper
              our Helper
               our Beautiful God.
In You alone we trust,
     for You alone are trustworthy.
So we give You all of our praise
                     and all of our thanks,
In the precious name of Jesus, 
     Who showed us how to trust You.
              Amen.

Lessons learned from Oliver Cromwell

I am reading again "To honour God", a little book subtitled "The spirituality of Oliver Cromwell", edited and introduced by Michael A.G. Haykin.  If you are interested in reading more about Cromwell, start by doing a search for Cromwell on Michael's blog.

God is Omniscient and Omnipotent; Men are weak and easily confused.  Oliver Cromwell certainly was a controversial figure, but there was a spiritual side to him that can be emulated.  Great men can be guilty of terrible things - just look at David, a man after God's own heart, who committed adultery and murder.  Oliver Cromwell had an overwhelming conviction that God is Sovereign in all human affairs.  He understood, too, that this world is full of pain and sorrow, and that sometimes the way is not clear.  As Christians we sometimes flounder when we are confronted with confusion about what lies ahead.

Yet read what Cromwell wrote about this very thing.  After it was suggested to him that he restore the monarchy and become King Oliver I, he struggled for some time with apparent indecision, because he wasn't sure what God exactly wanted him to do.  He wrote,

"Who can love to walk in the dark?  But Providence doth often so dispose." - p.23

Dr. Haykin comments,

"This statement is a clear assertion of God's sovereign involvement in every event of an individual's life and the history of a people.  But it is also a recognition that those who confess this providential sovereignty are not always able to discern the exact path it is taking." - p.24

God Ordains Trials for our good; He will end the trial when He has accomplished His purposes.  Cromwell understood that sometimes the Lord prolongs our time in the Blackness of a wilderness, yet he trusted that God would bring him to His tabernacle.

"My soul is with the congregation of the firstborn, my body rests in hope, and if here I may honour my God either by doing or by suffering, I shall be most glad.. . He giveth me to see light in his light. . . blessed be his name for shining upon so dark a heart as mine!"- p.47,48

My reading of Jeremiah this morning confirms the truth that God will end the trial in His good time.

 Jeremiah 31:  As I have watched over them to pluck up and break down, to overthrow, destroy, and bring harm, so I will watch over them to build and to plant, declares the Lord.

Love God; Love His People.  After recovering from a dangerous sickness, Cromwell acknowledged his trust in his Heavenly Father who saw fit to raise him up.  He learned anew that it is a blessed thing to die daily, putting no confidence in the flesh.

"I find this only good, to love the Lord and his poor despised people, to do for them, and to be ready to suffer with them: . . . and he that is found worthy of this hath obtained great favour from the Lord. . ." p. 59

These lessons from Oliver Cromwell encourage me.  I have pressing issues in my life that confuse me.  The way is not clear.  The trial seems unending.  Yet I am reminded that even when I am confused, God is not.  He is settled, perfectly sure of the path He has planned for me, and perfectly in control of the timing of the events of my life.  I can trust in His Sovereignty and His Omniscience.  I need only love Him and His poor despised people, to do for them what I can, and to be ready to suffer with them if the Lord so ordains.  He is my God who caused me to know Him - and I have obtained great favour from the Lord.

In Times of Trouble

Copied from my daughter's blog (too good to not have it here...) - Thanks, Heather.

God’s trusting child may say in times of trouble:

FIRST: He brought me here; it is by His will I am in this strait place:
 in that will I rest.

NEXT: He will keep me here in His love, 
and give me grace in this trial to behave as His child.

THEN: He will make the trial a blessing, teaching me the lessons He intends me to learn, 
and working in me the grace He means to bestow.

LAST: In His good time He can bring me out again—
how and when He knows.

Say: I am here—

(1) By God’s appointment.

(2) In His keeping.

(3) Under His training.

(4) For His time.

Andrew Murray (1828-1917)

~~~

And call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you; 
and you shall glorify me.

Psalm 50:15 (ESV)

~~~

“Little daily worries are heaven-sent messengers to help you on the way home. 
What would you think of a sailor complaining of the wind that bears him homeward? 
A day spent among these worries is a day in God’s school. 
One might say that the way to make the best of them is to make the least of them.”

Andrew Bonar (1810-1892)