Dear Missionary Lady,
Greetings in the name of our good and faithful God! We are
not always good and faithful, but God always is. We don't always see how God is
good and faithful, but He always is.
Probably the times when it is hardest to see God's goodness
and faithfulness are when we are going through times of intense testing. In
those dark hours, it can seem like all the truth we ever knew has slipped out
of our minds. We can feel paralyzed or completely incapable of encouraging
ourselves. Maybe I shouldn't speak for you, but I know I can speak for myself.
I have faced times when those valleys were so dark and the trials so intense
that I have been at a total loss for how to go on. I have been swallowed up by
confusion, helplessness, and discouragement.
What I have longed for in those times was someone to help
and encourage me. I wanted someone to tell me the right truth or give me
guidance. Most of the time I have found myself alone and without anyone to
share those desired words with me, so I was left on my own to muddle through
and try to counsel myself. I'm pretty confident that you can relate to that
"alone-ness" in the midst of deep need. Perhaps geographically you
are separated from those whom you trust as counselors and those who used to
counsel you. Perhaps the limited maturity of those who surround you in your
ministry prevents them from being able to counsel you. Perhaps the isolation of
leadership makes you feel like you have nowhere to turn. You also need to
counsel yourself.
Self counsel is not easy, and it becomes more difficult when
the trial is more intense. I recently came across these verses spoken by one of
Job's friends. "Behold, thou hast instructed many, and thou hast
strengthened the weak hands. Thy words have upholden him that was falling, and
thou hast strengthened the feeble knees. But now it is come upon thee, and thou
faintest; it toucheth thee, and thou art troubled" (Job 4:3-5). While
Job's friends did not have God's perspective in that particular circumstance,
and while they did not comfort Job in the way he desired, nevertheless they had
a lot of insight and shared a lot of truth. Here Eliphaz shares the valid truth
about how difficult it is for someone, when the trial is personal, to follow
the counsel he has given to others.
I can relate to that. I've heard counselors ask regarding
this context, "What would you tell someone else in the same
situation?" And sometimes I have been so overwhelmed that my answer would
be, "I don't know. I don't have any answers." It is somewhat easy to
give answers to others - telling them what to think about. But when we are
personally swallowed up in the pain, confusion, and despair, we find that it
isn't so easy.
Can I submit to you that, easy or not, that has to be the
answer. We have to tell ourselves the same truth that we would tell others. We
have to focus on that same truth. That is our only hope.
So what would we tell others? We would tell them about the
promises of God. We would tell them that God will never leave them nor forsake
them. That His grace will be sufficient. That He will meet all their needs.
That they will be able to do all things with His strength. That He will not
give more than they can bear. That one day they will be united with Him in
heaven and with all trials forever past. That He will freely give wisdom to
those who ask.
What would we tell others? We would tell them truth about
God. We would tell them that He is good. That He is faithful. That He
understands their weak frame and looks on them with compassion. That He loves
them. That He is in control.
What would we tell others? We would tell them truth about
suffering. We would tell them that God is working all things together for good.
That He is maturing them into the image of His Son. That He is working for them
an eternal reward. That He is building endurance in them. That He is preparing
them for more effective ministry.
What would we tell others? We would challenge them to endure.
We would tell them that His goodness will again appear if they will wait for
it. That the trials of this life are temporal. That God will renew their
strength and enable them to mount up on wings like eagles.
Are these truths hard to tell to ourselves? Yes, they sure
can be. Sometimes we try to tell ourselves those truths, and it seems like they
fall on deaf ears and an unfeeling heart. What then? There is no other answer.
We must continue to tell ourselves those truths anyway, as pointless as it
seems, until the repetition of God's powerful Word works out its power. God's
truth is the answer, and He can encourage, counsel, and help us when there is
no other source.
"And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake
of stoning him, because the soul of the people was grieved, every man for his
sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in his God" (I
Samuel 30:6).
We all have trials, and I pray that yours are not
overwhelmingly intense. But if they are, I pray that you will unswervingly
counsel yourself with God's truth and that His Word will bring the help and
comfort you need. He is good and He is faithful and He will help.
Love in Christ,
Peggy Holt
member at Open Door Baptist Church in Lebanon, PA
www.pressingontohigherground.blogspot.com
Saturday, July 27, 2019
Saturday, July 20, 2019
07202019 God of the Commonplace
Dear Missionary Lady,
Greetings! Did you see God work this week? Did you see His intervention? Did you experience answered prayer?
I was thinking this week about answered prayer. We probably all have stories about dramatic answers to prayer, times when God answered in really dramatic and obvious ways. His answers were so incredible that all we could do was to stand back with our mouths gaping open, and say "Wow, look what God did!"
We like it when God answers in such a way. It gives us opportunity to reflect honor on His amazing-ness. It builds our faith. It encourages others. It creates excitement.
But God doesn't always answer in dramatic, jaw-dropping fashion. When He doesn't, it is never because He can't. Instead, there are divinely-known reasons for why He has chosen not to. That doesn't mean God can't answer prayer in much more mundane, routine, commonplace ways. That would still be an answer.
God is the God of the dramatic and amazing, but He is also the God of the routine and the commonplace. Answered prayer is answered prayer, no matter how it happens. Provision is provision, regardless of the method.
I was trying to think of some examples in which God provided or answered prayer in what we would consider a nondescript, run-of-the-mill, absolutely mundane kind of way. And the examples are hard to think of, because they don't stand out, but here are some. Abraham wandered and lived in a tent and never had a permanent dwelling. God met the needs of Gideon's family by having Gideon hide in a winepress to process his limited resources. Ruth provided for herself and Naomi by scraping together the remnants left in the fields, following the procedure reserved for poor people and widows. When David killed Goliath, he used a random stone and the same familiar slingshot he used as a shepherd. David and his army lived in caves. John the Baptist survived by wearing animal skins and by eating locusts and wild honey.
Did God provide for these people? Yes, He did. Those commonplace answers sometimes turned into something dramatic, but the first impression (and sometimes the only impression) was routine, mundane, and sometimes even unpleasant.
How does that translate for us? God might meet our grocery needs by allowing us to live on rice and beans. He might provide a home or a church building through the scraping together of materials and backbreaking, hard work. He might get our children through college by having them work two jobs and stretch the process out into six years. He might provide our transportation needs with an old clunker or the public bus. He might bring new converts through repeated, seemingly non-impacting conversations that last for years before the breakthrough.
We're tempted not even to consider these as answers to prayer, but just as routine life. Nevertheless, they are God's answers and provision just as much as the miraculous bags of groceries left on the porch, the unexpected gift from a wealthy businessman, the anonymous donations to the school bill, a gifted car of our dreams, or a soul ripe for harvest who is dramatically rescued from imminent suicide.
We want to open our mouths and see God fill them dramatically like water from a fire hose, and sometimes He does. "They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house; and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures" (Psalm 36:8). Other times we must be content to take His quiet daily provision and His continual grace for one dreary step at a time. "And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness" (II Corinthians 12:9).
It's not easy to live in the commonplace, barely scraping by, longing for a breakthrough. It can be discouraging to wait and wait for what it seems like we need. It can be disheartening to see other ministries flourish dramatically while our own plods along. We can even become jealous or disenchanted when we hear of amazing answers that someone else has received, while we linger in survival mode. But take heart! God is working in your life and ministry also. He promises never to leave you nor forsake you. He promises to be with you. His character demands that He be faithful. He will meet your needs. God's blessing is just as real when He helps us to faithfully live through extended adversity as it is when He gives those special, breakthrough moments.
As you go through this next week, maybe filled with drab challenges, be sure to look for God's hand in the midst of the commonplace. It will surely be there! So just keep going one day at a time, one task at a time. What you do today matters for eternity, but we must trust God to reveal that value and impact in His time even if we can't see any tangible result. He will do it. Take care, my friends, and endure.
Love in Christ,
Peggy Holt
member at Open Door Baptist Church in Lebanon, PA
www.pressingontohigherground.blogspot.com
Greetings! Did you see God work this week? Did you see His intervention? Did you experience answered prayer?
I was thinking this week about answered prayer. We probably all have stories about dramatic answers to prayer, times when God answered in really dramatic and obvious ways. His answers were so incredible that all we could do was to stand back with our mouths gaping open, and say "Wow, look what God did!"
We like it when God answers in such a way. It gives us opportunity to reflect honor on His amazing-ness. It builds our faith. It encourages others. It creates excitement.
But God doesn't always answer in dramatic, jaw-dropping fashion. When He doesn't, it is never because He can't. Instead, there are divinely-known reasons for why He has chosen not to. That doesn't mean God can't answer prayer in much more mundane, routine, commonplace ways. That would still be an answer.
God is the God of the dramatic and amazing, but He is also the God of the routine and the commonplace. Answered prayer is answered prayer, no matter how it happens. Provision is provision, regardless of the method.
I was trying to think of some examples in which God provided or answered prayer in what we would consider a nondescript, run-of-the-mill, absolutely mundane kind of way. And the examples are hard to think of, because they don't stand out, but here are some. Abraham wandered and lived in a tent and never had a permanent dwelling. God met the needs of Gideon's family by having Gideon hide in a winepress to process his limited resources. Ruth provided for herself and Naomi by scraping together the remnants left in the fields, following the procedure reserved for poor people and widows. When David killed Goliath, he used a random stone and the same familiar slingshot he used as a shepherd. David and his army lived in caves. John the Baptist survived by wearing animal skins and by eating locusts and wild honey.
Did God provide for these people? Yes, He did. Those commonplace answers sometimes turned into something dramatic, but the first impression (and sometimes the only impression) was routine, mundane, and sometimes even unpleasant.
How does that translate for us? God might meet our grocery needs by allowing us to live on rice and beans. He might provide a home or a church building through the scraping together of materials and backbreaking, hard work. He might get our children through college by having them work two jobs and stretch the process out into six years. He might provide our transportation needs with an old clunker or the public bus. He might bring new converts through repeated, seemingly non-impacting conversations that last for years before the breakthrough.
We're tempted not even to consider these as answers to prayer, but just as routine life. Nevertheless, they are God's answers and provision just as much as the miraculous bags of groceries left on the porch, the unexpected gift from a wealthy businessman, the anonymous donations to the school bill, a gifted car of our dreams, or a soul ripe for harvest who is dramatically rescued from imminent suicide.
We want to open our mouths and see God fill them dramatically like water from a fire hose, and sometimes He does. "They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house; and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures" (Psalm 36:8). Other times we must be content to take His quiet daily provision and His continual grace for one dreary step at a time. "And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness" (II Corinthians 12:9).
It's not easy to live in the commonplace, barely scraping by, longing for a breakthrough. It can be discouraging to wait and wait for what it seems like we need. It can be disheartening to see other ministries flourish dramatically while our own plods along. We can even become jealous or disenchanted when we hear of amazing answers that someone else has received, while we linger in survival mode. But take heart! God is working in your life and ministry also. He promises never to leave you nor forsake you. He promises to be with you. His character demands that He be faithful. He will meet your needs. God's blessing is just as real when He helps us to faithfully live through extended adversity as it is when He gives those special, breakthrough moments.
As you go through this next week, maybe filled with drab challenges, be sure to look for God's hand in the midst of the commonplace. It will surely be there! So just keep going one day at a time, one task at a time. What you do today matters for eternity, but we must trust God to reveal that value and impact in His time even if we can't see any tangible result. He will do it. Take care, my friends, and endure.
Love in Christ,
Peggy Holt
member at Open Door Baptist Church in Lebanon, PA
www.pressingontohigherground.blogspot.com
Saturday, July 13, 2019
07132019 Footprints and Burdens
Dear Missionary Lady,
Greetings, sisters. I trust that the God of strength has given you strength for the particular challenges of this week.
Probably you are familiar with the poem/song "Footprints." It starts something like this: "One night I had a dream." The speaker goes on to describe how he sees footprints in the sand, representing the journey of his life. Many times he sees Jesus' footprints beside him, but in the hardest times of his life, he sees only one set of footprints. He asks why God would have left him alone in the most difficult times, to which the Lord replies, "When you saw only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you."
This poem has encouraged many over the years, but I admit that I've sometimes wondered about it. Where does the concept come from? Is it just a cute, poignant story that someone came up with? My personal impression is that it is emotionally and experientially based, rather than deeply scriptural; this very issue is a major problem with modern Christianity.
Please understand that I am not trying to criticize the poem nor minimize the hope that anyone has received from it. What I'm trying to get at is that too often we have substituted cute stories and poignant illustrations for solid Biblical truth. In other words, we have come to rely on something good instead of on something best. If this poem is Biblically supported, shouldn't we be able to find hope in the words of Scripture more than in a story, or at least find Bible words that will validate the helpful story? How does this poem relate to an actual statement of the Bible?
Here is the verse that I think perhaps most closely relates. "Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved" (Psalm 55:22). The verse talks about someone with a heavy burden. The burden is perhaps crushing, seemingly impossible to carry. The person who stands at the point of collapsing under the weight is invited to throw that burden on God. He who is infinitely stronger can carry every burden we have.
Have you ever had the experience of doing something too hard for too long? Maybe running a 5K race or other grueling physical endeavor. Maybe a long day on little sleep. Maybe carrying the four gallons of milk all at the same time, from the car, up the stairs, across the room; when you finally drop them on the kitchen table, your arms feel like rubber, just at the point of collapse. Emotionally, mentally, and spiritually, we can sense that same type of fatigue and weakness - a vulnerability that comes when we've pushed the limits too hard for too long.
So notice that the verse goes on. Yes, God carries the burden, but there is more. He also will sustain us and keep us from falling. His arms surround us and support us. He stabilizes us and holds us firm. We are safe and secure in His arms. Yes, maybe He is even carrying us - along with the burden we have already given Him. God is strong enough to do that. No burden or combination is ever too heavy for Him. And even if (gasp) we faint and start to fall, His arms can keep us from ever reaching the ground.
Praise God for His loving heart and His strong arms! Praise God for His compassion on needy people and for the unmatched and unfailing support that He can give! Truth be told, God's carrying us is not limited to the hardest times of life. We could not walk a single step, even on the easiest of days, without His help. He patiently and graciously carries us day after day.
May God's strong arms hold you firmly this week, carrying your burdens large and small, and keeping you from stumbling and falling.
Love in Christ,
Peggy Holt
member at Open Door Baptist Church in Lebanon, PA
www.pressingontohigherground.blogspot.com
Greetings, sisters. I trust that the God of strength has given you strength for the particular challenges of this week.
Probably you are familiar with the poem/song "Footprints." It starts something like this: "One night I had a dream." The speaker goes on to describe how he sees footprints in the sand, representing the journey of his life. Many times he sees Jesus' footprints beside him, but in the hardest times of his life, he sees only one set of footprints. He asks why God would have left him alone in the most difficult times, to which the Lord replies, "When you saw only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you."
This poem has encouraged many over the years, but I admit that I've sometimes wondered about it. Where does the concept come from? Is it just a cute, poignant story that someone came up with? My personal impression is that it is emotionally and experientially based, rather than deeply scriptural; this very issue is a major problem with modern Christianity.
Please understand that I am not trying to criticize the poem nor minimize the hope that anyone has received from it. What I'm trying to get at is that too often we have substituted cute stories and poignant illustrations for solid Biblical truth. In other words, we have come to rely on something good instead of on something best. If this poem is Biblically supported, shouldn't we be able to find hope in the words of Scripture more than in a story, or at least find Bible words that will validate the helpful story? How does this poem relate to an actual statement of the Bible?
Here is the verse that I think perhaps most closely relates. "Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved" (Psalm 55:22). The verse talks about someone with a heavy burden. The burden is perhaps crushing, seemingly impossible to carry. The person who stands at the point of collapsing under the weight is invited to throw that burden on God. He who is infinitely stronger can carry every burden we have.
Have you ever had the experience of doing something too hard for too long? Maybe running a 5K race or other grueling physical endeavor. Maybe a long day on little sleep. Maybe carrying the four gallons of milk all at the same time, from the car, up the stairs, across the room; when you finally drop them on the kitchen table, your arms feel like rubber, just at the point of collapse. Emotionally, mentally, and spiritually, we can sense that same type of fatigue and weakness - a vulnerability that comes when we've pushed the limits too hard for too long.
So notice that the verse goes on. Yes, God carries the burden, but there is more. He also will sustain us and keep us from falling. His arms surround us and support us. He stabilizes us and holds us firm. We are safe and secure in His arms. Yes, maybe He is even carrying us - along with the burden we have already given Him. God is strong enough to do that. No burden or combination is ever too heavy for Him. And even if (gasp) we faint and start to fall, His arms can keep us from ever reaching the ground.
Praise God for His loving heart and His strong arms! Praise God for His compassion on needy people and for the unmatched and unfailing support that He can give! Truth be told, God's carrying us is not limited to the hardest times of life. We could not walk a single step, even on the easiest of days, without His help. He patiently and graciously carries us day after day.
May God's strong arms hold you firmly this week, carrying your burdens large and small, and keeping you from stumbling and falling.
Love in Christ,
Peggy Holt
member at Open Door Baptist Church in Lebanon, PA
www.pressingontohigherground.blogspot.com
Saturday, July 6, 2019
07062019 Psalm 131
Dear Missionary Lady,
Greetings once again. Whether or not you were actually able to see God's active hand this week, He once again used you and your ministry within His divine plan. What you do each day matters for eternity.
For a number of weeks, I have wanted to share a precious psalm with a beautiful picture about trusting God, but I kept running out of space, so today I'll focus just on Psalm 131.
Verse 2 gives the illustration. "Surely I have behaved and quieted myself, as a child that is weaned of his mother: my soul is even as a weaned child." David gives the sweet picture of a young child resting in his mother’s lap. The child is contented and quiet, not struggling or alarmed. The child rests quietly because he has no concerns or worries. There may be many concerns facing his family, but the child doesn’t bear those burdens. If the child is even aware of the problems, he has learned that his mother and father take care of everything he needs. So even in times of great family challenge, the young child can fall asleep in his mother’s arms - an indication that he completely trusts her protection and care.
David had to deliberately become like this little child by behaving and quieting himself. The first term has to do with adjusting and composing - a deliberate change and conformity of spirit. The second term is about becoming still and silent - not questioning, protesting, or crying out. David purposefully ceased his soul struggles and placed his trust completely and confidently in God.
The third verse issues the same challenge for others. "Let Israel hope in the LORD from henceforth and for ever." Every believer can compose himself just as David did, recognizing his own limitations and, more importantly, remembering the great God who has everything under control. Until the vanishing point of time, he can wait and rest in God.
My summary statement for this psalm is "quiet trusting in God based on childlike humility regarding the limits of human understanding." The little child does not comprehend mortgages, cancer, job markets, inflation, checking accounts, and meal preparation, but he trusts his parents to provide. Likewise, the believer will not understand everything in his life, family, and ministry, but he can rest quietly as he allows God to understand those things for him.
May you rest quietly in Him this week in whatever bewildering situations you face. He really can take care of all of it.
Love in Christ,
Peggy Holt
member at Open Door Baptist Church in Lebanon, PA
www.pressingontohigherground.blogspot.com
Greetings once again. Whether or not you were actually able to see God's active hand this week, He once again used you and your ministry within His divine plan. What you do each day matters for eternity.
For a number of weeks, I have wanted to share a precious psalm with a beautiful picture about trusting God, but I kept running out of space, so today I'll focus just on Psalm 131.
Verse 2 gives the illustration. "Surely I have behaved and quieted myself, as a child that is weaned of his mother: my soul is even as a weaned child." David gives the sweet picture of a young child resting in his mother’s lap. The child is contented and quiet, not struggling or alarmed. The child rests quietly because he has no concerns or worries. There may be many concerns facing his family, but the child doesn’t bear those burdens. If the child is even aware of the problems, he has learned that his mother and father take care of everything he needs. So even in times of great family challenge, the young child can fall asleep in his mother’s arms - an indication that he completely trusts her protection and care.
David had to deliberately become like this little child by behaving and quieting himself. The first term has to do with adjusting and composing - a deliberate change and conformity of spirit. The second term is about becoming still and silent - not questioning, protesting, or crying out. David purposefully ceased his soul struggles and placed his trust completely and confidently in God.
What would enable someone to become
so quiet and trusting? The reason is found in verse 1. "LORD, my heart is
not haughty, nor mine eyes lofty: neither do I exercise myself in great
matters, or in things too high for me." David's adjustment had to do primarily with his thoughts.
There were things going on in his life that were too difficult for him to
understand, too high. Instead of the natural response of trying to figure
things out anyway, David realized that his brain was not big enough to decipher
such matters.
The picture behind the words is that of walking on lofty and
difficult paths, and David determined not to insist on putting his feet on paths
too grand for him and that he was not capable of walking. He realized he would
never understand the things that were intended only for the mind of God. Having
reached the conclusion that it was okay for him not to understand, he rested
quietly in the arms of God just like a young child rests in complete trust in
his mother’s arms.
The third verse issues the same challenge for others. "Let Israel hope in the LORD from henceforth and for ever." Every believer can compose himself just as David did, recognizing his own limitations and, more importantly, remembering the great God who has everything under control. Until the vanishing point of time, he can wait and rest in God.
My summary statement for this psalm is "quiet trusting in God based on childlike humility regarding the limits of human understanding." The little child does not comprehend mortgages, cancer, job markets, inflation, checking accounts, and meal preparation, but he trusts his parents to provide. Likewise, the believer will not understand everything in his life, family, and ministry, but he can rest quietly as he allows God to understand those things for him.
May you rest quietly in Him this week in whatever bewildering situations you face. He really can take care of all of it.
Love in Christ,
Peggy Holt
member at Open Door Baptist Church in Lebanon, PA
www.pressingontohigherground.blogspot.com
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