03262022 Think About Me

Dear Missionary Lady,

Greetings in the name of our attentive God. Aren’t you glad He is always paying attention to you? That you are never outside His care?

“But I am poor and needy; yet the Lord thinketh upon me: thou art my help and my deliverer; make no tarrying, O my God” (Psalm 40:17).

This closing verse of the fortieth Psalm is deeply expressive of need and dependence on God. Verses 5 through 17 are entirely prayer, with numerous instances of direct address to God. I believe a legitimate translation would be to make the seventeenth verse entirely prayer as well. In the clause “Yet the Lord thinketh upon me,” the word yet is supplied by the translators, making this clause alone a declarative statement rather than prayer. It is quite possible that the original intent of this clause was also petition or direct address: “Let the Lord think upon me” or “Lord, think upon me.” This fits the petition-heavy ending of the psalm which repeatedly asks, “Let ...”

“Let the Lord think upon me.” If we were to put this into a context or comparison, what would this be like? The best example I have thought of would be in a hospital setting, perhaps in an intensive care unit. A new shift of nurses arrives and receives instructions from the departing nurses. The new nurses are instructed, “Keep a close eye on Mr. Smith in Room 302. He is very critical, and you must be ready to intervene at the slightest sign of trouble.” While monitoring all of the patients in the ward, the nurses keep a more constant eye on the status of Mr. Smith and take seriously the slightest changes in his condition.

I think that's what this verse expresses. The psalmist admits that he is “poor and needy.” He acknowledges that God is his “help and... deliverer.” He even cries in desperation that God would not delay or tarry. In this situation of particular need, the psalmist asks God to keep a careful eye on him, to be very mindful of him. The verb “think” is a very detail-oriented word. It indicates an intricate effort, such as would be used in braiding or weaving. The level of attention and the depth of thought are quite involved.

The psalmist's urgent prayer well reflects the desperation we often experience in times of deep need. We know we are needy and helpless. We know we need God to be our deliverer. We want to be sure that He keeps his eye carefully upon us, noticing any sign of danger and intervening immediately when there is any cause for concern. When things start to go downhill, we know we might not survive without His intent observation and quick intervention.

Interestingly, this is one of many cases in Scripture when people pray (appropriately) for things that God is already going to do. In fact, if the verse is translated as above, “yet the Lord thinketh upon me,” it is a completely accurate statement. The psalmist has already said so in verse 5, when he says, “Many ... are thy thoughts which are to usward ... They are more than can be numbered.” Many other Scripture passages declare the same truth - that God's eyes are toward His children, that His ears are open to their cry, and that He is constantly thinking about them with perfect knowledge.

I thought of one very expressive example of this concept of God watching carefully over those who are in extreme need and then responding quickly to rescue them. After the feeding of the 5000, Jesus constrained His disciples to get onto a ship and to sail at night to the other side of the sea. He remained behind. While the disciples were in the middle of the sea, a terrible and threatening storm arose.

Although the story is recorded in three gospels, Mark alone includes this detail: as the disciples toiled in their rowing in the midst of the storm, “He saw them” (Mark 6:48). Jesus was aware that the disciples were in a critical situation. He knew they faced deep need. He kept a careful eye upon them, and when He saw a critical moment, He came to them. He encouraged their troubled spirits, and He calmed the storm. There was no real danger, because Jesus was carefully monitoring their desperate situation.

When we find ourselves in fragile situations, recognizing our vulnerability and weakness, we can pray for God to keep a close eye on us. A prayer like this is not an expression of doubt that He is watching or a fear that He might not be always watching; instead, like the psalmist, it is a verbalization of our great need and dependence. It is asking God to do what He will already do, but in asking it, we are expressing the depth of our extreme dependence on Him in what we acknowledge to be a potentially critical situation. We can say, “Father, tonight I need Your special attention,” and He can monitor us as closely as necessary – all without neglecting anyone else in need!

May you rest this week in the reassurance of God’s constant attention, and may you have peace as you anticipate His effective intervention.

Love in Christ,

Peggy Holt

member at Open Door Baptist Church in Lebanon, PA

03192022 He Cares

Dear Missionary Lady,

Greetings in the name of our tender, caring God. This is an astounding thought, that the great God of heaven not only humbles Himself to look upon us, but that He cares about the troubles we face.

“Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you” (I Peter 5:7). Sometimes, at least for me, I am so accustomed to Scripture language and familiar verses that I don’t grasp the impact of the truth. It helps me to ask the question “What does that mean?” - not just what do the words mean, but what is the practical impact? Sometimes digesting a verse and putting it into my own words gives me a renewed and fuller appreciation for its truth.

This week as I pondered the verse above, I arrived at this conclusion: “God cares about me so much that I can take to Him the things that trouble me, no matter what they are.” And then I just started doing that – telling Him about things that are troubling to me right now and relishing the fact that He cares. In spite of all the billions of people in the world, He cares about ME personally and about each of my concerns!

I know what it looked like for me to cast my care upon the One who cares for me, and I started thinking a little about what that looked like for people in the Bible. I didn’t go very far with seeking examples, but I did come up with the following. In the Psalms, it looks like this. “Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us” (Psalm 63:8).

In a New Testament example, it looks like this. A man had been sick for 38 years. He waited by the pool of Bethesda for the waters to be stirred, knowing he had little chance of being the first one to enter them and be healed. Jesus saw him “and knew that he had been now a long time in that case” and asked if he wanted to be healed. The man cast his care upon the One who cared for him. He said, “Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me.” The One who cared responded with immediate healing, and the man walked for the first time in 38 years! (John 5)

In an Old Testament example, it looks like this. A woman was one of two wives. The other woman had children, but she had none. Year after year she longed for children. Year after year the other woman “provoked her sore, for to make her fret” because she had no children. She was so burdened with care about this situation that “she wept, and did not eat.” Her heart was grieved, and “she was in bitterness of soul” and “wept sore.” Then she cast her care upon the One who cared for her. She “poured out [her] soul before the LORD.” The One who cared for her responded with a promise, conveyed through the priest, that her petition would be granted. She had not just one son, but three sons and two daughters! (I Samuel 1-2)

The fact that He cares does not mean that God will always give immediate or dramatic results, as in these two stories. But sometimes He will. And always He will care. He will give grace to help in our time of need. He will sustain our souls. He will give His best answer in His best time. His compassionate heart will care and will gladly carry that burden for us. So what are the things that trouble you today? Cast them on the One who cares for you. May you find rest and peace in His loving care.

Love in Christ,

Peggy Holt

member at Open Door Baptist Church in Lebanon, PA

03122022 All My Days

Dear Missionary Lady,

Greetings in the name of our all-knowing God. There is much that is unknown and uncertain to us, but there is nothing unknown or uncertain for Him.

Sometimes when I'm traveling on the interstate, I get into traffic that I really can't do anything about. Both lanes may be packed full for as far as the eye can see, or I may be trapped behind a slow-moving vehicle, with so much traffic in the other lane that I can't get around. I am helpless to make the traffic disappear or go faster. In fact, all I am likely to do in attempting to control the situation is to cause myself aggravation and potentially more danger. In these settings I have learned to say to myself, “Just settle in.” I simply need to be patient, driving calmly and appropriately for the circumstances, and eventually things will clear up. (Unless it is the Wednesday before Thanksgiving or the Sunday after.)

This same concept is true in the Christian life. Very often we find ourselves in spiritual traffic jams. We are boxed in and slowed down, and there is nothing we can do about it. We just need to settle in, let things play out, and allow God to do what He wants to do and to accomplish His solution in His time.

Many verses help me to remember this concept. One of my favorites is Psalm 139:16. “Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.” “My members” is in italics, provided by the translators, who believed that this verse was a continuation of the previous thought about God’s forming of David’s body. The Hebrew word “ya-mim” is the word for 24-hour days, so I believe an appropriate translation would be, “In thy book all my days were written … when as yet there was none of them.” Either way, we really come to the same conclusion: whether it is the days themselves, or the body parts (and how that will impact our life-long health), God knew it all before it happened.

God knew every day and every health impact before I knew or experienced any of them. These details were written in His book before they ever happened. I believe this is more than just knowing ahead of time; I believe it also involves planning. It isn't just that God in His omniscience was aware of a future fact, but that God knows the fact because He is the one writing the plan. That knowledge brings peace.

Nothing takes God by surprise. He did form our bodies precisely according to His plan. For some of us, that means we have a genetic defect, a medical predisposition, or a vulnerability to certain diseases. I lived for many decades before I realized this was the case for me, but God knew it from the beginning. My genetic factors came significantly into play in 2006 when I began my struggle with Lyme disease, but it was only three or four years ago when a doctor finally discovered the underlying genetic weakness. Most recently, (for the past seven months), this genetic weakness has again showed itself significantly, as I have struggled with long haul COVID. I have been in a traffic jam for seven months, and I don't know if or when it will clear up. These are not easy days, and they are not always happy days, but I have learned more and more to be content with peaceful days.

I can have peaceful days when I remember that God knew and planned it all from the beginning. All these things are His coworkers in accomplishing His good plan for me (Romans 8:28). All these things are working endurance so that I can be mature and lacking in nothing (James 1:3-4). All these things are so that God can do His purifying work and I can come forth as gold (Job 23:10). All these things are so that I can bring praise and honor and glory to God (I Peter 1:7). All these things are so that God can work the peaceable fruit of righteousness in me - after the time which is not at the moment joyous (Hebrews 12:11). So I just need to settle in, be patient, keep “driving” as appropriate for the circumstances, and wait for things to clear up.

I didn't start out intending to write about myself, but the reality is that this concept of God’s knowing it all ahead of time is very practical for me right now. My circumstances are what help me to more fully understand what God meant. My circumstances give me the opportunity day after day to believe God's truth and to rest in peace because I know it. They help me to more fully learn these lessons. I'm learning more and more fully how absolutely essential it is to cling to truth. There is no hope in empty encouraging words from others, when those words are merely positive-sounding sentiment. Memes posted on Facebook can have very little meaning. The words of others, the words of hymns, and the words of devotionals are helpful only when they are firmly grounded in God's truth. Psalm 40:11 says, “Let thy lovingkindness and thy truth continually preserve me.” There are many other verses in the Bible that talk about how important the mind is and how important truth is.

Oh, that God would help each of us to learn to be more and more faithful to go to His Word for help and to be ever quicker to run to His truth!  May God give you this week the truth that you need to help you through every traffic jam so that you can just settle in and be at peace.

Love in Christ,

Peggy Holt

member at Open Door Baptist Church in Lebanon, PA

Archived letters: www.dearmissionarylady.blogspot.com. 

03062022 Your God

Dear Missionary Lady,

Greetings in the name of our unmatched God. No one can even come close to Him.

“Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness” (Isaiah 41:10).

This is a verse of great comfort and encouragement, filled with wonderful truths about God, all of which are reasons for us not to fear. I want to share some thoughts on just four words: “I am thy God.”

First, put the emphasis on the word “I.” Who is the speaker? Who is my God? It is the Holy One of Israel. It is the Creator of the universe. It is the Sovereign in control of all things. It is the One for whom nothing is impossible. It is the One who loves His people.

It’s pretty amazing to think about who it is that is our God, and that reality is highlighted even more when we think about who He is not. He is not a God who can’t be touched with the feeling of our infirmities. He is not a God of the dead, but of the living. He is not an inanimate, dead representation of power. He is not one of those false deities that has eyes, ears, mouth, feet, but cannot see, hear, speak, or move. He is not one of the gods who is capricious, cruel, uncaring, detached, inconsistent, or easily defeated.

If we could choose any god (or even any other force) as our source, we could not choose anyone better than God.

Second, put the emphasis on “thy God.” What is God to us? He is not an emperor or dictator. He is not a general or admiral. He is not a master or overseer. He is not a boss or supervisor. He is not a king, governor, or mayor. He is not just an acquaintance or friend. And He is far more than just a father or brother. Every one of those people has strengths and advantages, but every one of those people has weaknesses and failings.

What is this great One to us? He is our God. He is the one who has all right to oversee and control everything. He is the one with all the power to achieve anything He desires. He is the one who always does what is right and just. He is God! Do you realize how less powerful, less dependable, less wise, less loving, and less everything He would be if He were any of the titles from the preceding paragraph? Having a relationship with any of those would not mean as much. But having a relationship with the One who is God – that means something!

That relationship with that Person is what allows us to face life and to walk through life without being dismayed and without fearing. This great God is with us, strengthens us, helps us, and upholds us.

May you rest in the wonderful care of this mighty yet personal God as you face the responsibilities and trials of this week.

Love in Christ,

Peggy Holt

member at Open Door Baptist Church in Lebanon, PA