06242023 Sustained

Dear Missionary Lady,

Greetings in the name of the Great Sustainer. It is God who holds all things together, including us. It is God who keeps everything in working order.

Recently I took note of the repeated use of the word “sustain” in the Psalms. (It is translated that way more often in the NASB, which I use personally, than the KJV, which I use for these letters.) I thought it would be interesting to study that out a little. Of course, in any translation, there is variation in how Hebrew or Greek words are translated.

As I compiled my list of verses, I found two similar Hebrew words that are frequently used in this sense. The first is “samak” – to prop; reflexively, to lean on or take hold of. The meaning and translation will change somewhat depending on the perspective. From the human perspective, it is someone leaning on God, leaning hard or leaning fully or leaning dependently. From the divine perspective, it is God being the prop underneath us, taking hold of us, and keeping us upright.

God has done this for us from our very beginning. “By thee have I been holden up from the womb: thou art he that took me out of my mother’s bowels: my praise shall be continually of thee” (71:6).

God does this for us regularly, and it is what allows us to wake up every morning. “I laid me down and slept; I awaked; for the LORD sustained me” (3:5).

God does this categorically for those who follow Him, which makes our lives and outcomes very different from those of the ungodly. “For the arms of the wicked shall be broken: but the LORD upholdeth the righteous” (37:17).

God does this successfully, strengthening our hearts while we wait for the outcome He provides. “His heart is established, he shall not be afraid, until he see his desire upon his enemies” (112:8).

God does this even in our sin. Instead of being cast away in our failure, God still upholds us. “Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit” (51:12).

It should almost be understood that God does this for us in our weakness. It is because we are weak that we need Him to sustain us. “The LORD upholdeth all that fall, and raiseth up all those that be bowed down” (145:14). Because God sustains us, there is a limit to how far we can fall, and it is never a complete collapse. “Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the LORD upholdeth him with his hand” (37:24).

God upholds us because He has committed Himself to do so. This verse could be interpreted to mean that His Word upholds us, which is true, but I think it means that He will uphold us because He has declared that He will do. We can then rest confidently in this assurance. “Uphold me according unto thy word, that I may live: and let me not be ashamed of my hope” (119:116).

The second Hebrew word is “sawad” – to support. As the verses demonstrate, God supplies what we need to keep us upright and to keep us going, and on multiple levels. This appears to be used only from the divine perspective, meaning that it is always God’s action toward us, rather than our deciding to lean on Him.

This is used as a prayer request, and it would be a great thing for us to pray for ourselves and others. “[The LORD] Send thee help from the sanctuary, and strengthen thee out of Zion” (20:2).

God supports us this way physically, related to illness. “The LORD with strengthen him upon the bed of languishing: thou wilt make all his bed in his sickness” (41:3).

God supports us this way physically, related to protection. “Hold thou me up, and I shall be safe: and I will have respect unto thy statutes continually” (119:117).

God supports us this way in regard to our status in life. “Thou hast also given me the shield of thy salvation: and thy right hand hath holden me up, and thy gentleness hath made me great” (18:35).

God supports us this way mentally and emotionally. (Men need this too, even if they won’t admit it, but as women, it is a wonderful thought that God sustains us in this way.) “When I said, My foot slippeth; thy mercy, O LORD, held me up” (94:18). The surrounding verses solidify that this is internal support.

Whether the word is translated as sustain, support, uphold, hold up, establish, or strengthen, this is a wonderful truth. When we lean hard on God, we find that He props us up. And even when we forget to lean, God is still there to support us, because it something that He has determined to do for His people. Let us fall confidently on Him, being fully assured that He will keep us from falling.

Love in Christ,

Peggy Holt

member at Open Door Baptist Church in Lebanon, PA 

06172023 Coming Forth

Dear Missionary Lady,

Greetings in the name of the Almighty God. God has all the power to do everything that He designs to do, and His designs are grand.

Job said, “But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold” (Job 23:10).

When we are in the midst of a trial, it is right for us to find hope in the expected outcome. Job expected to come forth as gold. Peter gives the same picture when he speaks of the refining fire that purifies, resulting in a valuable product. It is a comfort, and at times a humbling realization, to think that the end of this difficult process will somehow be ourselves as something valuable and precious.

As I was pondering this verse, I realized that the outcome is not dependent on me. The fact that I, or any of us, can come forth as gold is the result of God's actions. There is nothing in this verse that talks about what I do. Instead, it talks about what God does.

It starts with what God knows. God knows my path. That is more than simply omniscient knowledge of facts and details. It is the knowledge of the designer and architect. God knows the path because He created the path. If the path ends up somewhere good, it is because God has designed a path that travels to a good place. I am not designing or traveling my own path; I am traveling the path that God has designed.

The verse also talks about what God does. God tries me. He refines and purifies. He removes the dross. God knows exactly how to manage the refining fire. He knows how hot to make it, how long to make it last, and how many times I must pass through it. I am not refining myself; God is refining me.

In fact, the only thing I am doing in the verse is coming forth. Even this is not active or deliberate on my part. It is merely emerging. Although the metaphor is not quite right, it is like I am riding God's conveyor belt. After I pass all the way through the machine, I exit. But I didn't carry myself through, and I didn't emerge on my own. I simply came out when God's machine expelled me.

I'm very glad that the knowledge and the planning are God’s. I'm also very glad that the refining action is God's. If it were up to me to plan and purify myself, there is no possibility that I would emerge as gold. With God at the controls, however, there is a great assurance of this blessed result.

I must simply trust Him. I must trust God to design the right path for me that He knows will come out at the right place. I must trust God to carefully and thoroughly refine so that I become what He wants me to be. I must trust God to work out the entire process so that I emerge after the fullness of the process and not before.

Some fires are big, and some fires are small, but they are pretty constant in the believer’s life. So, whatever God is doing now in your life, rest assured that it will be just right to accomplish the beautiful result that He desires. May God give you grace to ride through the process until you emerge in beauty and value.

Love in Christ,

Peggy Holt

member at Open Door Baptist Church in Lebanon, PA

06102023 High Stakes Rescue

Dear Missionary Lady,

Greetings in the name of the God who rescues. God rescues us spiritually through salvation and often in numerous other ways and occasions as we go through life. He also gives us the opportunity to be His rescue helpers.

Mt. Everest is 29,000 feet (8850 meters) high, and the “Death Zone” is the top 3,000 feet (350 meters). Conditions there are brutal, creating serious physical risks and impacts. Without supplemental oxygen, climbers can survive only a few minutes. The heart rate soars, raising the risk of heart attack. The lungs are harshly affected. Climbers cough constantly, even hard enough to break ribs. Climbers are constantly out of breath, even while resting. Muscles waste away, and the body and its cells are actively dying. The brain swells. Judgment is impaired, and delirium can set in. Fatigue makes it hard to move one foot in front of the other.

When climbers attempt the final assault through the Death Zone, they try to get up and back down as quickly as possible, in less than 24 hours. It is so dangerous to be up there (and still needing strength to get back down) that climbers stay at the top for only twenty minutes, despite the immensity of the accomplishment that they may want to celebrate.

Every year climbers die. Over 300 people are known to have died on the mountain, and over 200 bodies remain where they fell or have been shoved out of the way. It is too dangerous to risk lives in those brutal conditions just to bring down bodies. The same is true for rescue. Rescue is usually not a simple matter of giving an extra oxygen tank (and there aren’t any), a sip of water, or helping someone stand back up; those in danger are usually immobile and extremely weak. So climbers walk past, skirt around, and sometimes step over the bodies of the dead and dying. Bodies are already pressed so far beyond their limits, already at such great risk, that climbers do not have the physical strength to rescue someone else, even if their minds are thinking clearly enough to make decisions. Climbers know the risks. For those foolish enough to press on past their limits or unfortunate enough to suffer accidents, rescue attempts would generally just add more bodies to the death count.

But sometimes rescues do happen, even in the Death Zone. In May of this year, a Sherpa guide saw a man down in the snow, alone, without oxygen, about to die. The Sherpa abandoned his own ascent, bundled the climber in a sleeping bag, strapped him to his back, and carried him down the mountain for six hours. At that point someone else took turns carrying and dragging the body. Quite improbably, the life of the climber who had no hope of survival was saved. The Sherpa, who has carried out 55 rescues, says this is the hardest one he has ever done, leaving him exhausted and in need of recovery.

Wow! Who does that? Who gives his all and puts his own life at risk to rescue others? Hmm. Isn’t that what a missionary does? He (or she) gives his life completely. While in most locations, the risk of death is not what it has been for missionaries in past centuries, it still is increased over the safer life “back home.”

Paul has a lot to say about this. “Whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working” (Colossians 1:29). “For ye remember, brethren, our labour and travail; for laboring night and day … we preached unto you the gospel of God” (1 Thessalonians 2:10). He recounts what he suffered as a minister of Christ: labours, stripes, prisons, (threats of) death, beatings, stoning, shipwreck, journeyings, diverse perils, weariness, painfulness, sleepless nights, hunger, thirst, deprivation (2 Corinthians 11:23-27). “But even after that we had suffered before, and were shamefully entreated, as ye know, at Philippi, we were bold in our God to speak unto you the gospel of God with much contention” (1 Thessalonians 2:2).

None of this stopped Paul from ministering the gospel, and it was because of how he evaluated things. “For the love of Christ constraineth us” (2 Corinthians 5:14). “But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might … testify the gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 20:24). “And I will very gladly spend and be spent for you; though the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved” (2 Corinthians 12:15). “Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you” although Paul had “a desire to depart, and to be with Christ, which is far better” (Philippians 1:24&23).

I doubt any of us would place ourselves on the same level as Paul, but I do believe that in the depths of your heart, you share his evaluations and desires. You do have a heart for giving, investing, and serving. You do love those around you … and they are pitiful people in great need. Like the dying man on Everest, their need is great, and their outcome is hopeless. They might be there because of their own foolish choices. As it was for the rescuer, the cost is high, and the risk is great. But what a wonder, that God allows you to be involved in rescuing! Because of God’s working through you, lives have been saved that otherwise would have had no hope. So, even when weary and discouraged, press on. Not everyone will be rescued, but some will! You may have to carry their nearly lifeless bodies down the mountain on your back, but God can give results that make it all worthwhile.

“Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves? And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise” (Luke 10:36-37). May God renew your passion and strengthen you for the task.

Love in Christ,

Peggy Holt

member at Open Door Baptist Church in Lebanon, PA 

06032023 He Stopped

Dear Missionary Lady,

Greetings in the name of the God who notices everything. There is nothing about us that He does not know. There is no burden we carry that He does not notice. There is no cry for help that He does not hear.

As Jesus was traveling from one destination to another, there was a needy man who wanted to capture His attention. Bartimaeus was blind. He had to beg to survive. He believed that Jesus could heal him, and when he heard that Jesus was passing by, he called out for mercy. He wanted Jesus to have compassion on his pitiable condition and act to help him.

Jesus could have ignored the cries. He could have continued on his important journey. He could have seen a mission bigger than just one miserable man.

But He didn’t. When he heard Bartimaeus’ cry, “Jesus stood still, and commanded him to be called” (Mark 10:49). He stood still in contrast to His previous walking. We would say He stopped.

Jesus stopped. Jesus called for Bartimaeus. Jesus asked Bartimaeus what he wanted. Jesus immediately healed him.

I like what this passage reveals about the compassionate heart of God. When we call out in our own troubles, God is not deaf to our cries. He is not too busy to consider us. He isn’t so wrapped up in larger issues that He does not care about our individual needs.

We are invited to pray – to come boldly – to ask what we will – to pour out our hearts. As we do so, we can be confident that our compassionate God, who already knows our misery, will “stop” long enough to hear us and attend to our individual situation.

Of course, the wonder is that God can do this for all believers at the same time! He is personally involved and working in each individual life, but it is with such kind attention that it is like He is stopping everything else just to attend to us. What love! May you be aware of His attention and His help in whatever is your area of need.

Love in Christ,

Peggy Holt

member at Open Door Baptist Church in Lebanon, PA