04282024 Gradual Learning

Dear Missionary Lady,

Greetings in the name of the God who instructs us in His ways. Sometimes as young Christians, we feel like we have found all the answers, kind of like a fourth-year nursing student. Then life happens, and we realize that not every answer is as simple as what we had dogmatically proclaimed, and living out our solution is not as easy as we thought it would be.

Good teachers start where their students are. They start with the basics, and they gradually build upon those, adding a little each year. After a series of years, the students’ knowledge base has considerably expanded. Just as an example, students study math (or numbers) starting in kindergarten, and they continue to do so through high school, and sometimes beyond. At first it is just counting to ten, then one hundred. Addition follows, then multiplication, and <gasp> long division. These are followed by algebra, geometry, trigonometry, and calculus.

No one would think of asking a kindergarten student to do long division, algebra, or calculus, but the gradual teaching of layer upon layer of knowledge makes those studies possible as the student matures. So it is with our wise God. I suppose He has a minimal number of exceptions within His purposes, exceptional situations in which He catapults a believer miles forward, but generally God leads us level by level in a gradual process.

Surely I’m not the only one who perceives that the challenges of life just keep getting harder. When I was a freshman in college, the school district where my dad taught went on strike for a short time. This seemed huge to me at the time, as it introduced questions about how my tuition would be paid and how often we could afford to talk on the phone while my dad wasn’t being paid. In retrospect, it wasn’t that big of a deal. School strikes don’t typically last very long.

Since then, I’ve faced much harder life challenges. At times I have even had the realization that I’m glad that what I faced at 50 was preceded by what I faced at 30, because I needed the lessons and growth yielded through the past struggles to prepare me for the present struggles.

I found an example of this gradual teaching and preparation in the life of David. As he prepared to face Goliath, Saul questioned whether David was capable of such a task: “Thou art not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him: for thou art but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth” (I Samuel 17:33).

David replied with a wonderful testimony about his past experiences with a lion and a bear. He confidently declared, “The LORD that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine” (17:37). God had prepared David for this moment, in part through past deliverances. David had learned to trust in God through lesser dangers, so he was ready to trust in God through bigger dangers.

And this was a bigger danger. While the loss of a sheep or two in the attacks by wild beasts would have been difficult for David’s family, (whom he acknowledges as poor), the stakes in the fight with Goliath were much higher. According to Goliath’s challenge, the consequence of a loss by David would mean enslavement for the entire nation. Was that too big a burden to be borne by a young man? No, not if that young man had seen God take care of him in the past. God had proven Himself to David, leading him through lesser challenges so that he was ready for the greater challenge.

If there is something that you are currently facing that seems too difficult, a “giant,” perhaps it would encourage your heart to remember the “lions” and “bears” of your past. God has brought you through many challenges throughout your life, has He not? And hasn’t He always been faithful? Hasn’t He always upheld you? Hasn’t He always had the answers? This time is no different. Praise God for the past victories and past lessons that have prepared you for this moment. Trust the One who will do what He has always done, which is to lead and watch over His precious children. Look to Him for this victory also. God bless.

Love in Christ,

Peggy Holt

member at Open Door Baptist Church in Lebanon, PA 

04202024 Take What Your God Gives You

Dear Missionary Lady,

Greetings in the name of the God of Power. All might belongs to Him, and nothing can stop Him from accomplishing His plan. Such a powerful God is able to do all that He desires to do on behalf of His children.

In Judges 11, I found a little bit of irony regarding false gods. The nation of Ammon was getting feisty with the nation of Israel. As the warring began, Israel looked for a leader, and they turned to Jephthah, who previously had been an outcast.

Jephthah took his new role seriously and sent messengers to the king of Ammon. In essence, he asked, “What reason do you have to fight against us? What have we done to you?” (v. 12).

The king of Ammon sent a message back. “Because Israel took away my land, when they came up out of Egypt, … now therefore restore those lands again peaceably” (v. 13).

Jephthah responded with a history lesson. He said, “Listen, when we approached this land, we asked several nations for permission to pass through their territory, and no one would allow us to do so. Ammon was one of those non-obliging nations. In fact, Ammon took the refusal so far that they actually made war against us. And they lost. Do you know what happens when you lose a war? The land goes to the winner.” (paraphrase of vs. 15-22).

Jephthah’s response was that Israel hadn’t taken Ammon’s land. Ammon had lost it from their own poor choice. Jephthah gives the credit for Israel’s victory to God (vs. 21, 23). Totally logical, right? That seems to be an appropriate thing for any god to do for the people who serve it – to give them a land to live in.

The nation of Ammon had a god, too. Their god was Chemosh. So Jephthah sets forth his conclusion in the form of a challenging question. “Wilt not thou possess that which Chemosh thy god giveth thee to possess?” (v. 24).

“Hey, we accepted the land our God gave us. Why don’t you do the same? Whatever your god gives you, feel free to take.” Where does that leave Ammon? Empty. Because their god has no power. He can’t give them anything.

What a contrast with Jehovah! He is the real God with real power. He actually does have control and ability. He really can provide for His people. “But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19). “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ” (Ephesians 1:3).

With our God, there is no neglect or destitution. There are no empty promises or assurances. When we feel free to take whatever God gives us, we truly receive something. He showers us with both physical and spiritual blessings. Unlike the people of Ammon, we can rely on our God to give us all that we need.

Love in Christ,

Peggy Holt

member at Open Door Baptist Church in Lebanon, PA

04132024 Does the Size of the Army Matter?

Dear Missionary Lady,

Greetings in the name of our powerful Deliverer. We are so weak, but He is so strong. As we face the battles of life, we inevitably find our own strength inadequate.

It’s hard enough when there is a single enemy, but how often do our enemies ever come singly? Do we not often face multiple battles at the same time, and armies so numerous that they stagger us? Sometimes when we are barely hanging on, one more enemy appears, and what already seemed impossible is magnified even more.

This week I pondered the idea that the number of enemies does not matter to God. The addition of one or ten or one hundred enemies renders Him no less able to handle our situations. How many enemies can God face at the same time? Following are a few answers.

God can handle one really big enemy, like He did for young and inexperienced David with Goliath (I Samuel 17).

In fact, God can handle a whole tribe of giants, as He did for Caleb, who was then past 80 years old (Joshua 14).

God can manage three crafty and influential enemies, like Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem (Nehemiah 2).

God can handle a garrison of 20 men, as faced by Jonathan and his armor bearer (I Samuel 14).

God can handle 30 men (Judges 14) … or 1000 men (Judges 15) … or 3000 men (Judges 16), as He did for Samson.

God can defeat 450 false prophets who oppose one of His servants (I Kings 18).

God can manage 600 men, as he did for Shamgar (Judges 3).

God can defeat 31 kings (and their respective armies) one after another in a steady string (Joshua 12) or five kings all at once (Joshua 10).

When intolerant oppressors tried to eliminate the Jews, God oversaw the deaths of 75,000 of them (Esther 9).

When God intervened, an army large enough to surround the city inexplicably fled for home instead of attacking (II Kings 6).

Several armies joined in a coalition, numbering a great multitude, and God took care of all of them (II Chronicles 20).

In addition to its own army, Ammon hired 32,100 soldiers, and the total size was enough that over 40,000 were killed at God’s intervention (II Samuel 10).

How about a large army numbering 185,000? It was no match for God, who sent His angel to kill them all (II Kings 19).

What if there was a super-coalition? Say, 32 kings all joined together? There were so many opponents that God disposed of 100,000 plus 27,000 (I Kings 20).

Can you imagine a massive million-man army? That’s what came from Ethiopia to threaten, and God defeated that army, too (II Chronicles 14).

One day all the kings of the earth, together with their armies, will join together against God, and even then they will be no match for Him (Revelation 19).

Truly we could say along with Elisha, “Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them” (II Kings 6:16). It matters not how many the enemies are, they cannot be a match for God.

As we recognize our vulnerability and insufficiency, how truly we can echo the words of Asa: “LORD, it is nothing with thee to help, whether with many, or with them that have no power: help us, O LORD our God; for we rest on thee, and in thy name we go against this multitude. O LORD, thou art our God; let not man prevail against thee” (II Chronicles 14:11).

One of the great wonders of God’s ability to conquer any enemy is that He is not at all limited in His means to accomplish that. “There is no restraint to the LORD to save by many or by few” (I Samuel 14:6). God can use the unusual or the very usual to carry out His desires. He can use seeming coincidence, the actions of men, or clearly divine intervention, according to His desire. In the stories mentioned above, God used a slingshot, an old man, a king’s decree, an unsanctioned venture, a sense of outrage, an ox bone, a falling building, fire from heaven, an ox goad, hailstones, self-defense, an unexplained noise, internal dissension, contagious fear, direct divine action, and a collapsing wall, which is certainly not the entire extent of His arsenal.

Can I encourage you, in whatever battle you might be facing and in the face of however many enemies there might be, “Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God’s” (II Chronicles 20:15)? Trust the One who can do for you what you could never do for yourself. He is able!

Love in Christ,

Peggy Holt

member at Open Door Baptist Church in Lebanon, PA

04062024 Four Words

Dear Missionary Lady,

Greetings in the name of the God of love. God has given us so many assurances in His Word to remind us of His love and care for us.

A few months ago I was reading a book in which one of the characters was struggling with the death of her child. She was staggered and overwhelmed as she went through the grieving process. Finally, she settled on a practice that became an inspiration to me. She chose a phrase from a Bible verse, and that phrase became her anchor. Whenever she had a thought or feeling that was troubling, she would try to remember to follow that thought or feeling with her Bible verse. Sometimes she couldn't make it for more than a minute without having to return to that anchor. That verse may have alternated as every other thought she had, but in time the repetition of God's truth brought healing and stability.

I decided to follow the same practice. I didn't actually use a Bible verse, but rather I used a summarized paraphrase. Just by chance, my phrase consisted of four simple words: “His grace is sufficient.” I like having four simple words, because that is manageable for me. Even when my mind is occupied with tasks at work, I can manage to remember and repeat four words. Even when my mind is exhausted and incapable of deep meditation, I can remember and repeat four words. Four words is barely more than a breath. I can repeat those words once whenever I find myself struggling, or I can repeat them over and over, reinforcing them until something else requires my focus. Those four words adequately fill any lapse of time, from the very shortest to something more extended. Four words that become very familiar can even co-exist with whatever life events and thoughts are currently dominant.

I have found two specific criteria for choosing helpful phrases. One of those is to repeat the truth that is most difficult for me to believe. In fact, that was the reason for my first choice, “His grace is sufficient.” If something in God's Word doesn't seem true, but I know it is true, and I must believe it as true, then frequent reminders of that truth are necessary. It may seem like a difficult phrase to repeat, but it is a necessary phrase that I must drill into my heart and mind.

The second application is to repeat a truth that is most precious to me. This week I chose the phrase, “He cares for you.” This one is also just four words, but they are four words that are immensely meaningful and comforting. If I only have time for four words, then it is helpful to have four words that really, really matter.

While there is nothing magic about using exactly four words, it made me think of how many such phrases I could come up with that would be helpful to use depending on one’s current need. These phrases cannot be empty platitudes, like “Everything will be fine” or “You can do this.” No, they must be based on Scripture. Here is just a brief listing of four-word phrases that could be very helpful.

“His grace is sufficient” (2 Corinthians 12:9)

“He cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7)

“All things for good” (Romans 8:28)

“Power belongs to God” (Psalm 62:11)

“He knows my path” (Job 23:10)

“Come boldly for grace” (Hebrews 4:16)

“He'll never leave me” Hebrews 13:5)

“He won't forget me” (Isaiah 49:15)

“He'll supply my needs” (Philippians 4:19)

“All things through Christ” (Philippians 4:13)

“He'll finish His work” (Philippians 1:6)

“Labor not in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:58)

“He’ll come for me” (John 14:3)

God's Word has the truth we need. Often the trouble is for us to remember that truth. I hope that someone will find this simple method of remembering truth to be a helpful tool. May God encourage and strengthen your heart as you labor for Him.

Love in Christ,

Peggy Holt

member at Open Door Baptist Church in Lebanon, PA