"I did not known Him...but...I have seen...and testified that this IS the Son of God" John 1:33-34
Mission: An important assignment carried out.
As I conclude this theme; sharing my heart and God's heart in speaking to me...I thank Him for His mercy and grace . God has edified my heart using so many of you and the men and women of great faith who have gone before me as beautiful examples once again. Men and women who "Stood at the crossroads and looked, asking for the ancient paths, asking where the good way was, and they walked in it, and in doing so they found REST for their souls." Jeremiah 6:16
As I stand so very often at that crossroad of decision, an intersection where I am to choose to walk by feelings or faith...the only answer is found in the 'good ways', 'the ancient paths', and I know this is where I must walk...and when I do I find peace for my soul along each step I take.
As I have thought much of my own journey with the Lord, I know that our journeys are not in vain but assigned for intended eternal purposes. Such hope we have. I think of John the baptizer whose mission statement is the very same for us all....it is "This One" I want to make known to you.
C.S. Lewis said, "I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen; not only because I see it, but because by it I see." As our mission in accepting our assignments from God, I pray that we not only see them as such but that our faith presses forward even stronger to give us the heavenly perspective that through them, we will truly see EVERYTHING as God intends...that we would see our mission as our ministry opportunities, and that we will carry it through as an extension of God to another.
These faithful saints that I am reminded of below have encouraged me as they had an assignment from God and they carried it through....and because of them, we are blessed as they testify through their actions of walking "on the path where the good way is".
Perhaps the greatest words ever to reside in a human heart regarding internal peace is in those few words, "It is Well" with my soul. To dig so very deep within our soul, that when all hope seems lost, those words can still rise up even in the most quietest of voice..is the greatest proof that we KNOW God as the One who is the anchor in our heart and mind...despite trials and tragedies...because we KNOW Christ as the King of Kings and Lord of all.
I am reflecting on our friend the Shunemmite woman first this morning as I bring all my uncertainties to God...in exchange for Him to hear in my heart that, all is well as she is my latest example. That is not easy and without faith, impossible. I am brought to the place of reassurance as I read the last part of her story that gives us a beautiful portrait of a life that carries through in faith what God gives. Remember with me how she went to speak to the king to ask him for help to get her house and land back after she left because of great famine in the land:
2 Kings 8:4 "then the king talked with Gehazi, the servant of the man of God (Elisha), saying, "Tell me please, all the great things Elisha has done." Gehazi was telling the king about Elisha bringing a dead person back to life. At the same time, this woman went to the king with this son. She went to ask for help. 5 Gehazi said, "My lord, O king, this is the woman, and this IS her son whom Elisha restored to life" The king asked the woman what she wanted...6 "and she told him."
He was made known of God. Her assignments came with many unknowns according what her eyes could see but she could 'suffer WELL' because of her faith in God. Her faith spoke of the fact that God was the blessed controller of all things. What I love is what happened next, the king was made known. This is the great reward we have as we carry out our assignments, our mission statement is lived out and carried through as it touches others as this woman's did. What we see is the greatest purpose through it all that we could ever have....this woman and Gehazi share her testimony..this woman does not keep the things God has done to herself but she shares it with the king, another person. And not only THAT...this woman, through her trust and obedience to God, is restored along with her son through all that was taken as the kings says, in 2 Kings 8:6 "Restore all that was hers"! These are Gods words spoken through this king...and spoken to us today. Her assignment as we read was carried out. He is the One who is always in the process of restoring all things in our lives. I thank Him for His grace and mercy given for His continued work in my life today.
This is the mission statement for all who believe. This is the purpose behind the things I share with you. All the things that God allows in our life He trusts us with to be used to share of Him and He will use it as He wills for His glory as we need Him to carry through.
On September 5, 2017, the ladies were gathered for ladies prayer at our church. The Lord led me to share from Isaiah 30, telling me already to "not to go Egypt" for a false hope in what cannot be trusted but that "in quietness and confidence" in the Lord shall be my hope and strength. That all is well in Him as I waited patiently for what I was praying about regarding my own heart. Six days later, after Randy was admitted into the hospital, I began to understand this Word that He already put in my heart preparing me for what was before us. I remembered the words It is Well With My Soul because a dear friend blessed me years ago with a picture that read of these words in large letters and those words ministered to me often over the years and I kept in our hallway and each day I would pass it continually...I remembered the story of these words written in a hymn and how God brought a song out of another mans tragedy as he penned these words and those words were for me as well.
This man, Horatio Spafford, on September 5, 1861, married his wife in Chicago. Their story is remarkable as through their tragedy he penned the famous hymn "It is Well With My Soul".
He was a prominent attorney and they were well known. They had five children. They were also friends of the evangelist D.L. Moody. Spafford was investing his money in real estate in Chicago but the Great Fires of Chicago came and he lost most of what he had accumulated in wealth. Scarlet fever then killed his 4 year old son.
Shortly after, his family decided to go England and take some time off to visit their friend DL Moody who was preaching there. He sent his wife and four daughters ahead of him only to join them soon as he had to finish some last minute business. On November 22, 1873, the ship his wife and daughters were on was crossing the Atlantic was hit by a sailing vessel. 226 people lost their lives and that included his 4 daughters. His wife survived and was taken to England and from her bed, while recovering, she send a telegram to the states saying..."Saved...alone"> Horatio then sailed to England.
Horatio Spafford knew "the secret of the Christian life...was Christ in Him....not him in a different set of circumstances" (Elisabeth Elliot) His "suffering WELL" was found in Christ. His knowledge of God carried him over the raging waves as he crossed the ocean to do what he needed to do next.....and Christ carried him over the raging waves that were crashing into his life. The grief that he carried along with the heaviness in his heart towards his wife who was waiting could only be described as unbearable. Even more astounding to me is that the ships captain stopped to mention to him the approximate location where his daughters died as they sailed....and even more astounding is that he then went to his room and began to pen the famous hymn beginning with these words, "When peace like a river, attendeth my way...When sorrows like sea billows roll; Whatever my lot in life, thou has taught me to say, It is well, it is well, with my soul"
He has shared his faith with so many through his words, encouraging so many over a hundred years of what faith tested and tried looks like. He knew his lot in life and that only God had control over it....and he knew of God's peace that was needed and found as he trusted God...that whatever the news, or situation, one thing that was never changing was that nothing could separate Him from Christ and His love for him. This couple then moved to Jerusalem to serve in ministry, and had 3 more children. Their story and testimony carried out and is intriguing to me as it speaks louder and loud each time I remember it...and I am thankful for their example that gives me and many others the courage to move forward in Christ for , "Fear not....When you pass through the waters I will be with you; and through the waters they will not overflow you" Isaiah 43:2
Last year, at this time, I wrote in my Bible in Job 38 -- "Don't strive to Know --NO!" KNOW ONLY Me MORE!" To know God more is what I needed. The waves of uncertainty came crashing hard as I looked on our circumstance...the only true hope I had was in Christ and that He knew all things, not me. The book of Job gave great perspective to me on suffering...a time when my perspective on life had to be parallel with my perspective on who God truly was. That I could not answer for His ways or doings...I could only know Him more...and in doing so, He would be made known.
I still desperately need His presence each morning, each hour, each day...and often my understanding tries to overcome my thoughts but the understanding is not my business...and it is very apparent as my desire to TRY to understand only can bring to me one place... a place of no peace. My only business was to stay on the 'old paths' as Job did and always. I am so blessed by Horatio Spafford's testimony and of the testimony of Job...along with the Shunemmite woman, each who stood against all odds and walked in the old paths...and carried through.
I am reminded often of the question God asked Job as God wanted give to Job the true perspective of who God is compared to man, which comforts us all knowing again, that it is God who is in control and we are not... God's question to Job puts everything in perspective in our life....."Answer Me Job, if you can?"
Job 38 - - Let us answer, if we can?
"Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell Me if you have understanding of this? Who determined its measurements? Or who stretched the line upon it? To what were its foundations fastened? Who laid its cornerstone? Have you commanded the morning since your days began and caused the dawn to know its place? Have you entered the springs of the sea? Or walked in search of its depths? Have the gates of death been revealed to you? Or seen the doors of the shadow of death? Have you comprehended the breadth of the earth? Tell Me if you know all of this?
"Where is the way to the dwelling of light? Have you entered the treasury of snow, or have you seen the treasury of hail, which I have reserved for the time of trouble, for the day of battle and war? By what way is light diffused, or the east wind scattered over the earth? Who has divided the channel for overflowing water? To cause it to rain? Can you bind the cluster of the Pleiades, or loose the belt of Orion? Or can you guide the Great Bear with its cubs? Do you know the ordinances of the heavens? Can you lift your voice to the clouds that great water may cover you? Can you send out lightening's? Who has put wisdom in the mind? Or has given understanding to the heart? Who can number clouds by wisdom? Tell Me if you know? {Job 38}
God wants us to rest in Him, believing He alone has the answers. He goes on to ask Job....in Chapter 40...."I will question you, and you shall answer Me". Job then answered God. His only answer was the right answer. He now understood Gods position and he seen his need of repentance and restoration. We know at one point in his walk with God he was certain he knew much of God...but in compared to Gods knowledge in all things...he came to see that he knew very little. He was restored...and Gods faithfulness on display in His life....His assignment was carried out.
Job's only answer, "I KNOW that YOU can do everything and no purpose of YOURS can be withheld form YOU.....I HAVE heard of YOU by the hearing of the ear...BUT NOW my eye sees YOU. Job 42:2,5-6
As I think of Jobs answer I think of this truth, The heavens cannot contain Him...let alone a man explain Him" as I share with you a great man of faith , Shadrach Meshach Lockridge. He was born the son of a pastor and faced opposition as a young child as many did not think he was able to learn. The Lord, despite this all, raised him up to become a Baptist preacher and great evangelist and he was invited to the White House by the President which he attributes all to God! He was active in the civil rights movement, and served on the faculty of schools and universities, including the Billy Graham School of Evangelism. His best known message is "That's My King - Do You Know Him?" which he shared at the end of one of his sermons. His assignment was carried out.
An assignment from God, carried through.....will serve the purpose in making Him known....Our testimony's will speak to others of this very question that A. M. Lockridge asked....Do you know my King? ……. "I did not known Him...but...I have seen and testified that this IS the Son of God" John 1:33-34
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