Trust ~ He Knows Best

"I need oil," said an ancient monk; so he planted an olive sapling. "Lord," he prayed, "it needs rain that its tender roots may drink and swell. Send gentle showers." And the Lord sent gentle showers. "Lord," prayed the monk, "my tree needs sun. Send sun, I pray Thee." And the sun shone, gilding the dripping clouds. "Now frost, my Lord, to brace its tissues," cried the monk. And behold, the little tree stood sparkling with frost, but at evening it died.
Then the monk sought the cell of a brother monk, and told his strange experience. "I, too, planted a little tree," he said, "and see! it thrives well. But I entrust my tree to its God. He who made it knows better what it needs than a man like me. I laid no condition. I fixed not ways or means. 'Lord, send what it needs,' I prayed, 'storm or sunshine, wind, rain, or frost. Thou hast made it and Thou dost know.'"

- taken from Streams in the Desert, Vol. 1, March 29th

~Brittany

His Greatest Mercies--His Meaning is Always Love

"Here is a little story about a simple answer to prayer.  Lars was away.  I had to take the car to the repairman’s house.  Li Zeng, our live-in student, followed me in his car to bring me home.  Directions to the house had been ambiguous, and Gloucester, Massachusetts gets the prize for town-easiest-to-get-lost-in.  I prayed that I might not get lost—Li had to get to class, the repairman had to leave at 7:15.  I got lost, made a quick turn without checking to see that Li was still with me.  He wasn’t.  “Lord, Li will be late for class, the man will leave in a few minutes—what shall I do?”  It’s a long story, but after a phone call I found the house, left the car, declined the man’s kind offer to take me home because I wanted to find Li so he would not miss his class.  How was I to find him?  “Lord, help me.”  I stood at an intersection and prayed that he would come along—an absurd request in a place like Gloucester.  He’d been on a one-way street which would take him far out around the shore drive, with no reason to happen upon the intersection where I stood.  Within five minutes there he was!  God teaches us to ask so that He may answer our prayers.  This reminds us of the source of our blessings.  The answer to my prayer not to get lost was No—in order that I might be specially blessed in the way I was found.

Remember how the Lord brought Israel out (of Egypt) in order to bring them in (to Canaan)?  He got me lost that He might get me found!  Let’s never forget that some of His greatest mercies are His refusals.  He says no in order that he may, in some way we cannot imagine, say yes.  All His ways with us are merciful.  His meaning is always love."

~Elisabeth Elliot, Keep a Quiet Heart

~Brittany

"The disposition... to leave the dearest objects of our hearts in the sublime keeping of the general and unspecific belief that God is now answering our prayers in His own time and way, and in the best manner, involves a present process of inward crucifixion which is obviously unfavorable to the growth and even the existence of the life of self."

- T.C.Upham, Inward Divine Guidance -

~ taken from Elisabeth Elliot's book Passion and Purity ~

~Brittany

Praising & Thanking the Lord for His Mighty Hand this Week

“Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.”  - 1 Peter 4:12-13

“Prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.”  -Malachi 3:10b

I cannot even begin to express the joy, peace, and blessing I feel while writing this.  The Lord is mightily at work in our family.  He is so good, so gracious, so loving, so powerful!  There have been many trials in our lives of late that the Lord has used to grow our faith.  Right now we are seeking His direction in some specific ways.  This week He has shown Himself mighty on our behalf, and this I must share with you all.

The Lord has been teaching me so much about faith lately.  Seeing, submitting to, and rejoicing in His perfect will; unconditional love; and being more Spirit led in prayer.  On this journey of faith, I came to somewhat of a standstill, afraid to really trust God and ask for what seems to be the impossible.  The Lord is so good to teach us each lesson He has for us to learn, and He has certainly grown my faith this week.

In order to walk down the path in which we feel the Lord is directing our family, we are needing to sell several things.  We are all earnestly praying over these things as family.  I decided to take a leap of faith and ask specifically for the Lord to sell one thing last week.  That seems small, I know, but for me it was big.  The Lord is so gracious!  He grew my doubtful faith so that I could ask expecting His answer.  On Saturday afternoon a man came and bought a piece of equipment.  I was so overwhelmed by the Lord’s hand!  He is so powerful!  He answered my prayer!  As I went and was thanking the Lord for working, I began asking Him to sell something else this week as well.  When we got home from church this afternoon, there was a message on our answering machine; someone wanting to ask some questions about another piece of equipment we have for sale.  The Lord is at work, and I am so grateful for Him revealing His mighty hand!  His tender love to even the weakest of His children is amazing.

I hope this is a blessing to each of you who read it.  The Lord is faithful!  We can ask in faith and trust that He will work.  So have faith, and believe that He is at work in your life, for the glory and honor of His great name.  We must each ask Him to work in our lives and lead, direct, and grow in the way He has for us, so that His name will be magnified.  That truly is our purpose on this earth.  May He be with each of you, drawing you closer to Himself and using you for His glory and honor!

Praise Him!  May He bless each of you!

Posted by Brittany

God's 26 Guards. . . Amazing Story of Answered Prayer!

 Someone emailed me this the other day...wow!  Very inspiring!  What a faithful God we serve...may we be more faithful to pray!

 

Here's a message that will bring you chills.

Have you ever felt the urge to pray for someone and then just put it on a list and said, 'I'll pray for them later'? Or has anyone ever called you and said, 'I need you to pray for me, I have this need?'

Read the following story that was sent to me and may it change the way that you may think about prayer and also the way you pray. You will be blessed by this....

A missionary on furlough told this true story while visiting his home church in Michigan.

'While serving at a small field hospital in Africa, every two weeks I traveled by bicycle through the jungle to a nearby city for supplies.  This was a journey of two days and required camping overnight at the halfway.

On one of these journeys, I arrived in the city where I planned to collect money from a bank, purchase medicine, and supplies, and then begin my two-day journey back to the field hospital.

Upon arrival in the city, I observed two men fighting, one of whom had been seriously injured.  I treated him for his injuries and at the same time talked to him about the Lord.

I then traveled two days, camping overnight, and arrived home without incident....

Two weeks later I repeated my journey.  Upon arriving in the city, I was approached by the young man I had treated. He told me that he had known I carried money and medicines. He said, 'Some friends and
I followed you in to the jungle, knowing you would camp overnight. We planned to kill you and take your money and drugs.  But just as we were about to move into your camp, we saw that you were surrounded by 26 armed guards.

At this, I laughed and said that I was certainly all alone in that jungle campsite.  The young man pressed the point, however, and said, 'No, sir, I was not the only person to see the guards.  My friends also saw them, and we all counted them.  It was because of those guards that we were afraid and left you alone.'

At this point in the sermon, one of the men in the congregation jumped to his feet and interrupted the missionary and asked if he could tell him the exact day this happened. The missionary told the congregation the date, and the man who interrupted told him this story:

'On the night of your incident in Africa, it was morning here and I was preparing to go play golf.  I was about to putt when I felt the urge to pray for you.  In fact, the urging of the Lord was so strong, I called men in this church to meet with me here in the sanctuary to pray for you. Would all of those men who met with me on that day stand up?'

The men who had met together to pray that day stood up. The missionary wasn't concerned with whom they were, he was too busy counting how many men he saw.

There were 26.

This story is an incredible example of how the Spirit
of the Lord moves in behalf of those who love Him.
If you ever feel such prodding to pray, go along with it.
You don't know what it can mean to that person…