Dependence on God highlights the believer's essential reliance on divine strength and provision amid life's challenges. Christian preaching often pictures this dependence through nature and everyday objects, illustrating how all creation leans on its Creator for support and sustenance (John 15:5). It emphasizes humility and trust in God's sustaining grace (Psalm 121:1-2).
God's presence empowers us to serve and glorify Him each day despite circumstances.
I did not come this far-nor to this place-alone, but in the presence and power of my God.
The circumstances of this moment are not greater than my God. He knows them better than I do, yet He permits them. And He will overcome them-within me if I will allow Him. Mine is not to fret as though He does not know, or care, or cannot overcome. Mine is to walk on knowing that He is here.
I am His by His creation, and His new birth. I am His to do with as He chooses-to bless or to use up, to serve or to simply endure. The day belongs to my Lord, and it is the only day I have to serve and glorify Him. And so I shall give all that I have and am that for this one day He shall be honored.
Human power is limited; we must depend on God's sovereign guidance in all things.
There comes a time in the lives of believers and unbelievers alike when God seems expendable. Noting that things are going along quite well, man, including Christian man, feels quite willing to go it alone.
Man, no matter how powerful, can be humbled by the weather-by the falling snow, as Napoleon discovered when he invaded Russia, or by the lack of rain or excess of it, or by an unusually bitter winter.
Whenever natural catastrophe struck, the spiritual leaders of our Pilgrim forebears used the pulpits of New England to remind the people that God was at work behind every catastrophe, and that He still spoke not only by the still, small voice but also by the thunder, the snow, the hail, the absence of rain, and if necessary even by death.
The Pharaoh was given sign after sign by God, and one after the other the signs were ignored. It was not until the tenth sign came that the Pharaoh let God's people go. Have we, too, hardened our hearts against God's message?
God carries us through burdens just as a father carries his disabled child.
Henry Moorhouse, when engaged in a work that seemed to call upon him for a more than usual exercise of faith, received what seems like a most tender answer from God.
His little daughter, who was a paralytic, was sitting in her chair as he entered the house with a package in his hand for his wife. Going up to her and kissing her, he asked, "Where is Mother?" "Mother is upstairs." "Well, I have a package for her." "Let me carry the package to Mother." "Why, Minnie, dear, how can you carry the package? You cannot carry yourself." With a smile on her face, Minnie said, "Oh, no, Papa; but you give me the package, and I will carry the package, and you will carry me." Taking her up in his arms, he carried her upstairs-little Minnie and the package, too.
And then it came to him that this was just his position in the work in which he was engaged. He was carrying his burden, but was not God carrying him? "Cast" (Psalms 55:22). "Carry" (Isaiah 46:4).
All creation depends on God like a garment hangs on a nail, illustrating total dependence.
"The creatures hang upon God as a garment upon a nail; take away the nail and the garment falls down." The emblem is simple but accurate. All the weight falls upon the nail, and all the need of the creature's existence hangs upon the Omnipotent One. What power must he have from whom all power is derived! All that we see around us of force and might is but God in action. There is no such deity as "Nature": nature is the Lord at work. Do all things depend upon God? Then the law of faith is, after all, no novelty, no intrusion, no exception to general rule. A sort of passive faith is the life of all created things. Dependence is the faith of irrational objects, and the believer's trust is this dependence gifted with eyes and will. It should then be an easy thing for my creature-life to hang upon its Creator. Had it not been for sin, faith would have been my very nature, dependence upon God a constituent quality of my existence. Who, then, are they that laugh at faith? Rationalists? Nay; irrational men, at war with one of nature's first and most essential laws. Let them laugh on, for my heart is well assured that confidence in God is the highest reason, and trust in my Maker the finest common sense. O Lord! I bless thee that the nail on which creation hangs ne-
ver can never fail, for thou faintest not; neither will my confidence be put to shame, for it hangs where hang the worlds. Till thou dost thyself cease from thine almightiness, my soul's hope is safe beyond question, for it rests only upon thee.
Faith in God's presence equips believers to endure all life's storms and trials.
"He that is in a journey to heaven must be provided for all weathers: for though it be sunshine when he first sets forth, a storm will overtake him before he cometh to his journey's end." Very small must be the number who have had fair weather all the way to glory: it is questionable if ever one has been so favoured. Hence we ought, every one of us, to be prepared for tempest and hurricane, or we may be found in an evil plight in the day of our calamity. The presence of God is the only universal preservative. When he is with us the sun shall not hurt us by day, nor the moon by night. God, all-sufficient, meets every contingency, seen or unseen. Faith must take her God to herself, and then prudently look forward to occasions for making test and proof of the endless uses to which the Divine presence can be turned. A man who has made ample provision for all weathers is rather glad than sorry to be driven to use what he has provided, and, even so, trials are well-nigh welcomed by the man who is fully armed against them. He feels that it would be a kind of waste to be well stored and then never have to draw upon the supply—a sort of superfluity to be fully armed and yet never to meet an enemy. Have faith in Christ and you are ready for anything, thankful for everything, afraid of nothing. "Ye are complete in him."
MAKING A NOISE BY CRYING "SILENCE."
"A crier in the court, that is often commanding silence, disturbeth the court more than they that make the noise; so, disputing with our distractions increaseth them. They are better avoided by a severe contempt." That is to say, when Satan would disturb us at our devotions by injecting blasphemous thoughts or trifling ideas, we had better keep right on, and as much as possible disregard his interruptions. As blind Bartimezeus cried all the more because officious persons sought to silence him, so should we be the more vehement in our supplications when the devil seeks to take us off from them. When he knocks let us fasten another bolt, and let him knock till he grows weary. Our business is with the Lord, and let us give our whole heart to seeking his face, for if we turn away to answer the enemy he will at once have gained his point. When he paints images on our fancy, if we steadfastly refuse to look at them he will cease from the unprofitable work, and betake himself to work upon some more foolish folk, who will turn aside from prayer to answer his vile insinuations. Let him howl as he pleases; if we do not regard him his pride will be hurt more severely than by any blow that we can aim at him. "'Satan trembles when he sees The weakest saint upon his knees." Therefore, let us keep to our praying, and let him keep to his tempting till he has had enough of it. "Get thee behind me, Satan" is as much attention as he deserves. Herein is wisdom, and he that hath understanding will learn from it.
Believers naturally seek God as their source of spiritual life and strength.
"Trees, that receive life from the earth and the sun, send forth their branches to receive the sun, and spread their roots into the earth, which brought them forth. Fishes will not live out of the water that breedeth them. Chickens are no sooner out of the shell but they shroud themselves under the feathers of the hen by whom they were at first hatched. The little lamb runneth to its dam, though there be a thousand sheep of the same wool and colour; as if it said, 'Here I received that which I have, and here will I seek that which I want.' By such a native inbred desire do the saints run to God to seek a supply of strength and nourishment." This is an excellent lesson for every believer. All our instincts should lead us to our God. We ought not to need so much as directing, much less impelling, towards the great source of our spiritual life. We ought as naturally to seek after the Lord from day to day as the spark seeks the sun, or the river the ocean, or the sheep its pasture, or the bird its nest. "O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee," should be the perpetual cry of our heart. Onward and upward be still our movement, a secret ardour ever burning in us towards the Lord our God. To whom else should we go? This question has never received an answer, and never will receive one. We are bound to dwell in God or perish. As we find all in God, so we find nothing out of him. What the fish would be without water, or the chick without the hen, or the tree without the earth,—that we should be without our God. It is the height of folly for us to attempt a thought alone; there is but one greater absurdity, and that is to venture upon an act without him. "Abide in me" is the voice of him in whom our life abides. Let us not be deaf to his tender warning.
All humans are beggars before God, dependent on His daily provision.
After a heavy fall of rain, and when a gentle east wind was beginning to clear the sky, Gotthold walked forth into the fields, thanked his God for the fertilizing storm, and lifting his eyes to the heavens, and beholding the rolling clouds, said to himself, "My God, there go the chariots in which thou ridest forth to inspect thy fields and gardens, thy meadows, forests, and plains. Beggars are wont to run behind the chariots of the wealthy, and cry aloud for alms. To thee, O God! we are all beggars; and, when thou ridest forth on thy chariot of the clouds, we cry after thee, Give us this day our daily bread."
God is willing and able to carry our burdens if we only let Him.
A poor man was travelling on a hot day, carrying a heavy load upon his back. A rich man passing by in his chariot took nity on him, and invited him to take a seat behind. Shortly after, turning round, the rich man saw the pilgrim still oppressed with the load on his back, and asked him why he did not lay it down. The poor man said it was enough that he was allowed to be himself in the chariot; and he could not presume to ask more. "O foolish man!" was the reply, "if I am willing and able to carry you, am I not able to carry your burden also?"
Human life depends on others' labors and sacrifices, reflecting our mutual dependence.
Human. We enter upon life weak, unconscious infants, depending every moment on other eyes to watch for us, and other hands to minister to us; while we kindle in their hearts the most powerful emotions. But not less dependent are we on our fellow-creatures for our continuance in life from the cradle to the grave. There is not a thread of clothing which covers our body, not a luxury which is placed on our table, not an article which supplies the means of labor, not one thing which is required by us as civilized beings, but involves the labors and the sacrifices of others in our behalf; while, by the same law, we cannot choose but contribute to their well-being. The cotton which the artisan weaves or wears has been cultivated by brothers beneath a tropical sun, and, possibly, beneath a tyrant's lash. The tea he drinks has been gathered for him by brothers on the unknown hillsides of distant China. A mother writes a letter to her son in some distant spot in India, and conveys it in silence to the post-office, perhaps thinking only when she may receive a reply from her boy. But how much is done before that letter reaches its destination! The hands of unknown brethren will receive it, and transmit it; rapid trains will convey it over leagues of railways; splendid steamships will sail with it; and hundreds of hands will pass it from port to port, from land to land. It is watched day and night, through calm and hurricane; and precious lives are risked to keep it in security, until, in silence and in safety, after months of travel, it is delivered from the mother's hand into the hand of her child.
— Dr. Macleod
True happiness comes from depending on oneself rather than others.
The man who makes every thing that leads to happiness, or near to it, to depend upon himself, and not upon other men, on whose good or evil actions his own doings are compelled to hinge — such a one, I say, has adopted the very best plan for living happily. This is the man of moderation; this is the man of manly character, and of wisdom.
— Plato
Relying on past provisions without trusting current resources leads to failure and death.
A wanderer filled his travelling-pouch with savory meats and fruits, as his way would lead him across a wide desert. During the first few days, he journeyed through the smiling fertile fields; but, instead of plucking the fruits which Nature here offered for the refreshment of the traveller, he found it more convenient to eat of the provisions which he carried with him. He soon reached the desert. After journeying onward for a few days, his whole store of food was exhausted. He now began to wait and lament, for nowhere sprouted a blade of grass: every thing was covered with sand. After suffering for two long days the torments of hunger and of thirst, he expired.
Human effort is limited; God's power is the true source of progress and strength.
A child sits in its little skiff on the Mississippi River, when it is swollen by a freshet, and plies the oar, and glides swiftly on his course; and as he looks upon the banks, and sees them fly rapidly past him, he fondly thinks that it is he that is making such headway. He is doing something towards it; but, if he wants to know how much, let him turn his skiff around, and try to row up stream. What gives him his speed? The dip of his oar? A little of it; but the vast sweep of the Mississippi current is that which makes the dip of his oar so like an eagle's wing for speed.
God removes supports so we rely on Him, showing His faithfulness and mercy in trials.
God often lets his people reach the shore as on the planks of a shipwrecked vessel. He deprives us of the cisterns in order to make us drink out of the fountains of waters. He frequently takes away our supports, not that we may fall to the ground, but that he may himself become our rod and our staff. The embarrassments of his people are only the festive scallfoldings on which his might, his faithfulness, and his mercy celebrate their triumphs. Krummacher.
Asking God for help is essential to stay on the right path and fulfill duty.
Philip Henry thus wrote upon a studying day, "I forgot, when I began, explicitly and expressly to crave help from God; and the chariot-wheels drove accordingly. Lord, forgive my omissions, and keep me in the way of duty."
Means without trusting God are ineffective; God can work without means but not vice versa.
Asa was sick but of his feet, — far from the heart; yet because he sought to the physicians, not to God, he escaped not. Hezekiah was sick to die; yet because he trusted to God, not to physicians, he was restored. Means, without God, cannot help: God, without means, can, and often doth. I will use good means, not rest in them. Ep. Hall.
Even the strong need the weak, showing mutual dependence in life.
The lion had need of the mouse. — English. — Soon or late, the strong needs the help of the weak. — French. — Every ten years, one man has need of another. — Indian.
A simple man's faith in God remains firm despite unfamiliar and threatening surroundings.
At a meeting held in reference to the establishment of schools
264.
in the highlands and islands of Scotland, Dr. M'Leod related the following facts:—
A friend of mine happened to be in a boat, by which a poor simple-hearted man from St. Kilda was advancing, for the first time in his life, from his native rock to visit the world; and as he advanced towards the island of Mull, a world in itself in the estimation of the poor St. Kilda man, the boatmen commenced telling him the wonders he was so soon to see. They asked him about St. Kilda; they questioned him regarding all the peculiarities of that wonderful place, and rallied him not a little on his ignorance of all those great and magnificent things which were to be seen in Mull. He parried them off with great coolness and good humor; at length, a person in the boat asked him if he ever heard of God in St. Kilda. Immediately he became grave and collected. "To what land do you belong?" said he; "describe it to me." "I," said the other, "come from a place very different from your barren rock; I come from the land of flood and field, the land of wheat and barley, where nature spreads her bounty in abundance and luxuriance before us." "Is that," said the St. Kilda man, "the kind of land you come from? Ah, then, you may forget God, but a St. Kilda man never can. Elevated on his rock, suspended over a precipice, tossed on the wild ocean, he never can forget his God—he hangs continually on his arm." All were silent in the boat, and not a word more was asked him regarding his religion.
True refuge in times of danger is found only in God, not in hiding places.
"A few years ago," says one, "when an invasion of England by the French was much talked of, the pious Mrs. C—of L—, heard her pupils relating to each other, where they thought they would conceal themselves on the approach of the enemy, should his threats be realized. With her usual gentleness and condescension, she inquired into, and listened to their little plans. I, (who was one of her pupils,) was the last to point out my hiding-place; having named mine, I added an inquiry where her refuge would be? "My refuge," said she, with a look of devotion and benignity characteristic of her, 'My refuge would be in my God.' I felt reproved; I could not but think hers was the best refuge."
Failing to acknowledge God's protection leads to tragic consequences despite prior deliverance.
It has been wisely observed, that we require the same hand to protect us in apparent safety, as in the most imminent danger. One of the most wicked men in the neighborhood of a pious minister, from whom this account was derived, was riding near a precipice, and fell over: his horse was killed, but he escaped unhurt. Instead of thanking God for his deliverance, he refused to acknowledge his hand in it, and attributed his escape to chance. The same man was afterwards riding on a very smooth road; his horse suddenly tripped and fell, threw his rider over his head, and killed him on the spot; while the horse escaped uninjured.
We need God's protection every moment, even when we feel safe from danger.
An aged mother in Israel residing in S., Rhode Island, says, that once in travelling to and from New-York city, she often lifted up her prayer to God for protection and safety while being whirled along in the railroad cars or borne in the steamboat over the waters of the deep. The desired protection was vouchsafed; and on her return she had safely arrived at the last railroad depot of the journey. Now I seemed to feel, says she, as if all danger had passed, and I omitted to ask God for any further protection as though I could take care of myself. But in passing out of the depot when it was somewhat dark, to walk upon the platform in front, she made a false step, fell to the ground and received a severe injury that confined her to her house for several weeks!
There is no safety for an hour except in God's keeping; and often when we imagine that every natural law is in our favor, we may be in the most imminent peril—within a hair's breadth of the grave.
Even familiar places can be dangerous, showing our constant need for God's care.
The Rev. John Newton sometimes said, he had received more damage at his own door, than in all the countries he had been in abroad, for he had twice fal.
len down the steps at his own door, each time spraining a knee. So much injury he had never received abroad. Such a fact shows clearly the necessity of our always living as if exposed to danger, and thus committing ourselves to the Divine protection.
Apparent safety can be deceptive; dangers may still be near after deliverance.
A ship, which had, on a long voyage, escaped many great dangers from storms, &c., at length arrived safe in port, or harbor. On seeing the safety of the ship, a little boy, who had sailed in it, naturally expressed great joy that they
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Trusting Christ leads to mysterious provision of temporal needs, shown by sharing one coin.
If identified with Christ, He will, if we trust Him, supply temporal needs in mysterious ways. Note that one piece of money was shared
Testimony rooted in dependence on God has power; habit without dependence loses power.
When one enters path of testimony with sense of personal weakness and leaning on God, they have power with men. When testimony becomes force of habit, without simple dependence, it loses its power
True change comes only when we ask God to transform us, not by our own effort.
A little boy once said, “How hard it is to do right!” and so hard did he find it that, after a while, he added, “It’s of no use trying.” But he had learned to read and understand the Bible; and one day he thought to himself, “Why, I have been trying to change myself all this time; and here I read that only God can change me. How foolish I have been not to ask Him.”
Like a helpless child, we must depend fully on God’s care and provision.
A little child is the most dependent thing on earth. All its resources are in its parents’ love; all it can do is to cry; and its necessities explain the meaning to the mother’s heart. If we interpret its language, it means: “Mother, wash me; I cannot wash myself. Mother, clothe me; I am naked, and cannot clothe myself. Mother, feed me; I cannot feed myself. Mother, carry me; I cannot walk.” It is written, “A mother may forget her sucking child; yet will not I forget thee.”
Thus it is to receive the Kingdom of God as a little child — to come to Jesus in our helplessness, and say: “Lord Jesus, wash me!” “Clothe me!” “Feed me!” “Carry me!” “Save me, Lord, or I perish.” — Rainsford.
True strength in Christ comes through recognizing and embracing our own weakness.
The way to grow strong in Christ is to become weak in yourself. God pours no power into man's heart till man's power is all poured out. The Christian's life is one of daily dependence on the grace and strength of God.
Skillfully staying ahead of life's challenges prevents being overwhelmed by them.
In life there are those who keep just ahead of the breaking wave, and others who halt and it engulfs them. Marshall P. Wilder describes in the extract below the skill of the Hawaiian natives with their canoes:
We donned bathing-suits and took a surf ride. This is the national sport and, being at all times sufficiently thrilling, must be taken in a high surf, a tremendous experience. The boats are long, deep and very narrow canoes, with an outrigger at one side to keep them from tipping.
Two natives, and they must be skilled, usually operate these canoes. Three or four passengers at a time are taken out, the natives rowing with broad paddles a quarter or half mile from the shore, where they wait for a large wave. With the nicest precision they keep ahead of it, just as it breaks, and are carried smoothly in, poised on its crest. I sat facing the stern, and the experience was something to remember, the swift bird-like swoop of the canoe, with the white, seething wall of water behind it, apparently just about to engulf us. After we were safely on shore again they told us stories of how the wave, if the rowers miscalculate, will break over the canoe, driving it to the bottom.--“Smiling ’Round the World.”
God's supply depends on our desire and capacity to receive His mercy and love.
You can limit the working of almighty power, and can determine the rate at which it shall work on you. God fills the water-pots to the brim, but not beyond the brim; and if, like the woman in the Old Testament story, we stop bringing vessels, the oil will stop flowing. It is an awful thing to think that we have the power, as it were, to turn a stopcock, and so increase or diminish, or cut off altogether, the supply of God’s mercy and Christ’s healing and cleansing love in our hearts. You will get as much of God as you want, and no more. The measure of your desire is the measure of your capacity, and the measure of your capacity is the measure of God’s gift.
— ALEXANDER MCLAREN
John Wesley depended on the faith of others to sustain his own spiritual fervor.
See APPEAL, A LIVING; PROOF.
DEPENDENCE
There are many, like John Wesley, who fear to trust their Christian faith to guide them, but must lean on the faith and strength of others. But faith thus treated is certain to fail the soul in any great crisis.
Wesley’s first consideration, he declares, is “which way of life will conduce most to my own improvement?” He needs daily converse with his friends, and he knows “no other place under heaven, save Oxford, where I can have always at hand half-a-dozen persons of my own judgment and engaged in the same studies. To have such a number of such friends constantly watching over my soul” is a blessing which, in a word, Wesley can not bring himself to give up. “Half Christians,” he declares, would kill him. “They undermine insensibly all my resolutions and quite steal from me the little fervor I have. I never come from among these ‘saints of the world’ but faint, dissipated, and shorn of all my strength.” Except he can crouch beneath the shelter of a stronger faith than his own, John Wesley protests he must die; so he will not venture from Oxford.--W. H. FITCHETT, “Wesley and His Century.”
Obedience to God is like seizing a rope amid a storm to reach safety and salvation.
The will of God is like a rope thrown to us as we struggle among the untamed waves. To remain “independent” is to repulse all succor, all salvation; it is to wander without a compass and without a chart through the fury of the storm. To obey is to seize the rope, to face the blast, to brave the storm, to advance against the confederate waves, to let oneself be irresistibly drawn toward the invisible harbor where our heavenly Father awaits us.
— MONROE
Deep familiarity and trust in surroundings enable safe navigation through dangers.
Acuteness of the perceptive faculties characterized the celebrated Maine steamship captain who, for more than twenty years, is said to have regularly navigated his vessel in the thickest fogs and darkest nights through the tortuous reaches, thoroughfares, and channels of the “inside passage” along the coast of Maine, without accident. When asked for an explanation of his remarkable record, he replied, “I knew the bark of every dog and the crow of every rooster on the line, and often steered by them.”--SUMNER I. KIMBALL, “Joshua James.”
God’s timely intervention restores order and victory amid chaos and defeat.
At one time during the war of the Revolution, Washington sent Lee and Lafayette to meet the British at Englishtown. After a brief skirmish, Lee, without any apparent reason, except that it was for jealousy, ordered a retreat. Soon the American troops were all in disorder and were fleeing before the oncoming foe. Everything was in confusion and chaos.
Lafayette saw the condition, but he did not dare disobey. He hastily sent a message to the commander-in-chief, informing him of the state of things and beseeching him to come as soon as possible. In an incredibly short time, Washington appeared with fresh troops. He met the soldiers retreating. Giving Lee a cutting rebuke, he began to retrieve the error of the morning. When the soldiers saw Washington, riding back and forth on his white horse, almost under the banner of the enemy, they faced about as they cried, “Long live Washington.” His presence brought order and determined the victory.
In our moral warfare, when the enemy is pressing toward us, when the forces of righteousness within and without seem on the retreat, if we will send a message, lift up a prayer to the Captain of the Lord’s host, He will answer while we are yet speaking, and will get the victory with His own right arm, for He is a God of battles. (Text.)
Our daily needs depend on unseen people worldwide, showing mutual dependence.
Did you enjoy your breakfast this morning? You were all alone, and got it yourself, did you say? Did you make the Irish linen in your napkin, or were your table furnishings the creations of an idle hour? Did you raise your own coffee? Did the melon grow in your garden, or was the beef fattened in your pasture? The very ends of the earth contributed to your simple meal, and for it you were dependent upon people you had never seen. Your breakfast-table was really a clearing-house for the ends of the earth, so that when you redecorate your dining-room, and are placing upon the walls the familiar legends, “Let good digestion wait on appetite,” and that famous quatrain of Robert Burns:
Some hae meat but can not eat,
And some would eat that want it;
But we hae meat, and we can eat,
So let the Lord be thank it,
you might most appropriately add to these that thrilling confession of Paul’s, “I am debtor both to the Greeks and to the barbarians, both to the wise and to the unwise.” (Text.)
— NEHEMIAH BOYNTON
A teacher used the telephone to continue educating quarantined students.
“Where there is a will there is a way.”
“According to a Pittsburg telephone manager,” says _Telephony_, “the telephone was put to a novel and unusual use in Washington County recently, enabling two boys, sons of farmers, to hold their positions in their classes in the public schools from which they will graduate in another year. Incidentally, the patience and long-suffering of the country school-teacher was put to an admirable test. Smallpox broke out in the neighborhood in question, and the two scholars were among the early victims. The home was quarantined, and there was every indication that the instruction which they had been receiving would be cut off for an indefinite period. But the teacher was resourceful and willing. He called up the stricken home one evening and proposed that the boys study their lessons as usual, and he would hear them over the telephone. The idea was eagerly received. Each evening they took down the receiver, and the teacher, located several farms away, heard them recite. Neither suffered to an appreciable degree through their absence from school, and their chances for graduation are just as bright as before the disease entered their home.” (Text.)
My son called. Through years of drug abuse, Scott had stolen from our family, manipulated us, and failed us. It had been a relief not to hear from him for two years.
Scott told me he'd been through a rehabilitation program a year-and-a-half ago that provided something no other had offered. “I met Jesus Christ. I've been forgiven for my past. I want to ask you and Mom to forgive me, too.” He said he was now helping other addicts get straightened out.
I was torn between hope and cynicism. The well-groomed, bright-eyed young man who arrived at the airport looked like a stranger. In the days that followed, Scott told how, in the midst of drug withdrawal, he'd seen a vision of Jesus Christ on the cross and cried out to him for help. His withdrawal symptoms ended instantly. That experience had led him to a church. “I asked Jesus to be my Lord,” he quietly explained, “and my life hasn't been the same since.”
The change in Scott was too dramatic for my wife and me to ignore. Today, Jesus has given us the same new life he gave our prodigal son.
________
J. Granger, Sons: A Father's Love (Word, 1999), quoted in Men of Integrity, Vol. 3, no. 2
During World War II when the children were being evacuated from London, one little girl was heard to pray, “Dear God, please protect mommy and daddy from those terrible bombs, and dear God, do take care of Yourself. God, if anything happened to You, we are all sunk.”
________
Source: Signs of the Times, Copyright (c) March 1966, Pacific Press, http://www.signstimes.com
Daniel exemplifies praying to God despite difficult circumstances and discouragement.
Daniel looks away from circumstances to an omnipotent God. Some would call it prudence to omit prayer or to do it secretly under these circumstances
Prayer should list our needs, trusting God to supply them all perfectly.
On a tradesman's table I noticed a book labelled WANT BOOK. What a practical suggestion for a man of prayer! He should put down all his needs on the tablets of his heart, and then present his want book to his God. If we knew all our need, what a large want book we should require! How comforting to know that Jesus has a supply book, which exactly meets our want book! Promises, providences, and divine visitations, combine to meet the necessities of all the faithful.
God’s Spirit is like a compass guiding believers through life’s uncertain journey.
In the stern of a sea-going vessel,
At morning, at noon and at night,
I saw there a sturdy old boatswain
Who stood and uplifted his sight
To the mast that was towering above him,
While pendulant hung from his lip
The whistle whose shrill intonations
Determined the course of the ship.
And I wondered at what he was gazing
Till, stepping behind him, I stood
And followed his angle of vision
High up on the pillar of wood;
And there, far above the attraction
Of body of iron or steel,
Was fastened a compass whose needle
Corrected the man at the wheel.
O wonderful lesson of science,
That crystaled in parable there,
And brought in its transparent vision
The meaning and purpose of prayer!
I, too, am adrift on the ocean,
My compass, the spirit of man,
And with hand on the wheel of life’s rudder,
I only can steer as I can.
But, praise to God’s infinite goodness,
Thy compass above I can see--
The needle of truth that Thy spirit
Holds true for the spirit of me.
Unswerved by earth’s baser attraction,
It points to the glories that shine;
I read it at morning and evening,
And reckon my bearings from Thine. (Text.)
Stonewall Jackson’s persistent prayer showed his deep faith and dependence on God.
* * * * *
Stonewall Jackson never failed to invoke the Prince of Peace to preside over his battles. Old Jim, his faithful servant, said:
“De gen’al is de greates’ man fo’ prayin’ night an’ mornin’ an’ all times. But when I sees him git up sev’al times in de night, besides, an’ start in prayin’, I knows dar’s gwine ter be semp’n up, an’ I go straight an’ pack his haversack, ca’se I know he’ll be callin’ for it ’fo’ daylight.”--_The Sunday Magazine._
My son called. Through years of drug abuse, Scott had stolen from our family, manipulated us, and failed us. It had been a relief not to hear from him for two years.
Scott told me he'd been through a rehabilitation program a year-and-a-half ago that provided something no other had offered. “I met Jesus Christ. I've been forgiven for my past. I want to ask you and Mom to forgive me, too.” He said he was now helping other addicts get straightened out.
I was torn between hope and cynicism. The well-groomed, bright-eyed young man who arrived at the airport looked like a stranger. In the days that followed, Scott told how, in the midst of drug withdrawal, he'd seen a vision of Jesus Christ on the cross and cried out to him for help. His withdrawal symptoms ended instantly. That experience had led him to a church. “I asked Jesus to be my Lord,” he quietly explained, “and my life hasn't been the same since.”
The change in Scott was too dramatic for my wife and me to ignore. Today, Jesus has given us the same new life he gave our prodigal son.
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J. Granger, Sons: A Father's Love (Word, 1999), quoted in Men of Integrity, Vol. 3, no. 2
Seeking expert help is wise and prevents wasted effort beyond our abilities.
It is usually better to take advantage of the assistance of some one who knows than to waste effort on that which is out of our province of activity.
A lady missionary was about to leave London for India. She had been provided with trunks considered ample for the accommodation of all her belongings, but even with the kind help of all the members of her family, she could not get them into the space. Many were left over. Repeated trials were made in vain. The thought occurred to send for a professional packer. The expert, in a short time, had everything neatly deposited in the trunks.
Deep roots in God's providence sustain believers in hostile spiritual climates.
The soul that has its roots struck deep in the soil of God’s providence will live and flourish in the most hostile moral climates of this world.
Did you ever see a watercress-pond in the midst of winter? It is a very attractive sight. With the thermometer far below the freezing-point, and with deep snow covering the ground and the branches of the trees, the patch of watercress stands out in striking contrast--a spot of vivid green like a carpet on the surface of the pond. That the plants are able to grow and flourish under such apparently impossible conditions of weather is due entirely to the warm springs which feed the pond. The water welling forth from the warm heart of the earth saves them from freezing. (Text.)
— LOUIS ALBERT BANKS
