What God has promised
I love reading. On a good holiday I can read a book a day! In this last year I have been going through the biography section at the library. I’ve been absolutely blown away by some of the most heart-wrenching, mind-stretching, amazing stories. How did some of them ever survive and continue on in this world?
One day I realised that, in reading a book from cover to cover in a single day, I was seeing a person’s whole life in almost the blink of an eye. All the years of struggle, perseverance, pain, persecution, darkness, despair, joy and sorrow were condensed in those 300-400 pages What had taken this person a lifetime to experience, I could read in a day. I didn’t have to experience each event in real time because, having read the book, I now knew the ending.
It’s almost Easter again and we are faced with one of the most moving stories ever told of one innocent man who was willing to give his life so that others would live. A story of injustice, betrayal and cruelty so deep that it would create a media feeding frenzy today. Good Friday was the darkest day of the disciples’ lives. All that they had hoped for, dreamed about, worked for, sacrificed everything for, was gone, over, finished. All that they had been taught was forgotten. In total despair, they didn’t know who to trust or where to turn. Their hope was gone.
This story often loses some of its impact because we know the ending. From our vantage point we know the Resurrection was just a few days away! We can skip over the deep feelings of depression, sorrow and total despair that they felt because we begin with the end in mind. We don’t have to relive the events with them in real time. Our knowledge and wisdom comes from the hindsight of Scripture. They didn’t know it then but the promised resurrection was coming.
Some of the most inspiring stories for me are those by men and women who have staked everything on the promises of God in Scripture. An amazing one I read recently is the story of Annie Johnson Flint. Born on Christmas Eve in 1866, her mother died giving birth to her baby sister, when Annie was three years old. Not being able to cope, the father took them to live with the widow of an old army friend. They were unwelcome and unwanted. After two years a teacher spoke of them to a childless couple, the Flints, who adopted them. Annie’s father was suffering from an incurable disease and died shortly after. She became a Christian when she was eight years old and began writing poetry shortly afterwards. Her mother having had a stroke, Annie finished high school and decided she was needed at home and started teaching the primary class in the same school she had attended as a girl. Early in the second year arthritis began to show itself and by the third year Annie was unable to walk and gave up her work. Both of her adopted parents died within months of each other and Annie and her sister were left alone again. Her sister was frail and Annie had to find a way to care for them both.
With pen pushed through bent fingers and held by swollen joints she began writing verses and then began making hand lettered cards and gift books, and decorated some of her own verses. Her cards became popular and two card publishers printed them and then her poetry. There were often times of real trial and testing when she needed a trained nurse to help, doctor’s bills added up, and she was under pressure. Although crippled she did not consider herself helpless. She always believed in giving to others and that she could be a blessing and help to others. Annie believed God had work for her to do. Her verses have had a lasting impact because she felt what she wrote, and out of her suffering she was able to minister comfort with the same comfort she received from God.
For more than forty years there was scarcely a day when she did not suffer pain. She became increasingly helpless, her joints became rigid and yet she would turn her head and, in great pain, would write a few lines on paper. In reply to a friend who was going through a hard time, Annie wrote one of her best known poems, 'What God Hath Promised'. (You can read this in our Treasures section) She died in 1932 after a life serving God.
That is how I want to live my life. Knowing God intimately enough to actually believe all that He says in His Word and trusting him enough to live in those promises helps us stay focused on eternity with Him. With that vision we will see the obstacles only as slight detours to that eternal reality of one day seeing Him fact to face. A big call, yes. If my trust and security is in my own abilities or the work of others, then financial meltdowns, flood or fire, sickness, fear, pain, sorrow and death could have the power to destroy. But if my frame of reference is the promises of God then it is not the end but just another part of my journey on earth, on my way to something far, far better than I could ever hope, dream or imagine. Right now, as I struggle with issues beyond my strength or control, just like the disciples on Good Friday, I hold onto the sovereign power and promises of God. Where better could I go? I know the end of the story!
At the end of Matthew 6, Jesus himself tells us:
“Steep yourself in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met. Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.” (Msg)
As you read the stories, testimonies and articles in this issue of Shimmer Life, may you be inspired, encouraged and challenged to step out in faith and put your trust in the great and awesome Creator God, who loves you with an everlasting love.
