His Ways in the Sanctuary
They are so often inexplicable to our finite minds!
Nice Surprises
God likes to surprise His children with gifts and blessings that are often unexpected. Did He not promise to give us “exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think?” Eph. 3:20 He asked Abraham when human hope had vanished that he and Sarah could have a son, “Is anything too hard for the Lord (Gen. 18:14)?” When Jeremiah was faltering to believe that Judah would be returned from captivity after seventy years, God prodded him, “Is anything too hard for Me (Jer. 32:27)?” God delights to work surprises in our sometimes bewildering circumstances and ask us, “Is anything too hard for Me?”
I love to watch God’s ways, they are so unusual, so lovely. Several years ago I attended a fellowship meeting and left a set of my Bible History materials to a national pastor from Papua New Guinea. I forgot about it and didn’t hear anything until last month when I met up with that pastor in our Sydney church. He told me that every year since he got the materials, he was using them for his Bible institute students (a dozen or so). I will never be able to go and minister in PNG but God has truly surprised me with a proxy-ministry! Many of you have experienced the same thing as you minister through your missionaries around the world. I suspect God’s wonderful way will include many surprises throughout eternity.
Prayer Points
The Spanish New Testament Bible History Handbook should be ready for the printers in June. Pray for open doors and wisdom for the distribution of the book. We have seen a couple of doors open that hold good promise and we are praying for other needed open doors in South America. Please pray and perhaps we can give a victory report next newsletter!
An Australian pastor friend named Ross is very sick with a rare blood disease. He just had a bone marrow transplant. Please pray for this godly pastor and Bible college teacher.
Understanding God’s Way
Psalms 77:12-13 reads, “I will meditate also of all Thy work, and talk of Thy doings. Thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary: who is so great a God as our God?”
I recently asked you to pray concerning the loss of some sight I had experienced over the past year. My ophthalmologist sent me to another specialist in glaucoma to get an opinion. The consensus seems to be that the loss has been caused by a combination of macular degeneration and low eye pressure. They are giving me drops to keep the pressure low to prevent hemorraghing of the fragile optic nerve at the back of the eyes. But if the pressure is too low, it damages the eye and they think that is what has happened. The damage is permanent, they say, and it could occur again if the pressure gets too low.
One important issue I am working on is how to read my notes while preaching. One alternative is to just open my mouth and let the Lord fill it! I have tried that option partially more than a few times during “too-busy” periods, especially in Lebanon. But I don’t like that option and am working on others!
It has again cast me upon the Lord’s providential works which, the Psalmist says are always done in harmony with His holy and righteous character. In spite of my fears and doubts so many times at threatening circumstances, at the end my discovery was always this: “Who is so great a God as our God?” His ways are always holy and right! Thanks for praying.
Missionary Outpost 