Friday, May 1, was coming to a close—it had
been a busy day filled with joy to have Laura home and especially since her
appetite had finally kicked in and she was no longer fighting nausea. Dorcus,
our helper, had not been able to come to work yet again (she’s down with
Typhoid Fever but as of this writing, seems to have turned a corner toward recovery),
so nursing and housekeeping had snatched every minute. As I prepared for bed, I
lamented to the Lord that I had not spent any time with Him. I’ve just
finished a study on the life of Moses with Bible Study Fellowship, and the book
of Deuteronomy had come alive in a new way. So I decided to at least review a
few of the verses that I had underlined during the study before pillowing my
head.
The first verse that caught my eye was Deuteronomy
2:7,
“The Lord your God has blessed you in all of the work of
your hands. He has watched over your journey through this vast desert. These
forty years the Lord your God has been with you, and you have not lacked
anything.”
The first thought that came into my mind was “this
would be a good verse to send to someone who is celebrating their 40th
birthday.” But then I began to calculate how many years I have been
in full-time ministry. Immediately upon graduation from Bible School I joined
Child Evangelism Fellowship Atlantic Canada. Hmmm…I graduated from Bible School
in 1975…hmmm, that's 40 years ago…hmmm, …… it was right around this time! (I don’t
remember the exact date but their graduations are the end of April/early May.)
That just took my breath away!
Yes, these forty years, God has blessed the
work of my hands—despite all of my sinfulness and unbelief. He has watched over
my journey from Canada to the Philippines to Uganda. He has been with me and I
have lacked nothing. (For Laura, it’s been 41 years.) I felt very loved as I
laid my head down! What a privilege to serve such a wonderful and faithful and
loving God!
Ruth, you and Laura have been such an inspiration to me and a testimony to God's faithfulness through many seasons. Thank you for sharing these precious thoughts. How good of the Lord to meet you at the end of the day with these words of encouragement. Congratulations on 40 years (and 41 for Laura) of fruitful service to our loving God...with more to come!
ReplyDeleteHappy Anniversary! And it isn't over yet! You are such busy little beavers for the Lord and that's the way it should be. I love the song 'Work for the Night is Coming When Man's Work is done!"
ReplyDeleteIt's awesome when God speaks to us so personally. Thanks for sharing how He spoke these loving and encouraging words to you when you needed them so.
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear Laura is improving. Praying you both get some much-needed rest.