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Writer's picturePatty

In His Time

Read: Proverbs 15:23; Proverbs 25:11-12

 

This week, I listened to Gayle Haas. She is a story teller and a dramatic interpreter. For years, she has gone all over the country portraying the life of Corrie Ten Boom. Oh, how she sounds like her too. People were able to call in and ask questions of "Corrie" who of course was Gayle. Corrie died in 1983. I thought I had heard all the stories of this family who lived in Holland and their courageous acts during World War II. How the Ten Booms had saved 800 people before a quisling's duplicity caused them to be arrested and sent to various Nazi run camps. So many stories of God's grace poured out into their lives and through them too. Honest stories about the struggle to continue to love their enemies and the Bible studies they had in those overcrowded barracks. And so much more. There was however, one sweet story that I didn't remember having ever heard. More about that later and why I found it so encouraging.

 

For now, let's turn a corner and think about a precious group of moms and dads as well as grandmas and grandpas. They sit near us in church and in small group, and their hearts' desire is that the children they love--whether young or not so young would call out to Jesus for salvation. Their stories vary, and most don't know why their children have renounced the One they used to love or why they continue to reject the love He holds out to them, John 3:16. What these precious folks do know is that their children are often indifferent toward the One Whom they love, and they don't often know why. They have tried to speak about how much Jesus loves their children and how His death on the cross was the payment for their sins, but the gift they have held out often goes unclaimed or scorned. What can we do for them when the children they love so much will no longer listen to them?

 

For one thing, we can encourage them to continue to pray, and we can join with them so that they can remember that they aren't alone. There's more too. We can remind them that God has people tucked in everywhere. People who know the children they love. People whom God has armed with His Word. Even the right word at just the right time, and that takes us back to Corrie Ten Boom's story. The one I had never heard. One of the people who called in to speak with her asked if hiding Jews was a hard decision for her father and family. Here is the answer to that question:

 

"But, you know, can I go back a little bit? My grandfather in 1844, he was a Christian man. And in this same house that we live, he had the prayer meeting, and one day he was visited by a pastor, vervain. And pastor said to my grandfather, he said, do you pray for Jews? Grandfather says, no, I do not. He said, you should pray for the Jews. You see, they are God's ancient people. He's chosen people chosen to bring us the Savior. You know, Jesus was Jewish. And so, he poured into my grandfather's heart a love for the Jews. He brought them to the Word of God that said, pray for peace of Jerusalem. Uh, be concerned with the welfare of the Jews and you will be blessed. So grandfather began to start the prayer meeting. Then every week praying for Jews and his love for the Jewish people was pour into my papa, and then my papa into us. And so, I have to say, it was always in our hearts to do all that we could, especially for God's chosen people."

 

The right words at the right time. A family's emphasis was altered because a pastor offered counsel from the Bible. The Bible refers to words like this as apples of gold in settings of silver. Beautiful words of truth held out to a man who was open to hear them at just the right time, Proverbs 25:11-12. What an apt picture. The beauty of apples of gold. Perhaps real fruit displayed in a silver basket that has intricate filigree worked into it. Some believe that the fruit might be apricots rather than apples since they are so abundant in Israel. No matter what fruit was in mind, the picture is fitting, and God knows just when to intertwine lives so the right word will be spoken at the most opportune time. How comforting it is to know that although God might use a loved one to reach out to his child, Jesus the seeking Savior, Luke 19:10, often speaks through someone we could have never imagined He would use. He knows how and when to put the right person with the right words into the lives of those we love.

 

Lord, many ache because the ones they love don't yet belong to Your family. Please comfort the moms, dads, grandmas and grandpas who long to see their dear ones saved. Help us stand together in prayer with them, and remember that You love the ones we love even more than we do.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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