“The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail. Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.” – Isaiah 58:11-12
I have used a number of published devotions over the years – Our Daily Bread – My Utmost For His Highest. Devotions that were supplements to my study of the Word of God – not replacements. On this particular day, the scripture reference in Our Daily Bread was Isaiah 58:2
I was reminded of something that happened 5 years earlier. Something that would serve to clarify God’s call on our lives - a call to leave the “normal life” in favor of committing to a life of service. I need to give you some context or back story – after we left Mississippi, we partnered with another ministry for a year in Alabama that ministered to orphans. We were, even then, drawn to Haiti – but did not understand the context – the specific purpose for being connected. Thinking that working with orphans was part of the call I went to Haiti to scout out the land. As it turned out, the year in Alabama cemented the connection to orphans when we met with Andy and Tanya Birchfield with Children’s Hope who were starting an Orphan ministry in Haiti. As it turned out, I needed the construction skills I acquired in Alabama to accomplish the first task with Children’s Hope – build an orphanage using shipping containers. There is so much more to the story – but I digress – back to the Journal entry ….
<Entry> 10 Jan 2011. I can still remember Arla, a volunteer from Indiana, reading from Isaiah while we were in Waveland, Mississippi and my heart resonating with it. – Lord – show me the way that You would have me to go. I spoke to Charlie, the director at New Missions – it seems they do not engage orphans and adoption. They sponsor children to attend school and build churches.
“For day after day they seek me out; they seem eager to know my ways, as if they were a nation that does what is right and has not forsaken the commands of its God.” – Isaiah 58:2
There is a form of godliness – God, You must show yourself – You can turn this nation (Haiti) into something that flourishes and brings glory to your name, Lord – It is not that we (people from the United States) have better of the problem – we have no understanding – we see with our eyes but do not understand with our hearts – Lord give me understanding! I hear a calf bawling for its mother – in the same way we must seek the Lord knowing that He is the only source of our satisfaction – verse 10 “ you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.” We (Martie and I) are called to be repairers of the broken walls – restorers of the streets. < End of Entry>
Looking back – I can see God’s hand in the journey that we call our life. We are instruments in the symphony being conducted by the Master. We have our part to play, but it is God that brings it together in harmony and beauty. I am 70 years old – my body reminds me that it is no longer young – but I still have the heart of a much younger man. God’s call is still resounding in me. The idea of retirement is not Biblical – it is a product of affluence – and a focus on this natural life. As a child of God, I don’t have the option of saying “Enough” (although I can and so be out of the will of the Father) My life is not my own. And if you are a child of God, my friend – if you have a chair in the orchestra – then your life is not yours either. We belong to God. Think about that. We are about to celebrate the first coming of the Messiah. Faith in Him is the very reason you have the hope of heaven. Who are you living for?
“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” – Romans 12:1-2
By Faith Alone By His Grace Alone And For His Glory Alone
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