He not only provides our needs, he also gives generously in things we prefer. Several months ago, an older lady at church (I say she's older, but truthfully, she's probably only a few years older than I am!) slipped into my hand a $50 gift card to Shop Rite as she was talking to me. Then at Easter we received a $100 gift card to Shop Rite from the older singles group that we had led several years ago. I used up the last few dollars on the card and I was talking to the Lord about it. I was perfectly content to not receive another card because I was using it to buy my favorite coffee creamer and Moose Tracks ice cream (luxuries!), but...
And here it is. God graciously and generously provided another $50 gift card to Shop Rite. The original older woman slipped it into my hand last Sunday while talking to us at church. He not only provides our needs, he also loves to give us all good things for our enjoyment. We're his beloved children.
For some time, we had been wanting to go hiking with our friends who are home from Bangladesh. We had to cancel a couple of weeks ago when Andy got sick, so rescheduled for this past Tuesday. Unfortunately, it was "wickedly" hot and humid. But we went anyway. Also unfortunately, the bugs were extremely annoying. We had to keep fanning and swatting near our faces to keep them away.
We went to the Rancocas State Park. H and S had never been there. The last time Andy and I had been there, it had been early spring before any trees had their leaves. This time, it looked so different. It was a good 3.2 mile hike and although, it was enjoyable to be out in nature, we were all glad to get back to the car and air conditioning.
The tide was in and the Rancocas "Creek" was delightful.
I was surprised to see trumpet vine flowers out there in the middle of the forest.
God's gracious hand has given us many friends and it was a blessing to spend time with them out in his beautiful world.
That evening, Andy and I were in our living room, when all of a sudden, his mom and dad rushed in and said they had announced on tv that a tornado was coming our way. They insisted that we all go the basement right away. So down we went. Dad had his camping lantern along, we got out the folding chairs and sat in the basement feeling very safe. We couldn't hear anything down there except an occasional thunderclap. My curiosity finally got the better of me, and I ventured upstairs to see what was going on out there. It was quite a storm with almost constant lightning and thunder. The wind was reported at 75 mph and it certainly was whipping the trees around. But again, the gracious hand of our God protected us from harm. We didn't even lose power, although homes less than a mile away did. We had some big branches come down, but they hit the ground and not the house or did any damage to our property.
Wires came down in the street in front of our house. They must have been cable wires because we didn't lose anything (phone, internet or electricity). Traffic was going gingerly by until the fire company came and moved the wires off the street.
The next morning dawned bright and clear. The humidity was relieved but there was a lot of storm damage for people to clean up.
The Lord also graciously provided a friend who offered to bring his chain saw and cut up the fallen branches. He not only cut them up, but loaded them on his truck and took them away, too.
On Wednesday, a couple took us out to lunch. While out with them, they told us that the seniors at church had taken up a collection for us. The amount: $700! Wow! The gracious hand of our God!
I started reading a new book: Second Forgetting. It is a book "remembering the power of the gospel during Alzheimer's Disease."
The book was recommended at the bottom of an article I read by John Piper after Elizabeth Elliot's death. I ordered the book and am really enjoying it. It is insightful, helpful and offers hope for those suffering from Alzheimer's as well as the caregivers of those suffering from this disease. I can't recommend it highly enough. He offers helpful up-to-date information on the disease, but what I like most and am blessed by is his encouragement that though we forget God, he never forgets us.
He says on page 54: "No matter what happens to you, God cannot and will not forget you. Remember this for your own comfort, but know that if you forget to remember, he will not."
On another page, he says: "Our hope comes from a God who is stronger than Alzheimer's. When we face the confusion and uncertainty of this disease, God calls us to remember him, and in his grace he provides us the ability to do so."
I was so ministered to by his quote of Randy Alcorn in A Prayer of Weariness. Every time I see Randy Alcorn's name, my interest is piqued because he and Andy were at seminary together. Randy was a year or two ahead of Andy, but it's still significant, right?! They rubbed shoulders and had several classes together.
The words to this prayer say it all for me.
A Prayer of Weariness
by Randy Alcorn
I AM WEARY, Lord… bone tired.
Weary to the point of tears, and past them.
Your Word says you never grow weary;
But I know you understand weariness
Because once you drug a heavy cross
up a long lonely hill.
Many times you had nowhere to lay your head—
And people who needed you pressed upon you
by day and by night.
My reservoir is depleted, almost dry.
For longer than I can remember I’ve been
Dredging from its sludgy underside
Giving myself and my loved ones the leftovers
Of a life occupied with endless tasks.
The elastic of my life is so stretched out of shape
that it doesn’t snap back anymore.
Just once I’d like to say “It is finished,” like you did.
But you said it just before you died.
I guess my job won’t be over till my life is
and that’s OK Lord,
if you’ll just give me strength to live it.
Deliver me from this limbo of half-life;
Not just surviving, but thriving.
You who know all, You who know me
Far better than I know myself—
Deposit to my account that as I spend myself
There may be always more to draw from.
Give me strength
To rest without guilt…
To run without frenzy…
To soar like an eagle
Over the broad breathless canyons of the life
you still have for me both here and beyond.
This poem was originally published in 1986 in Women Under Stress by Randy and Nanci Alcorn. The thoroughly revised and updated Help For Women Under Stress, released in March 2013, is available exclusively from EPM.
This article originally appeared in the Winter 2011 issue of EPM's quarterly newsletter Eternal Perspectives.
So even when it seems I have nothing more to give, God continues to graciously provide for me and my needs. He gives me strength when I am weak and helps me go on when I think I'm at the end.
Yes, I can attest that the gracious hand of our God is upon me.
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