~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ NOTES FROM THE VALLEY - July 22, 2001 "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for you are with me." Psalm 23. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ TOPIC: A LITTLE OLD TESTAMENT "HOMEWORK"! Over the years, I've tended to be more of a New Testament reader for several reasons. One, I like reading about Jesus. He's my Savior, Big Brother, and role model. I wish I could be more like Him. Two, my favorite Bible for daily reading is The Message translation, which is just the New Testament with the Psalms and Proverbs. And three, I'm a bit put off by all the blood, guts and gore of the Old Testament. But lately God has been leading me to read more in the Old Testament and I think I'm beginning to understand why. There are times in my journey through life where I become deeply discouraged about my failures. I want to be like Christ, but I fall woefully short every day. Pride, anger and impatience are just a few of the "demons" that I can't seem to defeat. I pray for forgiveness and strength. I commit not to give into their damaging influence anymore. But just when I think I'm making progress, some little event will trigger one of them to rear it's ugly head and make its presence felt. The guilt comes and I feel so frustrated. "Why, can't I stop? God must be so disappointed with me. What's wrong with me?" Well, one of the things that I'm learning from the reading of the Old Testament is that many of it's central characters failed just as miserably and as often as I do. Abraham, Moses, Jacob, David, and Jonah are just a few of the more notable examples. And yet, God never gave up on them, never stopped loving them. And because they didn't give in to their failures, but continued to place their faith and trust in God, He was able to use them in mighty and wondrous ways. Each of their uniquely different experiences with God is a testament to His unfailing love and grace. The love and grace He freely offers each of us, even when we fail. Another lesson I found in the Old Testament comes from stories like Daniel in the lion's den. In the story, men conspire against Daniel because of his faith in his God. Daniel trusts his God, even in the midst of the darkness and fearful circumstances of a night in the lions' den. God responds to Daniel's trust with an angel who protects him. Daniel was saved, the conspirators destroyed, and God was reverenced "throughout all nations" by decree of the king. Through this story and others, God is saying, "I'm in control. Trust me and I will take care of you. I will turn even the darkest of circumstances into an eternal blessing for you and those around you." When I read the Bible, I have this image in my heart of God, my Father, standing behind me, leaning over my shoulder and personally guiding me as I read. The Bible says it's the Holy Spirit, through the power in God's Word, opening the "eyes" of my understanding. To me, it's my Dad helping me with my homework! Cathy and I are going through some really tough times right now. A number of situations are causing us some serious concerns. We are both physically and emotionally exhausted. I sincerely believe God knew these tough times were coming. My Old Testament "homework" was His gentle way of strengthening our foundation for the storms we must now face. He gave us Abraham, Moses, Jacob, David, and Jonah to teach us that in spite of our human weaknesses and failings, His love and grace towards us is eternal and unfailing. And He gave us Daniel and others to teach us that even in the darkest of times we can trust Him to provide for our needs and turn the most impossible situation to some eternal good. But the key element in both these lessons is the absolute need or us to give Him our trust. "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV) We remain as always, your brother and sister in Christ, holding onto The Rock, Steve and Cathy Hall A LESSON FROM THE ANTS (Contributed by Linda Layton - Author Unknown) Brenda was a young woman that wanted to learn to go rock climbing. Although she was scared to death she went with a group and they faced this tremendous cliff of rock. Practically perpendicular. In spite of her fear, she put on the gear and she took a hold of the rope and she started up the face of that rock. Well, she got to a ledge where she could take a breather. As she was hanging on there, whoever was holding the rope up at the top of the cliff made a mistake and snapped the rope against Brenda's eye and knocked out her contact lens. You know how tiny contact lenses are and how almost impossible to find. Well, here she is on a rock ledge, with who knows how many hundreds of feet behind and hundreds of feet above her. Of course, she looked and looked and looked, hoping that she would be able to find that contact lens. Here she was, very far from home. Her sight was now blurry. She was very upset by the fact that she wouldn't be anywhere near a place where she could get a new contact lens. And she prayed that the Lord would help her to find it. Well, her last hope was that perhaps when she got to the top of the cliff, one of the girls that was up there on the top might be able to find her contact lens in the corner of her eye. When she got to the top, a friend examined her eye. There was no contact lens to be found. She sat down with the rest of the party, waiting for the rest of them to come up the face of the cliff. She looked out across range after range of mountains, thinking of that Bible verse that says, "The eyes of the Lord run to and from throughout the whole earth." She thought, "Lord, You can see all these mountains. You know every single stone and leaf that's on those mountains and You know exactly where my contact lens is." Finally, the time came when it was time to go down. They walked down the trail to the bottom. Just as they got there, there was a new party of rock climbers coming along. As one of them started up the face of the cliff, she shouted out, "Hey, you guys! anybody lose a contact lens?" Well, that would be startling enough, wouldn't it? She had found the contact lens! But you know why she saw it? An ant was carrying that contact lens so that it was moving slowly across the face of the rock. What does that tell you about the God of the universe? Is He in charge of the tiniest things? Do ants matter to Him? Of course they do. He made them. He designed them. Brenda told me that her father is a cartoonist. When she told him this incredible story, he drew a picture of that ant lugging that contact lens with the words "Lord, I don't know why You want me to carry this thing. I can't eat it and it's awfully heavy. But if this is what You want me to do, I'll carry it for You." If God is in charge of the ants, don't you think He cares about you and me? I guess Solomon was right. One could learn a valuable lesson from that ant. TRUST IN GOD! We could probably all say a little more often, "God, I don't know why you want me to carry this load. I see no good in it and it's awfully heavy. Still, if you want me to, I'll carry it for You." ALL THINGS WORK TOGETHER FOR GOOD ? (Received from MornGlories - Kimberly Cook) And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son. Romans 8:28-29 All things work together for good? Does that mean when my car breaks down I can't afford to get it fixed that somehow it's for good? Does that mean when I can't stand my boss and dread going to work each morning that somehow it's for good? How can the bad in my life work together for good? God takes every event in our life and uses it to bring us further along the path to Him and to touch the lives of those around us as we trust Him. He uses each event, good or bad, to conform us to the image of His Son, Jesus. A broken down car that you can't afford to fix may look like a disaster to you, but to God it's a way to bring you into the path of someone who may never have heard of God unless you rode the public transit train that cold winter morning and shared His love by listening and reaching out to that person. Our eyes see only the moment of time we live in, while God sees from the perspective of eternity. As His children, all that happens in our lives can be used by Him for good - we have only to trust Him in the crisis. If we allow Him, God will take the struggles and trials of our lives, and turn them into monuments of His saving power. Lord, thank You for everything that happens in our lives. We know You are sovereign over all, and that You see reasons we may never know. Help us to trust You to take what was meant for evil and turn it to good, for us and for those around us who see us as one of Your children. In Jesus' name, Amen OUT OF THE MOUTHS OF BABES (Jonathan G. Yandell. Garden Grove, California. Leadership) Gladys Aylward, missionary to China more than fifty years ago, was forced to flee when the Japanese invaded Yangcheng. But she could not leave her work behind. With only one assistant, she led more than a hundred orphans over the mountains toward Free China. In their book The Hidden Price of Greatness, Ray Besson and Ranelda Mack Hunsicker tell what happened: "During Gladys's harrowing journey out of war-torn Yangcheng . . . she grappled with despair as never before. After passing a sleepless night, she faced the morning with no hope of reaching safety. A 13-year-old girl in the group reminded her of their much-loved story of Moses and the Israelites crossing the Red Sea. 'But I am not Moses,' Gladys cried in desperation. 'Of course you aren't,' the girl said, 'but Jehovah is still God!'" When Gladys and the orphans made it through, they proved once again that no matter how inadequate we feel, God is still God, and we can trust in him. ________________________________________________ Copyright © 1998 - 2001 by Stephen J. Hall - Weekly letters of encouragement to Christians written by Stephen J. Hall unless otherwise indicated. Notes from the Valley and Humor from the Valley are meant to brighten your day and encourage you along the way. Most of "Notes" and "Humor" are a collection of items provided by subscribers and friends. Credit is given to both the contributor and to the true author, where known. If you are blessed by them, please feel free to make copies and pass them along to others. If you have something you'd like to contribute to a future edition, would like to ask a question or make a comment, please contact us at: sossteve@... ________________________________________________ Your love, God, is my song, and I'll sing it! I'm forever telling everyone how faithful you are. I'll never quit telling the story of your love - how you built the cosmos and guaranteed everything in it. Your love has always been our lives foundation, your fidelity has been the roof over our world. (Psalm 89:1-3 The Message)