Dear Reader

“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”* (Romans 8:28)

There are countless ways in which this scripture is fulfilled every day, and the closer you draw near to God, the more you see them. I want to illustrate with just one recent instance in my life.

I have been seeking the Lord for direction concerning a business venture I got into a couple of years ago that has not financially prospered. It would take too long to give adequate background to understand some of the ins and outs of it, but suffice here to say that there have been times of spiritual blessing and a lot of refining for my soul involved in this “venture.” I felt that I needed to know the next step—quit, go on, reduce the scale somewhat, change the focus, etc. I had not been getting any answers I had confidence were coming from the Lord.

Yesterday I was working around the house, completing some outdoor projects and helping with some interior “rearranging” (taking down some cupboards to put in a different room), and it was early afternoon. I wanted to spend some time praying for this issue of Foundation Truth, and asked my son about a writing that he had mentioned might be profitable for this issue. He referred me to it, and I read the following:

God wants the worker more than the work. He wants our love more than our labor, our hearts rather than our hands. His kingdom is advanced far more by what we are than by what we do. We may do ever so much, but if our doing is not the outflowing of the cheering, joyous, hopeful life of Christ at the center of the heart, our work will be destructive instead of constructive.

[Charles E. Orr; The More Abundant Life, “The More Abundant Life”]

I was impressed that I needed to draw near to the Lord to express my love and be replenished by Him right then, rather than attempt to figure out the next task. I spent some time and was rewarded by a strong sense of the Lord’s pleasure. Then, my business phone rang.

You perhaps would do well to know two more things at this point. First, I had asked the Lord to indicate some direction by some business prior to the end of the month, and this was my last “working” day of the month for my business venture. Second, although my business phone rings on average several times a day, it is usually faxes or someone selling something to businesses—it had been awhile since a potential client called. This call was a potential client, but though it turned out that I was not in a position to help him directly, I was able to give him some tangible direction towards the help he needed. I was ministering to him as best as I could, and was very much blessed in my soul. I concluded the Lord was speaking to me, but I wanted confirmation and further direction.

In meeting today, in two separate messages (one on “Touching Jesus” and the other on “The Unleavened Bread of the Gospel”), the Lord reaffirmed that He intended for this “business venture” to be conducted as a service and ministry, without a concern about providing for my family (He has graciously been providing for us by a different line of work).

I trust that some of you are rejoicing in the Lord on the basis of what I’ve shared, but I also recognize that it is difficult to capture in a few words the depth in which this touched me at this particular time—surely God is Love!

Our prayer is that you will find in this issue some of those “all things” that “work together for good”!

In Christian love,
The Editor