From the Editor

May 21, 1997

Dear Readers,

Greetings in Jesus’ precious name! I want to share some things the Lord has been blessing me with, to encourage your hearts. This April we went back Midwest and South for a visit to some relatives. We didn’t know we were going till the week before, so it was quite a surprise to all of us that we were going to be able to go. Well, the devil started whispering to me, “What if Missy and Jenny [my foster sisters] call or try to get a hold of you when you are gone?” We hadn’t had any contact with them for 10 months. And the devil hadn’t been idle during that time. He tried hard to get me down and discouraged about them. When he whispered that in my ear, I refused to listen to it, though it still bothered me. I began to ask the Lord that, if he saw fit, He would let us get in contact before we left on our trip.

Two days before we left, on a Sunday afternoon, a huge semi truck pulled into our street. We live in a quiet neighborhood where usually we don’t see semis. We noticed, but didn’t think much about it. The semi sat there about 15 minutes. After that period of time, a man got out of the truck and started up our drive.

At first none of us recognized him, but soon we realized that he was Missy and Jenny’s dad! He gave us their address and phone number, and, since that time, we have been able to get a hold of them.

It seems like I can never thank God enough for letting us get in contact with them again and answering my prayer before our trip! The Lord didn’t have to let me know before the trip. He could have waited till after, just so I could see that He would take care of everything, despite my worries or fears. But He went ahead and let me know anyway. The Lord is so worthy of our trust—much more worthy then we usually give Him credit. I am reminded of a song, ’Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus”:

’Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus
Just to take Him at His word;
Just to rest upon His promise,
Just to know, “Thus saith the Lord.”

Refrain:

Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him!
How I’ve proved Him o’er and o’er!
Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus!
Oh, for grace to trust Him more!

O how sweet to trust in Jesus,
Just to trust his cleansing blood;
Just in simple faith to plunge me
’Neath the healing, cleansing flood!

Yes, ’tis sweet to trust in Jesus,
Just from sin and self cease;
Just from Jesus simply taking
Life and rest, and joy and peace.

Yes, all we need to do is to trust in Him. “Just to rest upon His promise.” He takes care of everything! Some people are apt to say, “Well, couldn’t you try this?” or, “Couldn’t you try that?” The Lord wants us to just wait for His timing, not for us to try to go ahead and “put our hands in the dough,” so to speak. We tried to get a hold of missy and Jenny, but we weren’t able to. I thought that we should be able to find them—I thought the Lord would want us to, right then. But the Lord had a different plan. He wanted us to wait on Him. He wanted to show us what He could do—as soon as we let go and let Him take over. I want to encourage you, dear sisters, to wait on the Lord for His timing—it is so much more of a blessing when you give your desires to God and stop the “pushing.” Usually, if we push long enough, we get what we want. But we don’t get a blessing by doing it that way, do we? And, somehow, the thing that looked so desirous when we were pushing for it, doesn’t look so attractive when we finally get it. If you think you must needs push because the Lord has perhaps forgotten about your need, you are wasting your time. The Lord doesn’t do things under pressure. He just refuses to. We aren’t going to help the Lord by trying to hurry things up a bit. The longer we try to “make it work,” the longer the Lord leaves us alone with our problem. The Lord just waits quietly till we are ready to give it up to Him—usually after we have complicated the problem a lot more. God wants us to simple trust Him—not try to mix in our own feeble efforts.

Sometimes the devil bothers me, saying, “Well, if you don’t something…. You have to say something so that they know you didn’t mean that… If you don’t do something about that situation, it’s going to get our of your control….”

Well, you know, one time the devil told me that the situation was getting out from under my control [my wishes, plans], and the Lord just spoke to me and said, “That’s what you need, just let go of the controls, and give them to Me.”

Sometimes it may seem rather fearful to just let loose and give the controls up to God. But really, if we don’t give them up, we are going to crash. When we can’t just give the controls over, it shows a lacking in our lives—we can’t trust God completely. Isn’t it strange to think that we sometimes have struggles over giving things up to God, when He made the earth, knows us better than we know ourselves, and gives us His promise that everything He does is for our good (Romans 8:28)?

A few week ago I was feeling very burdened down with the busyness of the summer and the many activities and commitments that I’d agreed to. I felt very down and struggled though everyday. I felt I had the responsibility to see that things worked right, and of course I could not do that. I was not my responsibility. It was God’s. And as soon as I humbled down enough to see that and give my problems to God, I felt so much better. My problems were not huge mountains anymore; just little mole holes that God took care of so easily. My secret in once again being happy in the Lord was giving God the controls.

The other day I was listening to a tape (Oak Grove Quartet), and there was a song that was especially encouraging. The part that really stood out to me was where it said, “so through all of your trials and all of your fears, remember God has it under control.” As I thought about it, I realized how foolish it is for us to feel like we have to do something for it to “work right.” God has it all planned out. He has it under control. He needs no help from us, He can manage things perfectly. I desire your prayers in the area of my life. The devil tries to worry me about what the situation could turn out to be if I don’t put my “two cents” in. But, by the grace of God, I am learning how to be a giver-upper of my way, and a truster!

In His love,
Abigail