With Love, from the Editresses

Dear Sisters,

Greetings in the precious name of Jesus! Through these intervening months since I last wrote to you the Lord has been teaching me many things… so many that it would be hard to recount them to you in this short space I have. So I trust that the Lord will guide and direct me in what I write to you and pray that it will bless you as encouragement in serving the Lord.

The Lord saw fit to allow me, this autumn, to go through a rather lengthy trial, which, while not joyful at the time, brought me out, by the grace of God, “into a wealthy place.”* (Psalm 66:12) During the trial, the scripture, “Charity… seeketh not her own,”* (1 Corinthians 13:5) kept coming back to me… but why? It almost didn’t seem to fit—the trial involved others outside of my family—and while it included other things as well, the Lord has taught me to count all things as His and not my own. Thus if something is taken away, I know it is only the Lord taking it because He knows what is best. Slowly, through agonizing days and nights I began to understand a bit of what the Lord was trying to teach me—not to vaunt my own, not to seek that which would set the story straight of my own self and reputation and my (Lord-willing) plans. And then, during the time I thought I had got a firm grasp, by the help of the Lord, I would ache to speak out… to “set the story straight” (as if I could anyway! Human communication is difficult under the best of circumstances). From all appearances, the Lord was telling me to willingly let myself be misunderstood…. Charity seeketh not her own. Charity does not push forward her own rights… charity does not push for the place that God gave, even though He gave it, when it would mean strife with others.

“The servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men.”* (2 Timothy 2:24) There is a lot in those little phrases, as I learned over the weeks that seemed to stretch me so thin that I would break. Love for the Lord and His ways and love for the other persons involved kept me from not wanting to push forth and seek the place and position I felt was God-given—love seeketh not her own, does not vaunt itself. In that difficult time that lesson was not the only one I learned, nor was it by far the only gold I gleaned from the fire, but it seemed to carry with me everywhere… something to be applied to not only that situation with others, but home life and in every situation.

Is it not easy, when you hear yourself being misquoted, to want to correct the person who is speaking about you? There are times it is quite right to correct the story and set what you said straight, but there are times when you know that if you would mention what you had really said, they would say, “You didn’t say that—you said…” and strife would ensue.

Is it hard when you come into the kitchen to find a broken glass shattered on the floor… a minute later, when you are cleaning up the mess, your little brother comes and looks in only long enough to see you cleaning it up and runs upstairs to “tell Mama.” When mother comes in, she gives a sad glance, remarks about how she wishes people would be more careful, and when you are about to explain to her that you just found the glass broken on the floor, the telephone rings and a neighbor needs some advice. By the time your mother gets off the phone, you are frying eggs for breakfast while your little sister is busy telling you about her dream she dreamed last night… the toast is about to burn, and instead of helping, someone starts singing a song about “burnt offerings”…. There is no way, obviously you could explain now what really happened. The day wears on, with the same business we often welcome, but inside you never let go of being misrepresented and falsely accused…. And then perhaps to top it off, that evening in prayer meeting, your mother testifies how the Lord gave her grace to find that someone had been careless and had broken one of her special glasses and the blessing she got in letting go…. Is it easy to rejoice in her victory… and not vaunt your own right? It is your “right” for the story to be clear that you did not break that special glass… but charity vaunteth not and does not seek her own. Perhaps here it would be profitable to mention that one of the key things to winning the victory to “love seeketh not her own, does not vaunt itself,” is immediately, when you realize you have been misunderstood/wronged, let go completely of our natural wish to have the truth be brought to light. If we harbor a feeling of, “Well, someday… when I can explain,” we will constantly be fighting a battle to keep the victory to obey those vital scriptures.

The trial I spoke of at the beginning of this letter was a large trial; sometimes I find that I have more trouble keeping the victory in those very little trials that happen a dozen times a day, such as the one in the scenario mentioned above, it is harder to live up to “love seeketh not her own, does not vaunt itself,” than if a big crisis comes and requires the selflessness that scriptures demands. In those little trials, many times I find myself thinking that, at the moment, I really don’t care if I’m reflecting Jesus and living out an example of those scriptures. It is then, I’ve learned, I must look to Jesus—at His example and simply follow it. For really, in my heart, I do want to do the right thing—it is only emotions that clamor to satisfy the natural nature. That is important to realize and then just set your will to follow the Lord’s example to us. People misunderstood Jesus all the time… and never, oh, never, did He ever vaunt what was really right about himself. A place in the Bible that shows this trait most clearly is when Herod was asking Jesus mocking questions and Jesus answered—nothing (Luke 23:8-9). He let go of what in the world is most prevalent today, “stick up for yourself,” “don’t allow people to step on your toes.” The spirit of Jesus is so different, the spirit He holds for us to have, so vastly opposite. If we are to be like Jesus, we must let people tramp all over our toes, let well-meaning people misunderstand us and then repeat it to others, let go of all rights (give them to Jesus), let others talk and think what they will, and look only upwards. Both in the big things and in the little, we must ask the Lord to help us from a heart full of love for our Savior, not to vaunt our own. What a blessing there is in this, what a precious lesson the Lord gave me when I took this to heart and lived out by His grace not to seek or vaunt my own, with the long trial I experienced this autumn. For yes, in due time, the Lord worked and eventually, as He has promised, “all things work[ed] together for good for them that love God.”* (Romans 8:28) I’m so thankful that I stepped back, when the Lord told me to, did not push forward and try to make things work, but simply let go and let God. What precious gold God gave for obeying His word…. I certainly do not regret, by His grace only, being true to the Word which He gave me. You won’t regret it either, I assure you, no matter if the thing you are dealing with is a very large mountain or a tiny mole hill… just let go and obey the Heavenly vision which the Lord gives to each one of us from His Word.

With love,
Abigail

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Dear Sisters,

Greetings in the precious name of our Redeemer. I pray that each of you are steadfastly looking to the Lord and learning from Him how to be holy as He is holy, giving your lives more and more to Him each day. Fall has come and gone and we’ve quickly slipped into winter with the crisp breezes and constant downfall of rain (a thing so common in Oregon that we joke about a drought in our household when any longer than a week lapses without a drop of rain.) Our lowland pasture is currently filled with a couple dozen rain puddles and it’s no uncommon thing to look out and see the small ponds overflowing.

Do you like rain or sunshine better? I think I could easily figure that one out.

Do you know that our spiritual lives seem to be like the weather in so many ways? Our soft and tender natures crave the sunshine and peace. Yet God allows a substantial amount of rain. Why? Much Afraid, in Hinds’ Feet on High Places, shrank back with terror when the Shepherd told her that Sorrow and Suffering were to be her companions for the journey to the High Places, adding that these were two of His strongest and most able companions to help and strengthen her. When asking why she must have such companions instead of Peace and Joy, He answered, “Joy and Peace? Are those the companions you would choose for yourself? You remember your promise to accept the helpers I would give, because you believed I would chose the very best possible guides for you.

If we were always to have pure sunshine in life, we’d grow dry and die, as plants do without rain. Plants that are well nourished with a mixture of sun and rain, are prosperous and rich, but to be so they need those two vital ingredients. We can’t have one without the other. The Lord wants to purify unto Himself a peculiar people, refined and purged and fit vessels for His service. As Job said, “He knoweth the way that I take: when He hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.”* (Job 23:10)

In asking, “Why, Lord?” we not only doubt the Lord, but we leave an open channel for the devil to bring discouragement. There’s a song in our hymnal that is an encouragement and reminder to me to give myself resignedly to the Lord, letting Him send the rain or sun as He pleases:

God’s way is best; if human wisdom
A fairer way may seem to show,
’Tis only that our earth-dimmed vision
The truth can never clearly know.

He leadeth true; I will not question,
Though through the valley I shall go;
Though I should pass through clouds of trial,
And drink the cup of human woe.

God’s way is best; heart, cease thy struggling
To see and know and understand;
Forsake thy fears and doubts, but trusting,
Submit thyself into His hand.

God’s way is best, I will not murmur,
Although the end I may not see;
Where’er He leads I’ll meekly follow,
God’s way is best, is best for me.*

—C. W. Naylor

To be properly equipped as a soldier of Christ’s, we need to have resignation to whatever He sends, like the above song urges. Much Afraid, after she’d been fully trust climbing the mountains for a while, finally realized that there were places where it would’ve been impossible to go, had it not been for Sorrow and Suffering. In the Christian life, there are heights of victory and blessing only available through trials and suffering. For “those who come down to the furnace go on their way afterwards as royal men and women, princes and princesses of the Royal Line.”

I mean to go right on
Until the crown is won;
I mean to fight the fight of faith
Till life on earth is done.
I’ll nevermore turn back,
Defeat I shall not know,
For God will give me victory
If onward I shall go.

Should opposition come,
Should foes obstruct my way,
Should persecution’s fires be lit,
As in the ancient day—
With Jesus by my side,
His peace within my soul,
No matter if the battle’s hot,
I mean to win the goal.

Then forward let us go,
Our hearts with love aflame,
Our snowy banner borne aloft,
Inscribed with Jesus’ name.
The hosts of evil flee
And heaven’s open gates,
Invite me now to hasten where
Eternal glory waits.*

From my own experience, I have learned that in order to properly work the trial, I must place my hand sin God’s and fully trust that He has promised not to send the rain unintended, for He said 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)

God set up a standard for His children to trust in Him in all things. As Oswald Chambers says, “It is one thing to go through a crisis grandly, but quite anothre to go through everday glorifying God.” This ins not to say that it is bad to trust the Lord through the big crissis—it is the growing ground where the lessons are learned that equip you to trust Him through evryday, with every trial. Our heart soften cry out, feeling so nearly like they willl brea with the pressure of the trial, and it is at those times when it is good to remember what David said, “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.”* (Psalm 30:5) The trial may be hot and the misunderstandings severe, but He has only purposed them for our ultimate best—that we may live to glorify Him and be purged of all unrighteousness. Joy cometh in the morning. Overwhelming joy and blessing, I assure you, will come after the tempest when the trial is taken as God meant.

Don’t watch the rain and wonder why it is raining so hard or so long—look for the blessing that comes with and after the showers. Set yourself to dig for the gold that is to be obtained through the battle. Learn to “count it all joy.”* (James 1:2) There is no surer way to victory, when, in the midst of the trial, we can rejoice. I remember a time recently when I was facing a heavy downpouring; the devil was discouraging me and getting me worked up in the trial. The Lord brought me a song and, as soon as I could rejoice in the battle, the Lord gave the victory.

We only have to trust God through each day—not looking back to yesterday or worrying about tomorrow. One day, one trial. Don’t look ahead—don’t carry any unnecessary burdens. When the sorrows and sufferings oppress your heart, lean on God and look to Him to uphold you with the right hand of His righteousness. The trials will not last forever, not one more moment than is necessary. And He’s promised, “as thy days, so shall thy strength be.”* (Deuteronomy)

Skye