Lord, here I hold within my trembling hand this will of mine,
a thing which seemeth small.
And only thou, O Christ, canst understand how when I yield thee this,
I yield mine all.
It hath been wet with tears and stained with sighs,
clenched in my grasp till beauty it hath none.
Now, from thy footstool where it prostrate lies,
the prayer ascendeth.
Let thy will be done.
D. M. MacIntyre
The Hidden Life of Prayer
From The Elisabeth Elliot Podcast: Finding God’s Guidance GTJP-151, Oct 16, 2024
I do not usually share entire articles here, but this article lifted my spirit concerning the desire we have to faithfully love, visit, and serve our moms!
There are days when we are well aware the hungry, thirsty, lonely, sad, needy, and homesick are worthy members of our own family.
The article in it’s entirety…
Denny Hartford, the founder and director of Vital Signs Ministries, and his wife Claire truly live to the glory of King Jesus. I was touched by this story he shared in a ministry update:
Early in March, I was talking to a fellow at the coffee shop, and I mentioned that Claire and I were heading down to Wichita later in the morning to visit my little sister Sherry for a couple of days. My little sister is dealing with an early and very severe dementia. I explained Sherry’s plight to him, and he asked, “Why do you go down to spend time with her if you realize she might not even recognize you?”
I smiled and kindly, but carefully, replied, “Because I recognize her!”
The point being that the key to experiencing the blessings of God in one’s relationships is to love, honor, and serve others unconditionally—not because of what someone can do for you or what arbitrary and utilitarian tests they can pass to “deserve” being treated with honor and kindness. Christians are commanded to love as Jesus loves us and that means with grace, humility, courage, a willingness to sacrifice, and a persevering spirit. Yes, I love my little sister because of who she has been. But I also love her for who she is right now, physical and mental illness notwithstanding, because she is worth every bit of tenderness and respect and service I can render her. And, thank the Lord, because Sherry has trusted in Christ’s sacrifice on the cross to pay for her sins, I also love her for who she will one day be! Maranatha—come, Lord Jesus.
Along with ministering to my sister (embraces, music, conversation, helping her with meals and desserts, time enjoying the scenery outside, including the fox who lives in the woods behind the facility), the Lord gave us opportunities there in Wichita to touch other lives as well. Millie and Bertie to whom we brought sweet treats, swapped stories, read poetry, and talked of the splendors of Heaven. The nursing home staff to whom we brought our thanks, compliments (and donuts). The overworked “care pastor” from a nearby church who we were able to encourage. Two local musicians. A bookstore manager. People at the hotel. The girls working at the non-profit coffee shop. As Francis Schaeffer would say, “No little people, no little places.” Everything God gives us to do is big and beautiful and of eternal significance. So let’s not miss out on the chances God gives us every single day to make a difference to someone.
Denny mentioned Francis Schaeffer’s quote “No little people, no little places.” That was the title of a chapter in his book also titled No Little People, a collection of 16 of Francis’s sermons.
Schaeffer wrote, “Jesus commands Christians to seek consciously the lowest room. All of us—pastors, teachers, professional religious workers and nonprofessional included—are tempted to say, ‘I will take the larger place because it will give me more influence for Jesus Christ.’ … But according to the Scripture this is backwards: We should consciously take the lowest place unless the Lord himself extrudes us into a greater one.”
He continued:
We must remember throughout our lives that in God’s sight there are no little people and no little places. Only one thing is important: to be consecrated persons in God’s place for us, at each moment. Those who think of themselves as little people in little places, if committed to Christ and living under his Lordship in the whole of life, may, by God’s grace, change the flow of our generation. And as we get on a bit in our lives, knowing how weak we are, if we look back and see we have been somewhat used of God, then we should be…“surprised by joy.”
The humble willingness to help the needy and lowly has always set Christians apart, showing the world that we operate on a radically different value system. Christ says if we feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, invite in the stranger, give clothes to the needy, care for the sick, and visit the persecuted, we are doing those things to Him: “Come, you who are blessed by my Father, take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat” (Matthew 25:34-35).
As Denny put it, “Let’s not miss out on the chances God gives us every single day to make a difference to someone.”
“Those who think of themselves as little people in little places, if committed to Christ and living under his Lordship in the whole of life, may, by God’s grace, change the flow of our generation.”
Denny Hartford
May it be so, LORD!
1 For the beauty of the earth,
for the glory of the skies,
for the love which from our birth
over and around us lies.
Refrain:
Christ, our Lord, to you we raise
this, our hymn of grateful praise.
2 For the wonder of each hour
of the day and of the night,
hill and vale and tree and flower,
sun and moon and stars of light, [Refrain ]
3 For the joy of human love,
brother, sister, parent, child,
friends on earth, and friends above,
for all gentle thoughts and mild, [Refrain]
4 For yourself, best gift divine,
to the world so freely given,
agent of God's grand design:
peace on earth and joy in heaven.
I would dishonor the Lord not to rejoice in our family as blessed by his grace.
Ray Ortlund
A Happy Birthday surprise occurred last week when our family gathered to wish our Meme a Happy 88th Birthday. We gathered as Meme was experiencing an evacuation order during Hurricane Milton. We were all very thankful the hurricane force winds and storm surge were less severe as anticipated. That morning, after going back and forth about our plans, we were given the okay to take her out of the evacuation stay place, and went forward with our surprise on the evening of what would have been Poppy’s 94th birthday. It was a fun way to go out of our way to express our love and gratitude for Meme, even as a widow, who loves our family and has always been the one to draw us all together for any and every reason to thank the LORD! By surrounding her, and one another, we were reminded of God’s blessing to protect and sustain us as a family. I cannot imagine another way to knit our hearts together in love for the LORD and one another!! Honestly, without the regular practice of leaning this way into one another's lives, we may possibly seldom see one another, sadly! I’ve seen other families struggle to prefer their loved ones, those whom God has ordained they be knit together with through life, and it’s soo very sad that there is more emphasis placed on the failures and faults of individual family members than there is faith to believe God is at work to sanctify and strengthen their family!
Today my heart remains soo very full that we have a family who looks to the LORD by faith to believe there is more to existing as a family than living for self gain.
Thank you, Father, for making us a family, and for giving us another day and year to celebrate our Meme, my Mom; she is our Mom, our Grandmother, and Great Grandmother!
We are not perfect, and I’m sure when given the chance, we would disappoint and aggravate one another. However, You have given us more to strive for than our own self sought needs. You have given us faith to believe You are at work and have more to accomplish in our lives than the immediate, temporal desires our sinful hearts strive for!
You are at work to accomplish all of this, and we are glad!!
The above quote was copied from the article below which is a very encouraging read!!
I pray by the same grace Our Father has given us many reasons to rejoice in His hand at work in our family, He will grant grace to help you daily trust He will redeem your life, and restore your family!
https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/god-can-redeem-your-family-history
