[Faith-talk] Quotes for Saturday, November 3 2012

[Paul]

Hello and good day to you all.  I hope that, by God's matchless grace and His providential care, that your day went well for those of us living in North America, and that you are preparing yourselves spiritually for your corporate worship tomorrow.

Today's sermonette article is by Ruth Andrews and is entitled "Panic or Praise," rendered as follows:

"Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you" (Matt. 7:7). Recently this passage was tested in a crisis. As a writer, I find that nothing can send me into a panic more than a crashed computer. My old used computer simply was worn out. How was I going to meet a writing deadline? I had no typewriter, and my old word processor needed a costly new power cord.

I remembered Philippians 4:6, which says not to be anxious but to take our concerns to God in prayer. Still, my initial reaction was panic. Finally, I did calm down enough to set aside panic and begin to pray. The Lord gives the ability to write and the opportunity to use the skill for His glory. Surely there would be a way to get my work done.

I believe God's promise to open a door, and I thanked Him ahead of time. But why was this happening? Proverbs 3:5-6 says not to trust our own understanding but to trust God's leading.

God provided a new power cord for my word processor. A few years earlier my house had been flooded, and I feared the machine would not work. When I plugged the new cord into the wall socket, it worked!

This was not the end of my frustration. To my dismay the margin settings would not work properly. Until that was fixed, I had to have another way to work. Panic almost reared its head again.

I got permission to use other computers for limited time periods each week, but that meant learning a new program. This was tedious and time-consuming.

I cried out to God. This was an impossible situation. Then I read another Bible promise, Philippians 4:19, which says that God will supply our needs.

When our small library received a grant for a new computer, this helped me tremendously. Time at the computer was still at a premium, but I no longer felt I was imposing on others. I found a program that was easier to learn and went to work.

Someday I will have a computer at home. Until then I am grateful for the generosity of others. I am also learning to pray more often than panic.

When I sit down to work, I ask the Lord to clear my mind of distractions. I want to concentrate solely on the work that God has given.

Thanks, Sister Ruth, for this article.  I hope it ministered to your minds and spirits as you read it.

And now may the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob just keep us safe, individually and collectively, throughout the night or day and especially in these last days in which we live. Your Christian friend and brother, Paul