Just a thought from Mary
Greetings and much
love to all my friends everywhere...you are in my heart and mind as I
write you this letter.
Silence is easy...it requires nothing more than
doing nothing. Now in
my 80th year, there are two ways to look at what to do
with this time in my life; just grow older and slip away into
heaven, or leave behind me a few written words that
might bring comfort and hope to
others long after I am gone? I am
hoping to do both. And if it is truly God
speaking through the words I write, it will do that, and last thoughout
eternity.
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One of my favorite verses is what King David wrote in Psalm 71:17-18:
“O God, thou hast taught me
from my youth: and hitherto have I declared thy wondrous works.
Now
also when I am old and
grayheaded, O God, forsake me not; until I have shown thy strength unto
this
generation, and thy power to
every one that is to come.”
I am
thinking of the Apostle John, the last remaining
disciple of Christ. He spent his final years on the island of
Patmos in Malta,
isolated
from familar lands and friends. Bright red Maltese
flowers come up every summer in my garden to remind me of him.
I wondered
about it: surely our Lord could have used him preaching
the gospel throughout Asia. Yet his job now was to write and record visions and revelations from the Holy Spirit.
You and I must always remember that our times are
in His hands...not
ours.
We may be experiencing difficult days and going through trials that make us sometimes question whether
we are abandoned. Our minds keep showing us
the walls that encircle
us with pain that
pierces our every thought, even disturbing our sleep,
even though we might remember the words that Jesus tells us, “I will
never leave you nor forsake you”.
These are perilous days, and the church is under
attack as never before. Thousands have died for their faith worldwide.
Horrible
things are happening everywhere.
There is scripture in Isaiah 49 that addresses
this in a powerful way:
“Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth;
and break forth into singing O mountains: for the LORD hath
comforted
his people, and will have mercy upon his
afflicted. But Zion said, the LORD hath forsaken me, and my LORD
hath
forgotten me. Can a woman forget her
suckling child, that she should not have compassion on the son of
her
womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not
forget thee. Behold, I have graven
thee upon the palms of
my hands,
thy
walls are continually before
me.”
Does anyone know? Does
anyone care? we may ask ourselves. Our minds think that way
oftentimes, as did Thomas,
who became so distraught, that he ran from the others and
shut himself away inside agonizing walls of hurt and
disappointment.
“We have seen the
LORD” the disciples later tried to console him. Yet Thomas
replied, “I will never believe it unless I see the nailprints in His hands and trust my hand into
his side.”
We read that Jesus later personally appeared to him
and invited him to do just that. Afterwards, Thomas screamed
aloud,“MY LORD AND MY GOD!”
Isaiah wrote:
“”Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: ye we did esteem him
strickens, smitten of God, and
afflicted. But he was wounded for our
transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace
was upon him; and with his stripes we are
healed.” (53:4-5)
How powerful a revelation, to know that Isaiah
also wrote:
“Thy children shall make haste; thy
destroyers and they that made thee waste shall go forth of thee. Lift up
thine eyes round about, and behold, all these
gather themselves together, and come to thee. As I live, saith
the LORD, thou
shalt surely clothe thee with them all, as with an ornament, and bind them
on thee as a bride doeth.
For thy waste and thy desolate places, and the land of thy
destruction, shall even now be too narrow by
reason of the inhabitants, and they that swallowed thee up shall be
far away.“ (49:18)
It is so significant that when Christ (the
bridegroom) comes for His bride, she will have adorned herself with wedding
garments she has fashioned from every trial, pain, and
discouragement she has endured in this life, and even some of them will be
beautifully twisted and bound together like fashionable jewels to adorn her
neck, her arms and feet.
Think of how the Bridegroom will rejoice, when He
sees what His bride has done to adorn herself with such garments of praise
and rejoicing for what He has done.
Perhaps it is when that happens, that the wedding
feast begins...
MARY E ADAMS