July 17, 2020Have you been discouraged lately? If so, I am glad that you are reading this, because I would like to share some encouraging items. I know that the Lord has answered and continues to answer the prayers of His children. This week I was experiencing some technical problems with a recording machine in the ministry. The problem persisted when I went back to the office after supper, so I decided to wait until the morning to try again. Everything went smoothly in the morning! I know that many people are praying for the radio ministry and I thank the Lord for each one. The machine in question is a recorder for compact discs and I realized through this delay that there are lessons to learn, including realizing that human error (mine) can be involved sometimes and other sources (faulty CDs) can cause problems. While listening to messages (in French) that Pastor Michel Martel recorded many years ago on the subject “The single person,” I was impressed again by his in-depth look at what God says in His Word about this. What a blessing it is to have Michel as the voice of “La Voix de l’Ēvangile” in Quebec since 1984!
As you probably know, I love to read and appreciate getting newspapers from my parents when I see them. In the Montreal Gazette on July 4, there was a very interesting story entitled: “Fighting Isolation, One Letter at a Time.” Two teen-aged sisters in Boston – Shreya and Saffron Patel – started Letters Against Isolation in April “with a plan to send cards to seniors at care centres where residents have lost in-person contact with their family and friends because of the coronavirus.” Within a short period of time, the organization has sent more than 14,000 cards, with about 1,400 volunteers around the world. Thanks to the article by Emily Giambalvo from the Washington Post, many people can see how great efforts can begin with one or two people acting on their idea. To read more, please visit: www.lettersagainstisolation.com.
One other encouragement to me this week is an email that I received from Max Lucado, one of my favourite authors. He has written a book entitled “You’ll Get Through This” and shares insights regarding the life of Joseph and his family from the book of Genesis. As interesting as some stories in newspapers and magazines are, I know that the Bible contains the most fascinating true-life stories. In his email, Max Lucado writes about Judah and shows the transformation that took place in his life. He went from telling his brothers that it would be better to make money by selling Joseph to traders than killing him (Gen. 37:26-27) to asking Joseph to keep him captive and make him a slave, rather than his youngest brother, Benjamin (Gen. 44:33).
Do you feel like you’re in a pit? Joseph went from the pit to the palace in Egypt. Wherever you are, God is watching over you and will help you as you turn to Him.
Scripture for the weekend: “For Thou hast been a refuge for me, a tower of strength against the enemy.” Psalm 61:3 (NASB)
Thought for the weekend: “Forgiveness doesn’t diminish justice; it just entrusts it to God.” – Max Lucado
Steve