January 26

“The Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them—the LORD, who remains faithful forever.” Psalm 146:6

Praise be to you, O triune Elohim, that when I am not faithful, not open to you, not obedient, you remain faithful, you remain wise and good, patient and forgiving. You work powerfully and persistently to bring me back to surrender. Praise you for your strong, rock-like character, never changing, never shifting, never moving from perfection.

Thank you, Lord, for a new fresh today to live for you. I praise you

–for your watching over me all night,

–for arranging things for this new day,

— preparing grace for the challenges to come,

— providing enough wisdom for me (and do I need it!),

— and for sending your angels before to protect me. Praise be to you, O Lord God for your goodness and grace.

“…the LORD is righteous; he has cut me free from the cords of the wicked” (Ps. 129:4).

When I look back and compare my life today with what it was like at age 18, or 26, or 33, or 46, what a difference I see! There is so much more light, so much more freedom, so much more joy because you, Lord Jesus, are ever cutting me free from my own wickedness, from the work of Satan and from the warped thinking of the world. Thank you for revealing these cords one at a time and leading me in repentance so you can cut those cords and I can withdraw any ground I’d given the enemy.

Help me to walk in the light of these truths, enjoying your protection and provision while honoring you in all I do. I saw your faithfulness in the sky recently, shown in this picture of a double rainbow.

My loving God will go before me….” Psalm 59:10

To get the missing parts from the old transmission, that evening I got on another night bus and headed back to the capital, 12 hours away. I arrived on Sunday morning and while taking a taxi home, I saw my local mechanic drive by–I had never before seen him anywhere but in his shop! An amazing God sighting! I had the taxi driver follow and stop him. The mechanic graciously came to my house, took the necessary parts from the old transmission and put them on the new one for me.

So, that night I again got on a bus and for the third night in a row spent an uncomfortable, mostly sleepless 12 hours traveling. I noticed that the bus driver was the same one I’d had the previous night. He also recognized me (not too many foreigners ride buses in that direction) and greeted me warmly. At 3 am when the bus stopped for a break, the driver invited me to have “breakfast” with him and we had a good time chatting.

When I got to the mechanic’s the next morning, I was relieved and thankful that everything needed for the transmission was there, and he set to work putting it in the car. During the days we had to wait for the repairs to be done there were many opportunities to practice language, share spiritual truth and experience the local culture as never before. We were also able to be of help to the widow we stayed with, getting her refrigerator home from the repair shop.f

The weather was really hot and for most of the time there was no running water. Our major preoccupation was sweating! Finally I was able to get a tea cup full of water (literally a tea cup full!) and took a shower with that small amount! It was wonderful. But we were ready to be done and get home, but the Lord had other plans for us. Tomorrow will show you some of them.

Picture of  the city we stayed in, 1972

“But I will sing of your strength, in the morning I will sing of your love; for you are my fortress, my refuge in times of trouble’.
Psalm 59:16

As we waited beside our broken-down car, Charles, the local with us, was able to hitchhike to the next village. He returned with a mechanic who patched the hole in the transmission, pumped new oil in and got it going. We were then able to limp some 100 kilometers to the nearest city, creeping over several mountain passes.

There we found a mechanic who took the transmission apart and pronounced it “terminally wounded.” We would have to order a new one from Germany. So, Charles took the three “orphans” along with his daughter and continued his journey to the East by bus. We got on another night bus and rode in the opposite direction, 12 hours back to the capital city, where I called Germany and ordered a rebuilt transmission.

When it came a week later, I had to go to the airport customs hall with the old transmission to get it. Since our car was an imported foreign one, in order to get any new parts shipped in, I had to surrender the old parts to customs.

Well, the customs man didn’t want to take the old transmission and instead wrote it into my passport, telling me that the next time we left the country by car I should take it with me. I wasn’t very happy with having to drag two transmissions with me to the bus stop and then home. But I wasn’t yet aware of what the Lord was doing with this. And you will find out his wonderful works in subsequent posts!

After visiting Germany years ago, we drove back to our Middle Eastern country from which we had been expelled. On the drive through Yugoslavia we had two “God sightings.” First, expecting to find plenty of gas stations around a major city, we saw a sign that said, “Next gas 50 kilometers,” but I knew from experience that there were only about 40 kilometers of gas left in my tank! Praising and pressing on,we came to a new gas station 42 kilometers later! Just in time!

Then as evening came, I was hoping, not really praying, for someone to follow on the dark, winding, narrow roads through the mountains. There were no lights, no center line, no guardrails and often fog, making it a difficult drive in the night. As I drove along at dusk, a car waiting beside the road pulled out in front of me and then led us for the next 500 kilometers through the night!

Just think about the wonders God worked to get us there at just the right moment to join our “escort,” who was an excellent driver and obviously knew the road well. Following him saved us much time and stress as we didn’t have to creep slowly along not sure where the next sharp curve would be!

And He followed up on that God sighting, as the following day we prepared to reentered our country, not sure what would happen, since we had been expelled. But there were no problems with customs: no one seemed to know that we had been expelled.

We then made the 13-hour drive to our city, where we received a very warm welcome from the little team we’d left behind. God’s goodness was clear to us all and we praised Him for it. I needed to remember this demonstration of His goodness and power in the events that would soon come.

Prayer: Father, always remind me of how you have helped me in the past so that I will immediately come to you in prayer in each fresh crisis and give you honor through trust and praise before any answer comes. Amen.”

picture from internet

“He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.” Psalm 91:1

Written in 1980

Someone told me that we seldom learn anything once for all in the spiritual realm and I had just experienced this truth. Coming from the Middle East to Germany has been a shock culturally, and I have forgotten at times two important biblical principles.

First, that our “struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world…” (Ephesians 6:12). It is easy to see the people behind the slow bureaucracy here as the problem, instead of the spiritual forces using them!

Second, “…in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Rom. 8:28). This means seeing that delays are things God uses for good. When I forgot these two truths, I fell into the swamp of impatience and self-pity; but the Lord Jesus, in His magnificent patience and splendorous grace, set me back on the right thought paths.

He did this by bringing  Scripture to mind. I am ever grateful that the Lord had me memorize many passages, like  “Give thanks in all things.” (1 thes. 5:18) and “…run with endurance the race that is set before you, looking to Jesus the author and finisher of our faith.”(Her. 12:1,2). This are high level thoughts,, ones that transform and I was very glad the Spirit brought them to mind.

Tomorrow, more on how the Lord worked things out.