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The Generation After Them

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All in one week I received copies of these old photos. They were both taken nearly fifty years ago. I say nearly because I turned 50 this year and I was three in the picture on the top. The other picture is a photo of my husband’s parents and their nephew and was taken a little more than 50 years ago. As I look at these photos I think about the dreams and ambitions of our parents at that time. Knowing them as I do, I know that it was their earnest desire to have a home and family that would please the Lord. Their prayer was that their children would be saved and then live for the Lord. Praise the Lord, the next generation has done just that. By God’s grace, all their children and grandchildren are walking with the Lord at this time – what a blessing. What a heritage!

As I read this morning in Judges 2 I read about the Israelites that had disobeyed the Lord in not driving out the enemies from the land. They allowed them to live among them and turn their hearts away from their God. Verse 10 says, “And also all that generation were gather unto their fathers: and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the Lord, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel.” It’s not enough to me that I’m saved and my children know the Lord, but also that my grandchildren to come would also trust in Him. When I read that verse this morning my heart cried out, “Oh Lord, don’t let that be said of my girls or their children! Keep them close to you. Help my girls to train their children to love you.” My girls aren’t even married yet, but it’s not too soon to pray for the next generation. I’ve heard preachers say that they won’t consider their parenting effective until they see what their grandchildren do. In other words, if their children pass on the Truths of salvation and sanctification, they will see that their teaching has truly influenced the lives of their children.

I often pray Colossians 1:9-14 for my children; if you have grandchildren pray it for them. God honors His Word and loves to hear it being prayed to Him. When you pray this passage you’re asking the Lord to:
  • fill them with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding.

  • help your children to walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing

  • allow them to be fruitful in every good work

  • help them to increase in the knowledge of God

  • strengthen them with all might by his glorious power

  • give them patience and longsuffering with joyfulness

I pray that years from now when my family looks at our old photos they will be able to rejoice that the generations that followed that “old couple” are still loving and serving the Lord…that is my greatest desire as a mother. What a treasure that would be! It will only come by living it consistently and by much prayer. Lord, help me to faithfully do both.”

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Lessons from a Testimony – Part 2

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Continued from yesterday’s post
You’ve probably heard the saying, “Life is 10% of what happens to you and 90% how you react to it.” How should a believer respond to tragedy or shocking news? We must remember the truth about our God and rest in those truths. That does not mean we cannot cry or feel emotions, it means that we must keep our actions based upon the solid Rock of Truth.

As Carol and her husband, Jeff sat before their pastor he told them that a girl in their Christian school was accusing Jeff of molestation. Carol was sure her husband was innocent. They both figured this girl had some wild imagination and denied the charges. However, after a couple of sleepless nights, Jeff woke Carol in the middle of the night and confessed to this immoral act – and others. Carol was in shock, but determined they would work through this together. A couple days later Jeff was missing. Under the pressure of the guilt of his sin and the legal ramifications Jeff ended his own life. Carol was now left to move on alone, with their two children and bearing another child in her womb. That was thirteen years ago.

Through this tragedy Carol had to come to a place of utmost dependence on God. She now had no one else to turn to – no one to lean on but her Savior, and she has always found that He is enough. She ended up moving back to Northland Bible College (now called Northland International University) where she began teaching ladies’ Bible and counseling classes. The Lord has also given her many opportunities to speak to women at conferences, such as the retreat at The Wilds this past weekend.

As I listened to Carol speak I saw a woman who has entrenched herself in God’s Word. She knows the Bible and therefore she knows her God! She lived it before us as she shared with us in the last session that she had gotten a call from her mother that afternoon. She had called to tell her that her sister had committed suicide that day. Our hearts broke as she also shared that her sister was not saved. I wondered how I would have responded had I been in her place. I think there would have been a strong desire to pack my things and leave camp to run home to be with my family. But here she was, finishing her responsibilities at this retreat, quietly resting in God’s sovereign care. What a precious testimony of resting in the Truth.

Interesting, isn’t it, that she ended up living in the very place that she had complained about? The word here is surrender. This is where God wanted her, and now she is yielded to His will – not her own.

Women tend to look at a woman like Carol standing before them speaking and ask, “How could I have a ministry like that? I’d love to speak to groups of women!” A ministry of that sort isn’t pursued…it’s placed upon a woman that has gone through the school of trials and come through shining with the degree of Grace. While we thank the Lord for what she taught us, we must all realize that the Lord is wanting to do the same kind of refining in each of our lives so that we can influence those that are around us each day. I’ll end with a quote from Carol – “We can’t produce, but we can influence.” Whose life will you influence for godliness today because you are resting in the Truth?
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Lessons from a Testimony

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I will praise thee, O Lord my God with all my heart: and I will glorify thy name for evermore. For great is thy mercy toward me and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell. Psalm 86:12, 13

For anyone who has trusted Christ as their Savior these verses could be our prayer. The Lord has delivered us from so much – the bondage of sin, the fear of death, a hopeless existence and from hell. Some people realize even greater what they have been delivered from because they came to Christ later in life. Such is the case with Carol Trahan.

Carol was a college student that lived for this world, for pleasure and for herself. She was a bright student that had ambitions to be a doctor. To those watching her it would be easy to assume she had no desire for spiritual things. She scoffed at the Gospel and the existence of God, yet in her heart she knew something was missing in her life. She recalls reading a banner with a Scripture verse on it hung by the Christian organization on campus, and how it pricked her heart. She remembers those that shared the Gospel with her, and though she outwardly resisted, her heart was being tendered towards turning towards the Savior. She carefully watched the lives of those that called themselves Christians. Several times she found herself in church, just to please someone and would leave after the invitation all the time trembling with the realization that she needed to be saved. It was a roommate that shared the Gospel with her and led Carol again to church where she heard the Gospel again and finally surrendered and was saved.

As Carol shared her salvation experience with us, I was reminded of some that I’m praying will be saved that seem so hardened towards the Gospel. They’re just like Carol was. But I am encouraged to hear that she was effected by the witnesses around her – a verse on a banner, the words spoken by a concerned person, a message preached. If you’re praying for an unsaved person, don’t give up because they seem so disinterested. The Spirit of God is working in the place we cannot see – their heart. Keep loving, keep being a faithful Christian witness, keep giving the Truth to them. They may not say it, but they are listening and taking it all in!

The Lord doesn’t promise us that surrendering to Him after salvation will be easy, and it wasn’t for Carol. When the Lord called her husband to minister at Northland Bible College and she had to leave her home in California she became bitter and complaining. After two years of struggling with his wife’s contentious heart, her husband said they would go back to California. Though she now had exactly what she wanted, she was miserable because she knew she was out of the will of God. The Lord allowed her to work as secretary in their church and one day she came across a message on tape that convicted her heart of its rebellion. She confessed her sin to God and began on the road to freedom and blessing.

However, while she was coming back to the Lord she had no idea that her husband had been drifting away. She found this out in a horrific way – one day their pastor called Carol and her husband into his office to share with them some allegations brought against Carol’s husband. Surely this was a mistake.

Is this not a warning to each of us that is married? We have such a huge influence on our husbands. We can either be a blessing to them by coming alongside to aid them in whatever God has called them to do, or we can make them so miserable by our griping, complaining, and contentious spirits that they quit. Our sin can influence our husband to drift as well, and there will be a price to pay. No wife can make her husband sin – it’s his choice, but we sure can influence him! The Lord used this in my own life to rebuke me for wanting my own way too often. We forget that we are the helper – not the leader. It is our responsibility to submit and follow, even in a day when that is not a popular thought. Blessing will be ours when we obey.

…continued tomorrow.

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Retreat Journal

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How gracious the Lord was to us this weekend on our outing to The Wilds. The weather was perfect for travelling, hiking to the second falls and walking around the campsite. We did indeed have the fellowship that I mentioned in my Friday post. There are some really funny things that happened (one including a woman from another group losing her slip when she stood up to sing and then proceeding to attempt to get it back in place while standing on the front row!).

We heard from the Lord through a godly woman – Carol Trahan, that has endured more hardships in the last thirteen years than most will in a lifetime. A good deal of what came from her lips was memorized Scripture. Is it any wonder that she’s stood firm, rooted in her love for God through the difficulties? She’s buried herself in the Truths of His Word and has learned Who her God is. She has demonstrated the faith that she can trust Him. If Hebrews was being written today her name would surely be listed among those in the Hall of Faith in chapter 11.

Carol was a challenge and rebuke to each of us about the importance of memorizing the Scriptures. As some were talking between the sessions about her ability to quote Scripture someone said, “She’s very smart! With her science degree and all it’s no wonder she can memorize like she does.” I disagree with that, though. Memorizing Scripture doesn’t just come easily; it comes from study and pouring over God’s Word. It’s easy for us to pass off our responsibility because we’re not as smart as others, or we’re not as young as we used to be. I had someone say to me once that Scripture memory must be easy for me because I’m a pastor’s wife. Really? Where do we get verification of that in the Word of God? II Timothy 2:15 says, Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. See the words, “Study“, and “Workman?” I believe that’s evidence that each of us that wants to hide God’s Word in our heart so we do not sin against Him (Psalm 119:11) will have to WORK at it! Each of us are responsible to know the Word for ourselves because “whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. Romans 15:4

Tomorrow I’ll share some of Carol’s testimony with you so you can hear the blessing of how God has worked in her life for His glory. In the meantime, I plan on working on a new memory passage – how about you?