Dandelion Grace

And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.... Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word (Acts 8:1,4, ESV).

"The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church" (Tertullian).

Gusts of affliction

Scatter grace

Like dandelion seeds.


As we pray for our brothers and sisters who are suffering, whether from persecution, displacement, or other trials, let us not forget to pray for God's glory and kingdom through believers' suffering. Let us (me!) not forget that the Lord intends to use our own suffering for His glory. Your pain is not wasted, Crumble. God has a plan and means it for your good, the church's gain, and His glory. May you find hope in that!

Pressure

“It doesn’t matter, really, how great the pressure is,” [Hudson Taylor] used to say; “it only matters where the pressure lies. See that it never comes between you and the Lord - then, the greater the pressure, the more it presses you to His breast.”

from Dr. and Mrs. Howard Taylor, Hudson Taylor's Spiritual Secret, p. 139

The Tenderness of Our Shepherd

Ewe and lamb, Dall sheep, Denali National Park, Alaska

"O trembling heart, look away, and look up! Your sorrows have been multiplied indeed, by looking at difficulties and second causes. Now cease from all this. Talk no more about the walled cities and giants; about the rugged paths and dark valleys; about lions and robbers. But think of the love, the might, and the wisdom, of the Shepherd. Love that spared not its blood! Might that made the worlds! Wisdom that named the stars! Your salvation does not depend on what you are, but on what He is. For every look at self, take ten looks at Christ. Cease using the first pronoun, and substitute for it the third....

"He has a shepherd’s tenderness; no lamb so tiny that He will not carry it; no saint so weak that He will not gently lead; no soul so faint that He will not give it rest. He pities as a father. He comforts as a mother. His gentleness makes great. He covers us with His feathers, soft and warm and downy; and under His wings do we trust" (F.B. Meyer, The Shepherd Psalm).

Strength in Weakness

Yellow-rumped warbler (female, we believe)

One might fairly substitute "brokenness" or "meekness" for "weakness" in the following quote:

“…It is amazing how strong we can become when we begin to understand what weaklings we are! It is in weakness that we can admit our mistakes and correct ourselves while confessing them. It is in weakness that our minds are open to enlightenment from others. It is in weakness that we are authoritative in nothing, and say the most clear-cut things with simplicity and consideration for others. In weakness we do not object to being criticized and we easily submit to censure. At the same time, we criticize no one without absolute necessity. We give advice only to those who desire it, and even then we speak with love and without being dogmatic. We speak from a desire to help rather than for a desire to create a reputation for wisdom” (Fenelon, Let Go, Letter 29).

Reading these words this morning, on a day when I am aware of my weakness with every step I take, reminded me of how far I have to grow in realizing its intended fruit. Amore and I welcome your prayers for the Lord to heal my painful joints and provide His restored strength. The last four weeks have brought new difficulties in that regard, and we have yet to discover the medical explanations for them. If the Lord prompts you to pray for us, please also pray that weakness, hardships, and "calamities" (to our limited sight) would do their good, gracious, refining work in us.

We are so very grateful for your friendship and prayers over the last six-and-counting years!

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:9-10, ESV) 

Sufficient Grace

...a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. (2 Corinthians 12:7b-9, ESV)

"God’s grace is illustrated and magnified in the poverty and trials of believers. Saints bear up under every discouragement, believing that all things work together for their good, and that out of apparent evils a real blessing shall ultimately spring—that their God will either work a deliverance for them speedily, or most assuredly support them in the trouble, as long as he is pleased to keep them in it. This patience of the saints proves the power of divine grace.... He who would glorify his God must set his account upon meeting with many trials. No man can be illustrious before the Lord unless his conflicts be many. If then, yours be a much-tried path, rejoice in it, because you will the better show forth the all-sufficient grace of God. As for his failing you, never dream of it—hate the thought. The God who has been sufficient until now, should be trusted to the end" (Spurgeon, Morning and Evening, Morning of March 4).

See also: The Gift of Thorns