Cemented Relationship
Theme of the Week: Who Can You Trust?
Richard Exley
Thursday, October 28, 2004
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Key Bible Verse: If you are suffering … trust yourself to the God who made you, for he will never fail you (1 Peter 4:19). Bonus Reading:Philippians 1:12–14 ; Acts 28:30–31
When Helen Roseveare arrived in the Congo to serve as the only doctor to a half million people, she was dismayed to discover totally inadequate medical facilities. So she learned to make bricks in order to build a hospital.
One day she was called from the brick kiln to the temporary mud-and-thatch hospital to do an emergency surgery. As she scrubbed her torn and bleeding hands in preparation for surgery, she wondered why God was allowing her to waste her medical skills doing construction work.
A few days later, local church elders confided that when she was "being a doctor" they were afraid of her, viewing her as a "white witch doctor." "But," they said, "when you're at the brick kiln, your hands as sore as ours, using our tribal language, and making jokes, then we're able to love and trust you."
Bowing her head, Helen silently thanked God for helping her understand the why of her situation. If making bricks enabled her to bond with the Africans and thus share the gospel, then she'd gladly make bricks. Still, as she goes on to say, God will surely lead us beyond the stage where we have to know the why before we can praise Him.
—Richard Exley in Strength for the Storm
My Response: A "why" I've figured out after the event is …
Thought to Apply: Recognizing that we are where we are because God put us there gives our lives a sense of purpose.
—Richard Kew (author)
Adapted from Strength for the Storm (Nelson, 1999) by permission.
Copyright © 2004 Christianity Today. Click
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Sovereign Lord, when my situation looks shaky, help me to rest secure in Your solid character, loving care, and wise purposes.
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