CandyceLand is in VacationLand

Hello friends,

Steve and I arrived a couple of hours to our Airbnb somewhere in the woods in Maine! So far, so good!!!  Our plan is to read, read, and then read some more. Perhaps we'll venture back into civilization to try out a new restaurant or see a local attraction.  Maybe.  😎

I really haven't decided what to do about posting here on this blog for the next 4 weeks while we are on vacation and study leave. My best guess? I may dig into the Archives and pick some posts that were written long ago but which most (all?) of my readers have not seen yet.

With that as a possible plan, here is one that was first published on December 21, 2009. This advice still works in 2019:

Words Without Knowledge

People often speak of having a "favorite" verse; I have too many to count. But the one that has stuck with me the most, particularly during the last two years, is this one from Job:

"Then Job answered the Lord and said, 'Behold, I am of small account; what shall I answer you? I place my hand over my mouth.'" (Job 40:4)

If ever there were a good idea - it would be this one - to stop talking. It is no small matter that after God's discourse at the end of this book, Job admits the obvious: God is so far superior to us that it would be wise to stop the fretting and rebelling and complaining that characterizes much of our speech. Why can't we remember this? Why do we fill up our ears with words that accomplish nothing except drag ourselves (and anyone within hearing distance) down to the pit of sin and despair? Why do we prefer our ignorant views on life experiences rather than trust that God has a purpose which we can't even begin to fathom?

Ahhh, to be able to conclude, as Job did, that submission is the key to peace, comfort, and mercy for us:

"Then Job answered the Lord and said: 'I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted. Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge? Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.'" (Job 42:1-3)

Waiting on Judah

Have you ever considered which emotions are predominant in your life? I certainly have. It has been fairly easy to pinpoint the two that have been part of my everyday life since 2007.  For confirmation, I still cannot even choke out the final verse to "All Praise to God Who Reigns Above" when we sing it at EPC:

Then come before his presence now
And banish fear and sadness;
To your Redeemer pay your vow

And sing with joy and gladness:

Though great distress my soul befell,

The Lord, my God, did all things well,

To God all praise and glory!

Yep, for me it's fear and sadness. I deeply fear that another immensely loved child/grandchild might predecease me, and of course I still have overwhelming grief for the one who already died. So it's no surprise, I guess, that I naturally gravitate to stories of others who face these same emotions, albeit sometimes in very different types of situations. One such person is Kendra Pope. She first came to my attention through a Facebook friend who posted updates on the the Pope family's son, Judah. The quote that was meaningful and encouraging and convicting to me is this one that you will hear in the link below, spoken by Kendra, about some lyrics she listened to on her way to the hospital to see her son:

                               "There's a place where fear has to face the God you know."

Please click right here to see and hear the story of one family's encounter with fear and sadness - and the lessons they have learned as they continue living through a very unexpected and painful providence. It is a 12 minute video in which this mother struggles to daily remember and then trust in this beautiful realization: "God, you are bigger than the fear that is in my heart." Please join so many others who are praying for this family.

Randy Alcorn: The Rest of the Story

I first became acquainted with Randy Alcorn the writer soon after the death of our son back in 2007. Within the first few days of grief I was gripped with the desire to know what heaven was like - what was Sam actually doing or experiencing?  C.S. Lewis once wrote "You never know how much you really believe anything until its truth or falsehood becomes a matter of life and death to you."  Having been a believer and pastor's wife for many years by then, I certainly understood that Jesus was the way to heaven, but I quickly realized how very little I knew about the actual place. Yes, it's being in the presence of God, but what else? Did the Bible describe it in any detail?  Learning about heaven became a lifeline for me.

Enter Randy Alcorn who wrote a book entitled Heaven. I soaked up the theology of this hefty volume and was truly blessed and encouraged by its words, and subsequently taught it to the women of our church. During my next annual 'read-through-the-Bible' trek, I then physically wrote out (remember paper and pens?) every reference on grief, suffering, and heaven that I found; that year was also the beginning of the writing of my book Heaven's Comforts for the Grieving Soul. I use it as a gift to every participant of GriefShare who attends the program at EPC, and the list of Bible references is available for anyone who would like it - just let me know. It's printed and not handwritten anymore. 😉

Anyway, the focus of today's post is not so much about Alcorn's book or mine, but about Randy Alcorn, the person and glorifier of God. I had no idea until recently about "...the rest of the story." What an amazing example of integrity and sacrifice in the life of this man and his family. While the article is a long one, please read until the end. It is well worth your effort. 💜

Here is the link: click for the article. 

Prayers from the Past and Hope for our Present

I often marvel at how blessed we are to live after the invention of the printing press. We have so many resources these days that help us understand and obey the Word of God. Saints in previous generations had no access to these types of written materials, including and especially the Bible itself!

Yet another great option was published by Crossway in 2018, and I am very much benefiting from it. I am referring to the ESV Prayer Bible: Prayers from the Past and Hope for our Present. This is a wonderful collection of 400 or more prayers "...linked to specific passages of Scripture, written by early church fathers, Puritans, Protestant Reformers, and more."  Just yesterday morning I encountered a devotion based on Habakkuk 1:12:

"Are you not from everlasting, O LORD my God, my Holy One? We shall not die."

I read the selection to Steve before church and he was so moved that he then opened our EPC worship service reading George Matheson's prayer:

"Let me feel, O Christ, that I am already immortal; that death could no more destroy my life than it could destroy yours, because mine is yours. When the shadows of the grave seem to encompass me, help me to remember, not so much that there is a life above as that there is a life within; help me to remember, not that you are waiting for me across the valley, but that you are waiting with me in the valley; then shall the rod and the staff of my comfort be, "You are from everlasting; therefore I shall not die."

Such beauty and encouragement for a weary soul! What more can I say except "Amen and Amen?"   💕💕💕