(From the Highland Community Church Bulletin)

 

Why she was waiting for him

What simple faith! Many of us need to be more like the little girl whom the

farmer found lost in his meadow. The farmer said to her, “Do not cry; I’ll

take you home.” The little child snuggled up to him, and with a smile, said, “I

knew you would; I was waiting for you.” “Waiting for me?” said the man.

“What made you think I was coming?” “I was praying you would,” she said.

“Praying? When I first heard you, you were saying A B C D E F G. What

was that for?” She looked up again, and said, “I’m just a little girl. I was

praying all the letters of the alphabet and letting God put them together the

way He wanted to. He knows I was lost, and He knows how to put them

together better than I do.” What a difference, if we would only let God put

the letters of our lives together. –Bible Friend

Faith’s victory

George Frederick Handel, the great musician, lost his health; his right side

was paralyzed; his money was gone; and his creditors seized and threatened to

imprison him. Handel was so disheartened by his tragic experiences that he

almost despaired for a brief time. But his faith prevailed, and he composed

his greatest work, “The Hallelujah Chorus,” which is part of his great

“Messiah.” The Apostle John wrote, “This is the victory that overcometh the

world, even our faith.” –The Sunday School Times

Faithfulness required

I recall a message from a devoted young missionary in Central America. It

came in a letter in which he gave a peep into the deeps of his own heart as

well as into the trials of the work. “The work is hard,” said he. “I go about

on fishing boats through the day. At night I sleep on piles of hides on the

decks. The people do not seem much interested in the Gospel message I

bring. Sometimes the adversary tempts me to discouragement in the face of

seeming lack of success. But I take courage and press on anew as I remember

that God does not hold me responsible for success but for faithfulness.”

–James H. McConkey

Are we sentinels?

When Pompeii was destroyed by the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius there were

many persons buried in the ruins who were afterward found in very different

positions. There were some found in deep vaults, as if they had gone there for

security. There were some found in lofty chambers. But where did they find

the Roman sentinel? They found him standing at the city gate where he had

been placed by the captain, with his hands still grasping the weapon. There,

while the earth shook beneath him; there, while the floods of ashes and

cinders overwhelmed him, he had stood at his post; and there, after a thousand

years, he was found. So let Christians stand by their duty in the post at which

their Captain places them. –Gospel Trumpet