My Guide and Pilot

Often the Christian life is beset with dangers, and duty seems hard to perform. The imagination pictures impending ruin before, and bondage and death behind. Yet the voice of God speaks clearly, Go forward…. Faith looks beyond the difficulties, and lays hold of the unseen, even Omnipotence, therefore it cannot be baffled. Faith is the clasping of the hand of Christ in every emergency.15Gospel Workers, 262.

Every ship sailing the sea of life needs to have the divine Pilot on board; but when storms arise, when tempests threaten, many persons push their Pilot overboard, and commit their bark into the hand of finite man, or try to steer it themselves. Then disaster and wreckage generally follow, and the Pilot is blamed for running them into such dangerous waters. Do not commit yourselves into the keeping of men, but say, “The Lord is my helper”; I will seek His counsel; I will be a doer of His will…. It is as impossible for us to receive qualification from man, without the divine enlightenment, as it was for the gods of Egypt to deliver those who trusted in them…. Do not trust yourself to men. Act under the divine Guide.

You have been chosen by Christ. You have been redeemed by the precious blood of the Lamb. Plead before God the efficacy of that blood. Say unto Him: “I am Thine by creation; I am Thine by redemption. I respect human authority, and the advice of my brethren; but I cannot depend wholly upon these. I want Thee, O God, to teach me. I have covenanted with Thee to adopt the divine standard of character, and make Thee my counselor and guide—a party to every plan of my life; therefore teach me.” Let the glory of the Lord be your first consideration…. Let every act of your life be sanctified by a holy endeavor to do the Lord’s will, that your influence may not lead others into forbidden paths.16Fundamentals of Christian Education, 348, 349.
The Faith I Live By p. 100
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Prayer Requests
—-Please pray that my husband and daughter, as well as 2 other family members, will make it safely back home from Ireland tomorrow. They are traveling back tomorrow. Lucyanne
—-Please pray once again for Cynthia.. she is struggling with dementia. Pamela
—-Please pray for E to make a correct decision. R
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Dear Friends,

When we first moved to North Carolina, we rented a garage apartment right across the
street from the church and church school. This made it so convenient for Eileen since she could just walk across the street to go to school. It had a nice playground where she and Ronnie Jay could play together. It was also convenient for us as we did not have to drive to the various church meetings . Although the apartment was small, these things made us very happy there.

One day, our land lady told us that her son was going to be staying with her for awhile. She was very excited. That son and his family soon arrived with all of their belongings. It looked to us as if her were planning to stay indefinitely. One day, he told us that we would have to move. He was moving to Wilmington permanently and would be living in his mother’s house. He had decided that our apartment would be a perfect place for his mother to live. It was hard to believe that anyone could do such a thing to their mother, but there was nothing we could do but try to find another place to live. We had lost everything but the clothes we were wearing just before we had moved there and losing that apartment that was so convenient for us seemed made me feel as if my world was crashing in upon me. I just could not understand why this was happening. I was very discouraged.

Finally, after searching diligently, I found a mobile home that was surrounded by trees and fields. Behind the trailer was a warehouse where the snack food trucks stored their food supplies. It did not take my children long to discover that if they were outside when the trucks came, the drivers would give them the day-old food that they could not sell. Every day they would come back with their arms loaded with food. It was like having our own bakery outlet store! This was such a blessing to us, as we were having a very hard time financially and this helped our grocery bill tremendously. It was true that most of the food was high in sugar, but at least our children didn’t have to go hungry any more.

There was a magnolia tree behind our trailer that Eileen enjoyed climbing and a wisteria vine loaded with fragrant blooms. The front yard was a lovely place with tall pines that shielded us from the street. On warm evenings, we enjoyed having worship under those pines. One evening as the children and I were sitting under those trees, we had an thrilling experience. I was playing the guitar, and we were singing songs of praise to our Heavenly Father, when a little screech owl flew down and landed on a post about 10 feet from us. He watched us and we watched him. He seemed to be enjoying the music. He stayed there all the time we were having worship and would have stayed longer, but Ronnie Jay, age two, was getting sleepy and wanted to go to bed. We had to walk within inches of that little owl to get inside. That was a little too close for Mr. Owl’s comfort and he flew away.

Suddenly, I realized that we were much happier there than we had ever been in the apartment. I then knew that what had seemed like a such a great difficulty and trial, was really a great blessing sent to us from our Great Provider. My heart filled with gratitude for His loving care.

Sometimes we cannot understand why things happen the way they do. Our trials make us feel like our world is crashing in on top of us. We feel as did Job, “When I looked for good, then evil came unto me: and when I waited for light, there came darkness.” Job 30:26 Yet, God has His hand over all of these things. He takes those very circumstances that seem so overwhelming and unfair and works them around for our good. “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” Rom 8:28 Moreover, He promises, “I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye. Ps 32:8 It may not happen as quickly as we would like, or in the way that we would like, but if we allow Him to, He will untangle all the tangled threads of our lives and make our path straight. Peter tells us, “Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.” “That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 4:12,13; 1:7

Let us turn to our Loving Shepherd when things go wrong and when all forsake us. He is our comfort! He is our strength! He is our Fortress and our Mighty Deliverer! “Let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name” no matter what may be happening in our life, for we know and are assured that our Loving Father has our best interest at heart. Heb 13:15 Let us pray as did David, “In thee, O LORD, do I put my trust; let me never be ashamed: deliver me in thy righteousness. Bow down thine ear to me; deliver me speedily: be thou my strong rock, for an house of defense to save me. For thou art my rock and my fortress; therefore for thy name’s sake lead me, and guide me. Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD. Ps 31:1-3, 24

Rose