SHOULDERS #60 ---- 3/8/99
Posted by: lifeunlimited <lifeunlimited@...>
As We fight The Good Fight
SHOULDER TO SHOULDER #60 ---- 3/8/99
TITLE: "Have You A Word From God?" (#4) ---- Isaiah 44:3-4. Godly
Children.
My dear Fellow Soldier:
For more than a year I have written to bring encouragement to my fellow
brothers and sisters, most of whom I do not know personally, trying to
lift them up by insights and experiences that have made up the well
traveled pathway of my own pilgrimage.
Several weeks ago I determined to write about today's particular subject,
not knowing that this past week would include an experience that brought
new memories of a past and continuing heartache. Even last night as I
wrote the bulk of the letter, I wrote it shortly after receiving one of
the most hateful and vitriolic anonymous letters I have ever received
from anybody.
Satan has tried to use it to again bring accusation and condemnation upon
Jo Ann and me.
So ---- while you are praying, please spend a little extra time praying
for us.
It is ironic to me that Sunday morning I preached about Receiving Rather
than Resisting the Work of the Potter (Isaiah 45:9, Jeremiah 18:6, Psalm
114:3, and II Corinthians 4:7).
My point was that God has the Right to do all things, and He does all
things Right. Therefore, we must respond properly to Him through the
singular principle of Submission ---- by . . .
1) Yielding to the Potter's Purpose ---- Unknown, but Unique, and
Useful,
2) Yielding to the Potter's Pressure ---- sometimes hurting, but never
harming, and . . .
3) Yielding to the Potter's Patience, when He finds a stubborn spot or a
foreign element requiring breaking and remaking.
Little did I realize I would have the opportunity to so respond just a
few hours later.
HAVE YOU A WORD FROM GOD?
All that brings me to an experience in 1973. However, that special
"Rhema" back then has been daily fresh through the years, has been clung
to in hours of blackness, has been shouted from the housetops in days of
glory, and has been clung to again today.
Yes, ---- I have a word from God, though given 26 years ago, and, though
tested many times in the past few years, it is still intact today.
FOUR INDESCRIBABLE GIFTS:
God, in His great mercy, blessed Jo Ann and me with the four most
wonderful daughters you could ever hope for. Over the years they, in
turn, have blessed us time and again in so many ways. Space just won't
permit any "bragging" space ---- you'll just have to take my word.
Cheri, our third daughter, had broken her arm for the second time in
sixteen months, and we were due to take her to the hospital for the cast
removal in the midst of one of the greatest revival meetings we had seen
in several years.
An evangelist named Manley Beasley had been speaking on faith all week
---- and I was saying "amen" all week long, little knowing my own faith
was just about to be placed in the assayer's fire.
I remember it as if it were yesterday ---- I stood in the waiting room as
Jo Ann and Cheri joined the doctor in the examination room.
The saw ground and whined like a jet engine. Then there was silence,
save the muffled cracking sound of the cast being peeled from Cheri's
forearm ---- and then the doctor's, "Oh, my!"
"Oh, my!" What do you mean, "Oh my!"?
To our shock, we were soon to learn that somehow Cheri's arm had healed
back crooked. It was significantly deformed with an extra 30 degree
"elbow" protruding outward about seven inches above her wrist.
My response was immediate ----
"Lord!? . . . . what in the world is going on here? What do You think
You're doing!?! After all this great teaching on faith, and you do this
to me????"
God didn't answer.
The doctor, however, said, "You have two choices ---- leave it for the
rest of her life, or have it rebroken.
We knew the first alternative was not an option at all ---- we had been
around too many children with various abnormalities that had drawn
misunderstanding and ridicule from others.
So we scheduled Cheri for a hospital stay beginning the following Monday.
DO YOU BELIEVE GOD CAN HEAL YOU?
Following the evening services that Friday the Freeman's and the
Garrisons, part of our ministry team for the week, prepared for a late
supper while I went into Cheri's bedroom to pray with her. She had been
her quiet and composed self throughout the day, but I sensed she felt
alone.
I sat down on her bed beside her. "Cheri, do you believe God could heal
your arm right now if He wanted to, and you wouldn't have to go to the
hospital?"
Her answer was immediate and confident ---- "Yes, I know He could ----
but it isn't necessary." She seemed strangely content with the
circumstance, something her father certainly was not. As I prayed, I
found my faith rising and falling like a yo yo. In such a state, I'm not
sure just how much good my praying did anybody.
I found myself compromising my own heart feelings, audibly praying far
less than my heart was crying out within me, sometimes angry, sometimes
bewildered. There's not doubt that Cheri's ministry to me, though
incredibly threatening to my own spiritual maturity, was far greater than
my ministry to her.
After we prayed, I left her room.
LORD, WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO SAY TO ME?
Jo Ann, Ted, Lorette, and Maggie were in the family room talking. Bill
and I were in the living room. I sat, bewildered, with my Bible in my
lap, somehow sensing that there was an answer there for me ---- but
where?
Deep inside, though, I knew this might well be a major event in my life.
"Lord, what are you trying to say to me? I'm hurting, I'm confused, I'm
angry, ---- I need to hear from You. I know you can heal Cheri's arm
instantly, but is that what You intend to do?" The conversation
continued in the inner recesses of my soul for several minutes.
Finally, I said, "Lord, You know I believe You and trust You. I just
need some type of assurance that You are indeed in control of this
situation."
With that, I began to aimlessly leaf through my Bible. However, when I
came to the book of Isaiah, I remembered about a year earlier when God
gave me the verse about which I wrote last week.
I was attracted to chapter 44. I began to read ---- "Thus says the Lord
who made you and formed you from the womb, who will help you. Do not
fear . . ."
That really got my attention. I read on.
"For I will pour out water on the thirsty land and streams on the dry
ground; I will pour out My Spirit on your offspring, and My blessing on
your descendants; and they will spring up among the grass like poplars by
streams of water. This one will say, 'I am the Lord's'; and that one
will call on the name of Jacob; and another will write on his hand,
'Belonging to the Lord,' and another will name Israel's name with
honor."(Isaiah 44:3-5)
My mouth dropped open in awed shock. I pondered that passage for several
minutes.
Finally, I said, . . . . "Lord, I'd rather have that any day than an
instantly healed arm!"
It seemed He said, "I'm glad to hear that, because that's what I intend
to do for you instead of healing Cheri's arm."
CONFIRMATION:
I was so thrilled, I wanted to tell Cheri, but she was asleep. I started
to say something to Bill, but before I could get it out, he picked up his
guitar and said, "Bob, listen to this."
He began to sing the chorus to the wonderful song, "Ho, Everyone Who Is
Thirsty" ---- "I will pour water on him who is thirsty; I will pour
floods upon the dry ground. I will pour My Spirit upon your children.
He who is thirsty, I give unto him."
I didn't know whether to shout or weep. We all rejoiced as God validated
His presence and control in that situation.
>From that day until now I have embraced that "Rhema" from God as His
promise to Jo Ann and me that our four daughters were going to be godly
women, surrendered to Him, and serving Him in any way He chose.
What a joy it was to know we were going to be blessed beyond measure in
years to come.
THE OUTCOME ---- GOOD AND BAD:
While I have no desire to brag or sound arrogant, I will say that
throughout elementary, junior high, high school, college, and into their
married lives, all four of our girls grew by leaps and bounds, excelled
in virtually everything they did, and became strong spiritual leaders.
Not one of them has ever disappointed us in any way ---- and we praise
God for that, because we know it is all of Him and none of us.
Three of them have served overseas as missionaries. One is currently a
missionary, another is a pastor's wife. All four of them have been
faithful church members, and have all attempted to raise their children
(our eight grand kids) in the things of the Lord. Of the five who are
old enough to understand salvation, three have already accepted Christ.
But ---- here's where the rub comes. Three years ago this month, after a
series of highly traumatic experiences over the previous two years, one
of our daughters made some horrendous accusations toward seventeen
people, including Jo Ann and me, and immediately cut off all contact with
us. We have not seen her, heard from her, or talked with her in three
years.
Perhaps you can imagine just how heart broken we have been.
Immediately Satan threw Isaiah 44:3-5 in front of my face and said, "See?
It really doesn't work, does it!"
But, I am here to tell you, my friend ---- "It DOES work!"
God's Word ---- His "Rhema" ---- never fails. It is absolute. It is
sure. It is true. It is everlasting.
You may ask how I can say that in light of this apparent contradiction.
I can't explain that. I've tried.
I've examined that passage over and over, noting that one of the four
statements about my offspring begins with "one will say . . ." Maybe she
didn't mean it. Who knows?
THREE GUY WIRES"
This I do know, my friend, God's Word to us is true, and it has not
changed, it has not failed. We cling to it more tightly than ever
before. Even after this letter from an anonymous writer which I received
last night, I cling to it without fear, without doubt, and without
regret.
When this tragic episode first happened, Jo Ann and I were shaken to the
very core of our beings. We slept and ate little, we tossed and turned
nightly, and we cried constantly. We could hardly be around other
people. Our joy was gone. Our motivation and energy to minister was
expended on ourselves.
We found it totally impossible to preach, counsel, sing, or even write
letters to our supporters. We were slowly isolating ourselves away from
everyone except our immediate family by being consumed by our own
heartache. We were like drowning victims being drawn down the sides of
an out of control whirlpool sucking us into its watery grave.
Then, one day, God gave a reinforcing "Rhema" to Jo Ann from Luke 14 ----
the story of the prodigal son. There are three "guy wires" that have
helped keep us stable over these past three years.
In addition to the unchanging promises of 1973 to which we desperately
and tenaciously clung, our merciful Father gave us two more. "When he
had come to himself" ---- that was it! Because she had cut herself off
from us and the rest of the family, there was absolutely nothing other
than prayer that we could do.
It was like an enormous load lifted from Jo Ann's broken heart when she
told me, "until she comes to herself, every attempt we make to help will
be rejected." As soon as she said that, I knew it was absolutely true.
It was like a fresh breeze wafting into our spirits bringing soothing
refreshment to our dry and broken lives.
I picked up my Bible and began to read, through tear-filled eyes, the
story. As I read, I saw a second truth that set us free to become
victors rather than victims. As I examined the response of the
prodigal's father, I realized he had another son ---- and a wife. He had
servants under him, depending on him. He had a farm to run. In the
midst of his own heartache, he continued on in his daily life ---- and it
was o.k. to do that.
It was as if God said, "Bob, I'm in control here. In the meantime, you
have a life to life, a family to enjoy, and a ministry to carry out.
It's not a sin to do that ---- and to have fun doing it. Get on with
life."
IS THE PROMISE SURE?
Absolutely!
Jo Ann and I know beyond doubt that the promise God gave us for our four
daughters is as true today as it was in 1973. We will not be moved from
that truth.
Why? Because of our faith? No.
Rather, because of God's never failing faithfulness. "He Who has said
it, will do it."
What does that mean for our one daughter? I have no idea. I can
conclude that one of the following is going to take place ---- 1) we
will be reunited sometime, no matter how long it takes, or 2) we will be
reunited in heaven.
Some may wonder how we can justify the promise with the present
situation, but it is a "no brainer" for us; we recognize that God's
promises are always contingent on whether or not we receive them and
embrace them. So, regardless of what our daughter has chosen to do, the
promise is still intact ---- it's just a matter of whether or when she
"comes to herself" and is drawn back into the covering of His promised
blessing.
My friend, the promise is sure! You can put it in the bank!
HAVE YOU A WORD FROM GOD?
What about you, friend? Have you perhaps struggled with a promise simply
because the circumstances around you didn't verify the promise?
If so, then answer this. Which is more true ---- God's promises, or your
circumstances?
It makes no difference what people and circumstances try to declare.
What makes a difference is what your God has said about the situation.
---- And ---- whether or not you have chosen to believe Him rather than
the circumstances or the people.
God has promised us, and He has done it. He has poured water on those of
us who are thirsty. He has poured floods out on our dry parched ground.
He has poured His Spirit out on our children and theirs. They have
indeed grown up like willow trees by the water courses.
How that plays itself out in their lives is in their hands.
In the meantime, we rejoice over what great things He has done, and we
anticipate what He will continue doing in the lives of our four wonderful
children.
Do you have a "Rhema" for your family? If not, let me encourage you to
ask the Lord whether or not you need one, and, if so, give you just what
you need. The family is the most important thing God ever gives us
outside His gift of salvation. Just as you need assurance for your
salvation, you also need assurance for the survival, welfare, and
ministry of your family.
IN CONCLUSION:
I am keenly aware that my letter today may be considerably disconnected
---- it has been difficult to concentrate on the one hand, and to
abbreviate on the other. So, I pray in a very special way that you are
blessed today.
In Christ's Great Bond of Grace,
Bob Tolliver ---- (Rom 1:11-12)
Copyright March, 1999. All rights reserved.
If this letter has blessed you and you know of someone else who needs to
be encouraged, feel free to forward it in its entirety to all such people
you know.
If you would like a list of past issues which you could receive upon
request, just let us know.
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Hang in there! I'm with you!
-------.oooo0--------------- Ooooo--------
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