I Never Promised You a Rose Garden

“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.”  

Romans 8:28  (KJV)                                                                                     

I have been struggling with a situation for some time now for which I  have been searching God’s Word for answers and have prayed without ceasing for a solution.  So far, instead of things getting better, it seems that the problem has become more complex and difficult with which to deal.   At this moment, I see no solution and no end in sight.  All outside research about this dilemma, leaves very little hope of things ever getting better.  To be really honest, I feel very helpless and hopeless at times. 

Just because someone is a pastor, pastor’s wife or missionary, does not mean that they do not flounder at times and have a hard time understanding  why God would allow certain things to into their lives.   I will honestly admit to you that it is sometimes very difficult to comprehend just what it is that God is trying to accomplish in our lives.  

Of course, God never promised us a rose garden.  In fact, He says in John 15:

“18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you…

20 Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.

 However, you do realize that if you did live in a rose garden, even that would be a very “prickly” situation  - because roses have thorns!

Just as I have encouraged others to have faith, to trust the Lord and wait on Him to answer their prayers, I, too, must remind myself at times, that He loves me, He is the blessed Controller of all things, and He does has a plan. Not only does He have a plan, but His plan is always best.

I hope you are not shocked or disappointed that someone in my position  (a missionary) would, at times, falter and stumble a bit.  But missionaries, pastors and their wives (even those well known in Christendom), if they are honest, have all gone through times of weakness - because we are all frail human beings!

Even those who walked and talked with Jesus Himself struggled, and their faith faltered at times. Yet, the disciples heard His teachings and saw His miracles first hand!  

Remember how desperate they felt out on the storm tossed sea? Remember how they doubted when they were told to feed more than 5,000 people?  But I think the most difficult time for them must have been when they watched the soldiers take Jesus prisoner in the Garden of Gethsemane.  

Can you imagine their astonishment and disbelief as Jesus was was given a mock trial and pronounced guilty? They must have been terrified and felt helpless as they watched from afar as the soldiers scourged, mocked and tortured their beloved Leader.  I’m sure that they were heartsick and full of despair as they watched Him struggle to  carry the cross on His painful, bloody back through the streets of Jerusalem and up Golgotha’s hill.  As they nailed our Savior to the cross, I believe they felt their hearts sink lower and lower with each resounding blow of the hammer.  

Can you imagine the doubts and questions they had in their hearts?  “Were we wrong?”  “Have we been fools to have left everything in order follow Him?” “If He truly is Messiah, how can He accomplish anything if He is dead?”  

I believe that they felt in their hearts that all He had said was true, yet… how could this happen? How could it end like this?  It didn’t make sense!  They were struggling!

When all the crowds and mockers were gone and all was quiet, not only was Jesus dead, but all of their hopes and dreams were dead, too.  The breath had been knocked out of them when He took His last breath.  Their “world”, cold and lifeless, had just been carried and laid in a dark tomb.  I think that when the soldiers rolled the heavy stone in front of the tomb’s gaping hole, the disciples were wondering if they were sealing off, not only, the forthcoming decay of their slaughtered leader and teacher, but also that of all their dead and lifeless expectations.

If someone had come to them in that moment and told them “we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose”, what do you think they would have done?  Laughed, scoffed?  I’m not sure, but I think they would have shouted that nothing good could come from what had just happened!  

You know though, the beautiful thing about our Heavenly Father is that, whether or not we believe what He says, He is always true to His word! Three days later, He proved to them that all things do work together for good!

On that third day, that resurrection morning, Jesus walked away from that tomb and death!  You see, all of the previous horrible things that had happened were necessary!  They had to happen because that was the only way we could be forgiven for our sins!  That was the only way He could make a way for us to go to Heaven!  That was the only way He could prove His love for us!

There are a couple of short daily devotional websites to which I subscribe and receive their articles on a regular basis.  In addition to my personal devotion time, I also enjoy gleaning from the teachings of other Biblical teachers.  So many times, it’s as if the Lord has a special message just for me - that He is using their writings to speak to my own heart and special needs.  

Just recently, I read a short devotional submitted by Lamar Duke.  In it, he made some pertinent observations about Romans 8:28 that bears repeating.  He pointed out that:

1. It is not conjecture, but certainty. "And we know..."

2. Not some things, but ALL things. "...all things..."

3. Not separately, but together. "...all things to work together..."

4. Not inclusive, but exclusive. "...to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose."

If you read this verse in it’s context, you will see that the Lord is talking to Christians, Believers, those that are Saved.  

I am so glad that we have Someone in Whom we can always depend!  Someone who is always there for us, always loving us, and always looking out for our best!  Even if we don’t understand what, why or how, we can trust Him!  He is always true to His Word!

Just look at what He did for us on the cross!  

Better yet, look at what He did for us after the cross!  

HE AROSE!...

No, He didn’t promise us a rose garden.  But, I ask you, who needs a rose garden when you have the Rose of Sharon?

Happy Resurrection Celebration! 

I Married A Missionary, Too!

Sometime back, I received an email from a young woman in Bible college that was doing some research for a thesis.  I had never met her, and I really don't even know how she got my name or email address.  Anyway, she wondered if I would mind answering some questions for her when the time came.  I told her that I would be happy to do so.  Only, when that time came, I was without access to internet and did not even read her email until several weeks after the fact.

But, be that as it may, through that contact, I began following her blog at Paper Dove Missions.  Although young, (of course, at my age, everyone seems young!) she is an insightful writer and seems to have a real passion for the Lord, His service, and missions in particular.  

In the beginning, she would occasionally mention a certain young man.  Then I began reading about him more and more.  It was quite obvious to me, as I am sure that it was to all of those who followed her blog, that young love was blossoming right before our very eyes! Finally, she announced that they had wedding plans!  

Justin and Anna Toews

Well, today, I received notice of a new post on her blog.  It was entitled I Married a Missionary!… .   Once again, it was a short, but very well written article.  In it, Anna spoke of the Holy Spirit being at their wedding and also about their plans of serving the Lord as missionaries.  There was also a picture of a beautiful bride and a happy groom.  

Now, at times, marriage can be difficult at best.  But, if anyone in this world has a chance of making it, it is a young couple like this who has put Jesus Christ at the center of their relationship since the very beginning! 

I just had to leave a comment on Anna's blog this time and thought I would share that comment with you. It contains a bit of my own testimony.  Here it is:

We've never met, Anna, but I have followed your blog.  I too, married a missionary…  41 years ago this June!  We were in Bible college and our goal was to be missionaries in Mexico.  But, God gave us a few detours on the way.  We didn't always understand why, but we knew without a doubt that they were GOD'S detours and not our own, because, the WHOLE TIME, it was in OUR hearts to go to the mission field.  

First, it was 6 years in Texas, our home state, with my husband working as assistant pastor and music minister, and the both of us in the capacity of youth directors, printing, cleaning and maintenance, and general flunkies.  Then, when we felt the Lord was moving us, (a VERY difficult move because we LOVED the church in which we were working!) we thought we might finally be going to the mission field.  

But, GOD had other plans, and He called us to Tacoma, WA, to lead a small struggling church of about 25 people who had been left with thousands of dollars of debt.  Of course, by this time, we also had 2 small children, but we packed  up everything we had and made the long trip from Dallas to Tacoma.  

After a few years, with God's divine help,  the church in Tacoma was no longer in debt and their old building had been remodeled.  By the time we celebrated our 13th anniversary with the church, we had purchased more property for expansion, we had a thriving bus ministry and youth department and had started a Christian school, which also served as a training center for those churches starting new schools.  We had also sent out two missionaries from our church (one to France and the other to Mexico), started a faith promise mission program and added about 20 more missionaries to our mission support program.  Before we knew it, we were out of space and having two Sunday morning services and Sunday School classes in the church kitchen and in one of the church buses.  We dearly loved our people and they loved us and, after years of struggling, God was blessing us greatly and we were seeing our prayers of many years being answered in that place. 

After several years in Tacoma, I thought, "Well, THIS must be the mission field where God wanted us all along!  And, even though the people here don't always understand my Texas accent, at least I didn't have to learn a new language!" 

Finally, since we were debt free, we decided that the $60,000 in the building fund was enough with which to get started.  So, we had blueprints drawn up for a new church building and began to make our plans for expansion.

But, before starting the new building, we were going to take two of our Christian school graduates to Honduras, Central America.  They both wanted to work in bi-lingual Christian schools for a year.  One of the graduates was our daughter, Kristy, and the other, Jason, was a young man who had surrendered to missions.  My husband and I went to check things out first, and were there for only 10 days. But while there, God broke our hearts for the people of Honduras and made it clear that someone else could take our precious church through their next phase of development, and we were to leave it all and go to Honduras!  Mike had been the pastor at Faith Baptist Church for 14 years! I believe resigning from our dear church was one of the hardest things we've EVER done! 

NO, WAIT!  I take that back! Learning a new language at 45 years old was THE hardest thing I've EVER done… BY FAR!!  

Well, Anna, we have now been serving in the country Honduras since 1997, and you know what?

I CAN'T IMAGINE LIVING ANYWHERE ELSE!  I LOVE IT HERE, I LOVE THESE PRECIOUS PEOPLE and  I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!  

Yep, it took us a while to get here, but…

I MARRIED A MISSIONARY, TOO!  And I thank the Lord every day that I did!

Congratulations on your marriage, Anna!  May our sweet Heavenly Father bless you both as you serve Him!

This is the missionary that I married
nearly 41 years ago!