The Lord provideth

PROVERBS 16:3 Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established.

I was at a convention of Christians, and there was much singing. A man from Ukraine said to me; ’the Lord provideth! He sent so much food, what was I to do? Of course, I filled the granary. He sent grain, even oxen, everything we needed.’ A woman from England said; ‘you couldn’t even do that here. What with all the pests and fungus … it wouldn’t keep.’ I said to her; ‘No, you misunderstand. The man didn’t say he kept all that food to store it. He wasn’t like the foolish man, who said to himself, my granary is too small, I will tear it down and build another. When the Lord gives you something, He wants you to accept it, knowing all the while it is not yours to keep, but everything given to you is the Lord’s, to give to whomever He wants.’

Our hosts invited us to sing tomorrow morning again. I asked if there would be any bible reading thisevening; ‘yes, at 10 we will read’ was the reply. They departed singing, and as I could still hear their voices trailing off, I joined them in song from inside my cabin, while I searched through a thin songbook of favourite hymns, since I wasn’t totally familiar with the verses. I didn’t find it before they went out of earshot, and after that, I went to sleep and my dream ended.

Genesis 15:2-16 And Abram said, Lord GOD, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus? And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir. And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir. And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness. And he said unto him, I am the LORD that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it. And he said, Lord GOD, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it? And he said unto him, Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon. And he took unto him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one against another: but the birds divided he not. And when the fowls came down upon the carcases, Abram drove them away. And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him. And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance. And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age. But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.

Like Abraham, I believe when the Lord tells me something. In my case, this was through a dream. Not that I believe any spirits, or hold their guidance above good sense in what to do I Cor. 14:32 , lest I be tossed to and fro as the tops of waves I JOHN 4:1 , but grounded in belief and founded on the Gospel I CORINTHIANS 3:11 , I test the spirits against the written Word of God, which I thank Him for providing in understandable form. But having tested the biblical principles told in the dream, I can be certain it is divine guidance, and will follow what it says. I am careful not to extrapolate from the vision I was given, which is why I felt the utmost urgency to write the contents of the dream as soon as I awoke. The vision tells me how to deal with things of this world, when they are given, and when they are asked of me, never counting them of my own, and always ready to part with them when the Lord chooses.

How does the Lord speak to us? In many ways. Sometimes, it is a thought entering into your mind. At other times, it is a verse of scripture that you are suddenly reminded of, or upon which you stumble when leafing through the bible. It can be a phrase that sticks in your mind, that doesn’t make sense at first, but we can search for their meaning through prayer, and we can test the spirits through biblical research. Some things never will make sense, and others we may find at odds with God’s Word, and reject. But the first question is, do you believe? Without this, all biblical diligence is to no avail. I have chosen to believe, and every day I pray that God help me to keep believing in Him. It will be of no avail to have believed yesterday, if, when He needs me most, I have turned from Him.

Matthew 10:7-14 And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give. Provide neither gold, nor silver, nor brass in your purses, Nor scrip for your journey, neither two coats, neither shoes, nor yet staves: for the workman is worthy of his meat. And into whatsoever city or town ye shall enter, enquire who in it is worthy; and there abide till ye go thence. And when ye come into an house, salute it. And if the house be worthy, let your peace come upon it: but if it be not worthy, let your peace return to you. And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet.

I’ve been praying for many days now, that the Lord guide us in our next steps. I feel God’s presence in the decision to not fear, but to travel to all the anabaptists in Europe, to visit, and to see what all the needs are, all the while enjoying the presence of His love, and the providence of His hand. If you live in Europe, and would like to meet our family, please reach out. I also feel that He wants there to be a convention of European anabaptists on the mainland, although I would still be searching for a host for that.