Daily Courage

[Judy Harder]

In quietness and trust is your strength.  (Isaiah 30:15)

Lung Singh

In spite of the sorrow, a burial in Laos often looks like a celebration. Immediately after the death of the sick person, when the ceremonial dirges are over, there is a feast - apparently. Sometimes a film is presented in front of the house of the dead person, preferably a comedy. Inside, people play cards or dice, and there is drinking and talking.  It looks as if they are trying to laugh away their distress.

Of course this is not the case. There is sorrow - great sorrow, and they show it when the dirges are sung. But after this, the spiritual world must be given the impression that the dead person has already been received by the good spirits, while the evil spirits must be misled by pretending as if nothing has happened - by means of a comedy, drink and gambling games.

The night after the death, the so-called "death watch," the whole family sits around the dead body, while outside there is the film and inside there is the drinking and gambling. For Christians, the death watch is an opportunity to testify to the hope and eternal life through Jesus Christ, the risen Lord.

That is what Lung Singh did that night. Outside there was a high wind and Singh looked worried. He called me to a quiet place behind the house.  "Will you pray for me?" he asked. "The storm frightens me. I am not afraid myself, but I am worried about my wife and child and our little pile house. I want to stay here and testify, but I can't keep my mind on it."

I prayed for him and Singh prayed too. After we prayed he got up and said, "Well, I can go and testify in peace now."  He had presented the problem to the Lord and it was off his shoulders now.

Childlike trust - mature faith - and a divine answer.  "Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you" (1 Peter 5:7).

[Judy Harder]

As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:9)

Lung Singh

An answer to prayer does not necessarily mean that God always gives you what you have asked for. Yet His motivation is always love, though we may not always understand Him.

After Singh had prayed, he calmed down. But the wind didn't abate. The storm grew more intense. I looked at Singh while he testified of his faith in Jesus Christ. The wind of which Singh had been so afraid of was whining around the house. I called Singh and told him that the wind was really very strong now and I offered to take him home in my land rover, so that his wife and child and he himself didn't have to be afraid anymore. Singh looked at me in astonishment, "But I am no longer afraid. We just prayed about it, didn't we? It's alright now."

Outside the wind was howling, but Singh was quiet. At home, his wife was sound asleep and their child was safe also. The wind didn't drop as I had expected it to. God answered our prayer by bestowing peace in the hearts of those who needed it. I had learned my lesson.

For today's storms the Lord has His own solution.

Writer of the Month: Lung Singh from Laos. He did not write his own contributions, but Jan Pit has edited his experiences and remarks and printed them under his name in this devotional. His life story is recorded in the book No Turning Back by Jan Pit, Marshall Pickering, 1985. According to rumors Singh was killed by his brother because of his faith in Jesus Christ.

[Judy Harder]

The Lord is close to the broken-hearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.  (Psalm 34:18)

Lung Singh

Singh and Bunmah had been married for eleven years when their deepest wish came true: they had a child. It was not a child of their own, it was adopted from an orphanage. They felt they were the happiest family in the world. Unfortunately their happiness lasted only nine months - then the child's real father suddenly showed up. It turned out that the man, a soldier, was not killed in battle as the orphanage had assumed. He was still alive and he wanted his child back, though, since his wife's death two years before, he had never concerned himself about it.

It was the beginning of the biggest crisis in Sing and Bunmah's life. "Why did the Lord allow this to happen?" they asked. "We prayed for a child so long and now this. Why?"  They asked many questions but they received no answer. Until one day Singh and Bunmah were praying for their child again, "Lord, you know where she is now. You are with her. You love her and You will look after her better than we ever could. Bless her, dear Lord, and do not forget us either. We need You more than ever now. Amen."

Singh looked at his wife. He didn't say anything but softly sang, "We have decided to follow Jesus, no turning back."  There was a brief silence, then Bunmah also joined in the song - uncertainly at first, but then with growing conviction. They missed their child. They suffered a great loss, but yet victory had returned.

Victory through acceptance - peace through submission. Again and again. Not just for Singh and Bunmah, but also for you.

[Judy Harder]

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food and the body more important than clothes?

(Matthew 6:25-26)

Lung Singh

Is God only interested in big problems or is He also interested in our little day-to-day worries?

That was the subject of a Bible study in a small village inhabited by refugees from east Laos. All of them had had to flee the danger of war, the war between the United States and North Vietnam. Now they were living in the free part of Laos, robbed of house and home, in shabby little bamboo huts.

They had big problems, which was the reason why we had this Bible study about worries and confidence. But there were also small problems and these they often expressed in their prayers, which were sincere and uncomplicated.

A widow who had been able to take refuge with her only son was listening attentively. She had so many problems concerning many different matters. There were no social services, there was no work and every day they had to search the woods for food in order to stay alive. "Give us this day our daily bread" was an everyday prayer for her. At the end of the meeting she asked the others to pray for her. "Will you please pray for my pig, for it is ill?" There was no negative reaction whatsoever to this strange request. It was her only possession. So there was fervent and faithful prayer for the poor woman's pig.

Why would God make an axe float on water (2 Kings 6) and not cure a pig?

God is so great yet He is also interested in small matters.  'Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything ... present your requests to God" (Philippians 4:6).

[Judy Harder]

The Lord answered David's prayer and David is aware of it, "In my alarm I said, I am cut off from your sight! Yet you heard my cry for mercy when I called to you for help" (v.22).  For that David thanks his God.  Whatever happens, "You are my God. My times are in your hands" (v.16).

David

How great is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you, which you bestow in the sight of men on those who take refuge in you.
In the shelter of your presence you hide them from the intrigues of men; in your dwelling you keep them safe from accusing tongues.
Praise be to the Lord, for he showed his wonderful love to me when I was in a besieged city.
In my alarm I said, "I am cut off from your sight!" Yet you heard my cry for mercy when I called to you for help.
Love the Lord, all his saints! The Lord preserves the faithful, but the proud he pays back in full.
Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the Lord.
(Psalm 31:19-24)

[Judy Harder]

You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you.  (Jeremiah 1:7)

Yang Zhang

God sent Jeremiah to Israel to speak on his behalf. His words were to be God's words.  God has spoken to us through His Word - the Bible.

In my country, we experience a great shortage of that word. So, for us, the verbal sharing of the Word of God has become very important.  "And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us" (2 Corinthians 5:19-20).

Whether we are free - or in captivity - there will always be opportunities to share the news that Christ came to save sinners. Do we use these opportunities or are we too afraid of the consequences: Prison, persecution, torture, even death?

May we be people about whom God says, "They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death" (Revelation 12:11).

[Judy Harder]

Preach the word.   (2 Timothy 4:2)

Yang Zhang

To share the Gospel is the number one priority of the Body of Christ. New believers also have this responsibility. Not just "mature" believers. Every believer should get involved in spreading the Word of God. The more you plant - the more you reap. Without planting there is no harvest.

God wants to see a harvest of souls. He needs laborers to plow, plant and reap. We are these laborers.

We are not only His people - we are also His servants. He can send a servant as He pleases.

The servant has no excuse: I am not gifted. I am not qualified. The master knows what he does.

·      When He appoints - He anoints
·      When He calls - He enables
·      When He sends - He goes along
·      When He asks you to speak - He will give you the words

Just obey - and you will see God at work - through you.

[Judy Harder]

...A man after His own heart.  (1 Samuel 13:14)

Yang Zhang

A man who obeys God is not necessarily a man after God's heart. Of course, God wants us to obey Him. But obedience does not always come voluntarily. We can obey God because we feel we have to, whereas a man after God's heart obeys the Lord's will fully and voluntarily.

The first is a matter of will, the second a matter of the heart. David was such a man. He said, "I desire to do your will, O my God" (Psalm 40:.  Not because he had to, but because he wanted to. That is what made David a man after God's heart. Why? Because David knew that God wants the best for us. That God's will is perfect.

Many people say God's will is a yoke or a burden. David's assertion was, "His yoke is easy and his burden is light." That makes all the difference.

Such a man can face problems, overcome temptations, and be steadfast in times of persecution. Why should I not be that man?

[Judy Harder]

Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?  (John 6:9)

Yang Zhang

This wonderful miracle tells us that God can do much with little.  If we give Him what we have He can perform miracles. The boy could have kept the little that he had. But he gave it to Jesus. That act of obedience fed 5,000 people.

We never need to complain about the little that we have. Our Lord can use it and feed the people around us.

A Chinese friend told me one day, "Our eyes, nose, ears, mouth and heart are like five loaves. Our two hands are like two fishes. And with our two legs we go and meet the needs of the people around us."

Let us give our body and our heart into the hands of the Lord and thus become an instrument in God's service, saving many hungry people.

[Judy Harder]

I have hidden your words in my heart that I might not sin against you. (Psalm 119:11)

Yang Zhang

To lay up God's words in our hearts takes time. It means that we have to read God's Word so many times that it becomes a part of us.  Some people have the Bible, but they never read it. They have laid up God's Word on a bookshelf.

But we must lay it up in our hearts. Nobody can take that away from us. Wherever we are, we have it with us. In freedom - and in prison.

That is why we in China, read God's Word as many times as we can. We feel already privileged to have a copy of the Bible. But we also know that the Bible can be taken away from us any time - or that we may be sent to places where we cannot take a Bible along. That's why we memorize as much as we can.

One of the best known Christians was Rev John Sung. He once said, "When I was young I was locked up in a mental hospital for 190 days. I was so glad that I could keep my Bible and I read it many times through during those six months."  When he came out of the mental hospital his doctors expected that his spirit had been broken. But he came out a stronger Christian than ever before. None of the doctors understood - but we did!

Do you?