“Have mercy on me, my God, have mercy on me, for in you I take refuge. I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings until the disaster has passed.” Psalm 57:1 NIV
Elizabeth Elliot lost her first husband, Jim Elliot, when he and four other men were martyred as they tried to take the gospel to the hostile Auca tribe. She lost her second husband, Addison Leitch, to cancer. In an address to the Urbana Missions Conference (December, 1976) she told of being in Wales and watching a shepherd and his dog. The dog would herd the sheep up a ramp and into a tank of antiseptic in which they had to be bathed to protect them from parasites. As soon as they would come up out of the tank, the shepherd would grab the rams by the horns and fling them back into the tank and hold them under the antiseptic for a few more seconds. Mrs Elliot asked the shepherd’s wife if the sheep understood what was happening. “They haven’t got a clue”, she said. Mrs Elliot said, “I’ve had some experiences in my life that have made me feel very sympathetic to those poor rams – I couldn’t figure out any reason for the treatment I was getting from the Shepherd I trusted. The Lord didn’t give a hint of explanation.” If you’ve been a Christian for a long time, you’ve been there too. The Shepherd you trusted threw you into some circumstances that were quite unpleasant and you didn’t have a clue as to why He was doing it. David had been there. In fact he wrote Psalm 57 out of the depths of such an experience.
PRAYER THOUGHT
Lord, we choose to trust You even when there is no explanation.
PRAYER FOR TODAY
Lord, there are moments in our lives when we go through trials where there is simply no explanation. In view of Your mercy and grace, we choose to trust You regardless. AMEN
INTERNATIONAL BIBLE READING ASSOCIATION (IBRA)
Acts 9:39-42
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