What was supposed to be a family day at the beach quickly turned to tragedy. Louisa and her husband had taken their four-year-old daughter for a picnic on the beach in Long Island, New York. Most accounts say when Mr. Stead heard the cries for help, he sprang into action to rescue a boy drowning in the Atlantic. Sadly, the undercurrent pulled Mr. Stead down, where he drowned.
After the death of her husband, Louisa and their daughter, Lily, had no one to turn to. In 1880, people did not have public assistance, and there were no death benefits to care for the family. She also did not have close relatives as an option, because she immigrated from England when she was only twenty-one.
She had no one to turn to but the Lord. As food was quickly running out, she desperately prayed for God’s provision. One evening, she heard a knock on her door, and to her amazement, someone had left groceries with an envelope filled with cash. So overwhelmed by God’s provision, she sat down and penned these timeless words:
“'Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus
Just to take Him at His Word
Just to rest upon His promise
Just to know, "Thus saith the Lord"
Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him
How I've proved Him o'er and o'er
Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus
Oh, for grace to trust Him more.”
Photo Credit: ©Getty Images /RyanJLane
Honey Is a Symbol of Spiritual Nourishment and Blessings in the Bible
When I ponder the lyric, “Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus,” it makes me think of the numerous references to honey throughout the scriptures. Psalm 19:10 compares God’s Word to being sweeter than honey from the honeycomb. Is it any wonder that we can “Taste and see that the Lord is good” (Psalm 24:8)? In the Bible, honey is used to represent God’s spiritual nourishment, wisdom, healing, and blessings. God described Canaan as a “land flowing with milk and honey.” This spoke to the rich agriculture and the abundance of God’s provision.
So it is in your life. Psalm 81:16 says, “But he would feed you with the finest of the wheat, and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.” If honey is nature’s sweetener, then I want to show you what Christ (God’s honey in the rock) can do for your soul.
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Trusting Christ’s Provision Before the Need Arises
Harold has attended my church for years. I had the joy of marrying him and his wife. Today, he is a school teacher, but his hobby is beekeeping. Until I recently asked Harold how many bees he owned, I pictured him with about fifty bees swarming around him. To my astonishment, he said that he had six colonies. When I asked him how many bees are in a colony, his answer was tens of tens of thousands. Honey is fascinating in that it not only has healing properties but can be stored indefinitely at room temperature. Archaeologists have even discovered honey inside the tombs of pharaohs, and at thousands of years old, it is still preserved. In scripture, honey represents God’s abundance of provision.
Quite a few years ago, God began to show me that my prayers were not as pleasing to Him as they could be. While I saw my prayers as petitioning God, in reality, I was anxious and praying panic-filled prayers. What do I mean by this? Instead of trusting in God’s promises, I was doubting them. Rather than seeing God as good, I was reacting as though God was withholding good from me. Panic-filled prayers focus more on our needs than on God’s ability to provide. God began to teach me that I cannot stand on His promises and pray panic-filled prayers at the same time. I had to settle within my heart if I truly believed Philippians 4:19,
“And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”
How would your prayer life change if you knew God would not fail? God’s provision is directly linked to His goodness, and this is why Satan wants you to doubt that God is good. Provide is an interesting word study throughout scripture. I have come to love its meaning because it is so rich and full of truth. We first come across it in Genesis 22:8. Abraham waited twenty-five years for God to fulfill the promise of a son. Isaac was born when Abraham was one hundred years old. Soon afterward, when Isaac was most likely in his later teen years, God told Abraham to sacrifice his son. I have always wondered why Abraham was willing to do the unthinkable. Hebrews 11:19 gives the answer,
“He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.”
Abraham’s faith can build our own when we consider the meaning of the word provide, found in Genesis 22:8. When you break the word down, pro means before. Vide is where we get our English word video, which means to watch or to see. The word means that before you and I have a need that arises, God has already seen the need before it ever reaches our life. So, the next time you think of the word provision, remind yourself that God already has the solution.
Photo Credit: ©Pexels/Ketut Subiyanto
True Satisfaction in Christ vs. the Fleeting Pleasures of the World
Today, Christians are asking the wrong question. I cannot tell you how many times I have heard this expressed in my counseling office: “But doesn’t God want me happy?” When I think of the word happy, I think of my five-year-old. He is happy when I allow him to have ice cream, and he is quite unhappy when I say, “No.” Happiness often depends on the way life is happening. In other words, happiness is fickle and unpredictable. It is always a moving target. Rather than God wants you to feel happy, He wants you to feel satisfied. Think wholeness or completion. Note once again how Psalm 81:16 promises that God will satisfy our lives with honey from the rock. This means that in Christ, there can be complete satisfaction.
Few people have experienced a call from God the way Samson did in the Old Testament. Yet it seemed that Samson was never satisfied. He wasn’t content with God’s call on his life. He always desired more. One of the conditions placed upon him through a Nazarite vow was that he could not touch the body of anything dead. Judges 14:8-9 tells a story of Samson coming across the carcass of a lion, and inside it was a beehive. Ignoring God’s desires, Samson scooped the honey from the carcass of a dead lion. He represents to us a Christ-follower who tries to find satisfaction in worldliness and carnal things. Samson traded the satisfaction of pleasing God and living within His will for the fleeting pleasures of worldliness. Can you see the difference between honey in the rock and honey from the carcass of a dead lion?
Photo Credit: Unsplash/Karl Fredrickson
Trusting Christ With All Your Heart Leads to True Rest and Peace
Andrew Murray, the great missionary to South Africa in the 1800s, once said, “God is much like our bed. In Him, we can lay down and rest.” When we come to understand that God will supply all of our needs, we will stop praying panic-filled prayers, and we will trust in the promises of God. If we trust the Lord in a biblically right way, we will be much more at rest.
Proverbs 3:5 says we are to trust in the Lord with all our heart. Why do you suppose God wants this type of heart trust? I think it's because faith is an emotional journey. It's one thing to trust in God with your intellect. It's another thing to trust Him with all your heart. It means we sometimes feel vulnerable and let down, yet there it is, in the pages of scripture, an open invitation to be transparent with God and to put our hearts on the line.
So right after the instruction to trust in the Lord with all our heart is the warning to not lean upon our own understanding. Perhaps what you are facing you cannot make sense of. Circumstances may be beyond your control, and the answers may be beyond your understanding. Friends, it is a perfect scenario to trust in Jesus.
As our faith continues to grow, may we be able to say, as Louisa Stead wrote, “I’m so glad I learned to trust Thee, Precious Jesus, Savior friend. And I know that Thou art with me, wilt be with me to the end. Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him! How I’ve proved Him o’er and o’er! Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus! O for grace to trust Him more!”
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Chad’s pastoral career has not been defined by blindness. Rather, it is his clear, biblical teaching that continues to grow an audience. He has traveled through forty nations, training pastors and strengthening churches.
Today, Chad teaches people to trust a God they cannot see. His days are filled with the things he loves most: leading, speaking, writing, and of course, coffee! He is a spiritual content creator. By God’s grace, he is emerging as a trusted spiritual voice in people’s lives. Chad may have blindness, but blindness does not have him.
Originally published Friday, 09 August 2024.