Please Stop the Rain

By Lynn Wallace

Can God stop the rain today as He did in Elijah’s day?  Can He send pianos without money?  Can He pay rent when funds are exhausted?  Can He give a child to a barren couple?

God Gives Pianos

The pastor surely sought the Lord’s will.  “What do you want me to do with this piano?  We don’t need it for our church?”

In the meantime I had pleaded, “Lord, please give me a piano.”  I examined used pianos, but none measured up.  I knew the Lord wanted me to teach piano.  He would answer.

When I arrived at the pastor’s office, he stated, “I have a surprise for you.”  He showed me a piano in one of the classrooms.  “Could you use this piano?” he asked.

My heart rejoiced until I called the piano tuner.  He examined my piano and said, “It isn’t worth repairing, but here’s the name of a piano repairman.  He might pay you $25 for your piano.”

I called the repairman.  As he looked at my piano, he asked, “Are you a Christian?”  We shared our testimonies.  Then he said, “Your piano won’t sound like a concert grand, but I can fix it good enough for teaching piano.”  He gave me a special price, and agreed to buy my piano if it failed to satisfy me.  When he finished the repairs and tuning, I enjoyed practicing as well as teaching my pupils!

Another lady prayed for a piano.  She forgot to specify just one piano.  She ended up with three pianos!  I believe the Lord enjoys doing things to make us laugh.

Just Enough

When we left again to work with the Navajo people, the churches prayed for us.  We had raised half our support and could not wait to work with our dear Navajo people.  We obtained permission to park our home–a blue school bus–on the Navajo reservation.  They made no charges for rent and utilities.

However, we failed to get our lease.  We moved to a trailer park.  Now our rent was $80 per month which we did not have.  “Oh Lord, help us,” we prayed earnestly.

Bodine Baptist Church in Oklahoma City decided to take us on as their missionaries for the Daily Vacation Bible School.  We had not heard from them since Leon had spoken there about two years previously.  The offering amounted to $80, just enough to pay our rent.  “Thank you, Lord,” we said in our hearts, as we paid our rent on time.

 

Childless and Weeping

John and Susie prayed, “Lord, please give us children.”  They wept and longed for the laughter of children.  Really, they were thinking of one child at a time.

The orphanage called, “We have a set of twins for you.”  They prayed again, and decided to accept this double blessing.

 Please Stop the Rain!

On one occasion Rose and I sought to win souls in Long Beach, California.  We visited in the Carmelitos Housing Project there.

The children living in this low-income housing kept coming and coming.  They continued coming up to our supper time.  We could not keep our hostess waiting.  About this time one small child asked, “Can I go get my twin?”

“We’ll come back tomorrow,” we promised.  However, the next day the weather threatened to interfere with our plans.  The rains descended in torrents.  “Lord,” we prayed with pounding hearts, “please stop the rain so that we can keep our promise.  These children need Jesus.”

The rains did not stop at once.  We waited.  About 2:30 in the afternoon the rains stopped.  God had heard and answered our prayers!  We scurried back to Carmelitos and again the children kept coming and coming.

Though we certainly were not Elijahs, our God remains faithful.  He will stop rains today to serve His purposes.

God not only sends rains, pianos, money and children in answer to prayer, but a heap of other things.  He always fits the answer to the need.

Trouble

By Lynn Wallace

 

Can anyone say, “I have had no trouble?” “For what hath man of all his labour, and of the vexation of his heart, wherein he hath laboured under the sun? For all his days are sorrows, and his travail grief; yea, his heart taketh not rest in the night. This is also vanity” (Eccl. 2:22-23).

Some troubles are as severe as the Egyptian bondage. ^“And I have said, I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt unto the land of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, unto a land flowing with milk and honey” (Exo. 3:17). What comfort can we find here? God promised to bring these afflicted people out of the place of bondage [Egypt] unto their own land [Palestine—the holy land]. God delivered them as He promised. Yes, this promise was specifically for the Jews, but He also promised to care for His children today.

The psalmist said, ^“Remember the word unto thy servant, upon which thou hast caused me to hope. This is my comfort in my affliction: for thy word hath quickened me” (Psa. 119:49-50). God comforted Paul when He was about to die (2 Cor. 1:3-9). These promises are written down for us to assure us God wants to comfort us in our sorrows and troubles.

Do you worry whether you’ll have enough clothes, food, or drink? Read Matthew 6:19-32. How gloriously God clothes the flowers, He feeds the birds, and all the animals. He says, ^“Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?” (Matt. 6:26) God gives His instructions for us in Matthew 6:33: “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you” (Matt. 6:33)

There’s a little song that goes, “Jesus and others and you. What a wonderful way to spell JOY. J is for “Jesus.” O is for “others” we meet face to face. Y is for “you.” In whatever you do put Jesus first and spell, JOY. When we put Him first in our lives, then others, and then ourselves, He’ll flood our hearts with joy.

 

Bio: Lynn Wallace, a former missionary to the Navajo Indians, authored 2 books: Do Kangaroos Carry Platypuses? and Our Lifeship: A Study in Proverbs for Women. Both are available from her website: writingfrommyheart.com.

 

 

Mom and the Magpies

By Lynn Wallace 

The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing: but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat (Prov. 13:4, KJV). 

Mom hated magpies chattering outside her bedroom window. Climbing the spruce tree to root out their nests became an annual ritual. 

At the golden age of 79 she hung on for dear life as she clung to the tree on her downward climb. A high wind assailed her. When my sister called, she related this incident to her. “Mom, you don’t need to be doing that anyway,” she said.  “Couldn’t you get someone to help you?”

“Next year I’ll ask the neighbor boy to do it.”

A year later she talked to my sister on the phone again. “Mom, did you get the neighbor boy to climb the spruce tree this year?”

 “No, I did it myself.  I was afraid he might get hurt.”

 When nests of dust, fuss and cat hair collect in my spruce tree, I tend to let my housework go. When I think of Mom and the magpies, the Lord encourages me to do it. When magpies chatter, God is my hope.

 Oh God, when I hear magpies, remind me to be diligent as Mom was up in that spruce tree. I pray in Jesus’ name and for His glory and honor. Amen.

 Lynn wrote Do Kangaroos Carry Platypuses and Our Lifeship: A Study in Proverbs for Women. See writingfrommyheart.com.

 

Calm by Pleasing God

By Lynn Wallace

 

^“For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof…He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still” (Psa. 107:25, 29).

Jesus stilled the storm and made it a calm when His disciples cried out, “Save us: we perish” (Matt. 8:25). He also gives us a calm in our souls when we please him.

Storms came into my soul when I thought, I cannot do anything about my emotions. Without realizing it, I had failed to trust God who can do the impossible. At that time I neglected to apply my life verse, “Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it” (1 Thess. 5:24). Three times nervous breakdowns disabled me after I came to Christ. Each time I returned home from a field of service.

After I went to the Navajo mission field, and met the man who became my husband, I suffered no more breakdowns. However, I still thought, I cannot do anything about my nerves. I bypassed their true names: burdens, worries, anxieties. My pastor counseled me, “Lynn, you carry too many burdens.” I did not understand the simple verse, “Casting all your care upon Him, for He careth for you” (1Pet. 5:7). In my heart I kept calling them “nerves.” It took years for me to grasp the truth of this Scripture.

After my husband passed on to Heaven, I experienced blessed communion with my Lord. My “nerves” took flight. On the following night, the devil battled against me. My “nerves” started to return. I prayed, “Lord, please take them away.” Again they flew away. Now, troubles still face me, but I am learning to cast my cares upon Jesus. When tempests come, the Captain gives a calm. “My peace I give unto you,” He promises me in 1 John 15:27.

We all face an enemy. Satan and his allies challenge us daily in warfare. Though we cannot see him, he is real. If we allow the Captain to lead us, we will win. However, when we insist on our own way, it does not please the Lord. Then we will fall into the devil’s traps. God’s Logbook says, ^“Greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world (1 John 4:4). Let us continually remember that our Captain is greater than our enemy.

What can we do? Jesus tells us to put on the gospel armor which He provides (Eph. 6:10-18). His Logbook tells us, “Pray in the Holy Spirit” (Jude 20). He warns us to watch out for the enemy and endure hardness. In this way, we can please this Lord. Trust in Him, and God will give us the victory.

A Cage of Nerves

By Lynn Wallace

 

Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you (I Peter 5:7).

 

Without realizing it, I had become a worryholic. Deep depression alighted upon me, but I knew not the cause. Four times, I had failed to depend upon the Lord. Therefore, I suffered four nervous breakdowns.

I can pronounce yield and trust without any problem, but it took me years to apply them.

My schedule filled up and I had no time to myself. I arose early to prepare breakfast for my husband. I spent all day home schooling my daughter. “I have no time for a quiet time,” I reasoned.

“Lynn, you’re carrying around too many burdens,” my pastor said to me.

“Get up at five o’clock before the family arises,” Bro. Taylor counseled me. “You can have your quiet time then.”

“My alarm clock will wake up my husband,” I argued. “He works hard and needs his rest.”

“Talk it over with him,” he urged. “Tell him you need this time with the Lord.”

“Okay,” I consented, knowing my weary body could not rise at that intolerable hour. However, Leon, my husband agreed with this plan. It pleased the Lord, too. He refreshed me so that I did not miss the extra sleep.

Worry robs a soul of peace and joy. Lacking understanding, I called my anxieties “nerves” and continued to worry. After all, I reasoned, I cannot change them; they belong to me. Consequently, I lived a defeated life.

When God took my beloved husband to Heaven, it forced me to depend more upon the Lord. Soon afterwards, I spent a precious night of communion with my Lord. He released me from my “cage of nerves”. At that moment, God opened my understanding. What a fool I had been not to see my nerves, worries, burdens and cares all amounted to the same thing!

The following night my burdens glided into my territory again. “Lord, please take them away,” I pleaded. Again, my “nerves” took wing.

Although my life still has stress, the Lord keeps me from deep distress. My burdens no longer get me down. I trust under the shelter of the Lord’s wings to keep from worry. He set me free from my cage of “nerves.” When I stay close to Him, I soar upwards as a bird.

 

O Lord, teach me to trust Thee more and to walk in Thy paths. Please take away my nerves. May I continue to cast them upon Thee. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Beauty for Ashes

By Lynn Wallace

“How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things” (Romans 10:15).

 

My feet are ugly like a heap of ashes.  Still God says if I spread the gospel, my feet are beautiful.

He will make not only my feet, but my whole body beautiful “as a bride adorned” for the groom.

Ashes symbolize mourning and sadness. Spiritually speaking, if I go around with ashes on my head when my heart is heavy. Mourning accompanies funerals, and rightfully so. Even then, a Christian sorrows not as the world. Joy abides in the heart as we anticipate a sweet reunion in Heaven.

Praising God drives away heaviness and depression. When we praise, God brings joy into our heart. As Isaiah said, God appoints us “the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness.”

The Christian with beautiful feet becomes a “tree of righteousness.” This tree bears fruit even in old age.

Let’s exchange beauty for ashes and praise for heaviness. We can have beautiful feet when as trees we bear fruit. The songwriter, J. G. Grabbe,1  put it well when he said:

I sing the love of Christ, my Saviour,
Who suffered upon the tree;
That, in the secret of His presence,
My bondage might freedom be.

He comes "to bind the broken hearted;"
He comes the fainting soul to cheer;
He gives me the "oil of joy" for mourning,
And "beauty for ashes" here.

He gives me joy in place of sorrow;
He gives me love that casts out fear;
He gives me sunshine for my shadow,
And "beauty for ashes" here.

I sing the beauty of the Gospel
That scatters, not thorns, but flow'rs;
That bids me scatter smiles and sunbeams
Wherever are lonely hours.

The "garment of His praise" He offers
For "heaviness of spirit," drear;
It gives me sunshine for my shadow,
And "beauty for ashes" here.

He comes "to bind the broken hearted;"
He comes the fainting soul to cheer;
He gives me the "oil of joy" for mourning,
And "beauty for ashes" here.

He gives me joy in place of sorrow;
He gives me love that casts out fear;
He gives me sunshine for my shadow,
And "beauty for ashes" here.

I sing the beauty of the Gospel
That scatters, not thorns, but flow'rs;
That bids me scatter smiles and sunbeams
Wherever are lonely hours.

The "garment of His praise" He offers
For "heaviness of spirit," drear;
It gives me sunshine for my shadow,
And "beauty for ashes" here.

1. J.G. Chabne, “Beauty for Ashes,” ©1889, E. W. Lorenz,

 

My prayer: Oh God, make my feet beautiful. May the beauty of Jesus be seen in me, and may I become a “tree of righteousness.” In Jesus’ name. Amen.

A Blind Woman Drives

A Blind Woman Drives

By Lynn Wallace

 

“The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear Him, and delivereth them” (Psalm 34:7).

 

My mother, legally blind, sat alone in her car when it started to roll. “The car was moving,” she told me. I thought, I’ve got to do something.”

Before this, we enjoyed our meal at the White Kitchen. We returned to our car. The engine turned over, but neither of us succeeded in getting it out of park.

What am I going to do? I thought. God is our hope, but we forgot to pray. Instead, we used our human reasoning. It nearly spelled disaster.

I dashed down the sidewalk to a telephone. I called Jack and told him our problem.

“Is the wheel cramped tight against the curb? If it is, that can put the shift level into a bind. Pull hard on it, and you may be able to shift it. Please call me back.”

I followed Jack’s instructions and got it into reverse. If I shift back into park, it may lock up again, I thought. I left to telephone and returned to my car.

Something has happened, I deduced when I saw Mom’s ashen white face. Her whole body trembled with fright.

“I almost had an accident,” Mom gasped between breaths. “ My heart pounded, and I thought, I may be plunged into eternity. Suddenly, the car started to move across the road. It moved all the way across the street. Two cars crossed behind me. I lunged across to the driver’s seat.

 

Gritting my teeth, I managed to get the car into drive. I drove across the street and parked. And here I am, back where we were.”

My heart palpitated. Mom, I thought, cars don’t drive themselves. Unseen hands grabbed the wheel and drove the car. I believe an angel guided Mom’s hands back across the road. Mom could have been killed, I thought. We still have a good Chrysler. God still cares even though I forgot to pray.

Mom had scooted back into the passenger’s seat. I took the wheel.

She drew short breaths all the way home. I reached over and felt her racing pulse.

God did not fix the problem, but He kept us from harm.  He directed traffic that day and helped a blind woman to avert disaster. God protects, defends, and delivers me. He is my hope when eyes are dim.

Lord, I thank Thee for Thy angels which watch over me. Help me remember God is my hope when things go wrong. In Jesus’ name. Amen

 

Printed in Spiritual Voice News, Spring 2005, © 2005, Lynn Wallace

God’s Healing Balm

By Lynn Wallace

 

“Every prudent man dealeth with knowledge, but a fool layeth open his folly” (Prov. 13:16).

A boil rose up on the back of my neck. I sighed and complained to Grace, my coworker. It left me powerless to do anything about it. When I went to the chiropractor, he squeezed it and an ugly mess came out. Oh what relief!

Likewise, ugly and angry words fester and hurt others. My words do not always help and heal, but sometimes explode.

One of these times, we came out of a laundromat in Dallas, Texas. I forgot my husband’s uniforms. Poisonous words popped out of my mouth. Like a cancer, they infected my husband, Leon, and daughter, Lynette, as we drove home.

In such cases a prudent (careful) woman keeps silent. Words like, “I’m sorry that I forgot your uniforms,” calm life’s turbulent seas. I had forgotten God’s Word as well as the uniforms. No healing balm came to our family until I confessed, “I said hurtful words,” and then asked forgiveness. The balm of Gilead healed our pain.

A prudent woman understands how the other person feels. She deals with him with understanding and knowledge. Contrariwise, the fool breaks the law, regards not the feelings of others and falls hard.

Are we prudent or indiscreet? Do we minister healing balm in all of life’s situations or do we lay open our folly? Do we keep quiet and listen to others or do we open wide our mouths and shut our ears?

 

Dear Jesus: Please help me to guard my mouth. Keep me from hurtful words that fester like an ugly sore. Help me use my tongue as healing balm. Amen.

Bio: Lynn writes from her parents’ farm in Montrose, Colorado. She enjoys watching calves and deer at play. Robins, mourning doves, hawks and eagles take of in flight. Her articles flew off to various editors who printed about eighty of them. Her first book, Our Lifeship: Studies in Proverbs for Women soared to Ambassador Emerald International. They liked it and published it! Her second book landed at Tate Publishing. Its title: Do Kangaroos Carry Platypuses?  She spoke in one private school. She will speak in it again next fall.  (For several years Lynn and  her husband, now in Heaven, served as missionaries to the Navajo Indians.)

Angels and 18-Wheelers

 

“The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even forevermore” (Psalm 121:8).

 

Two 18-wheelers rolled toward us. With only a learner’s permit, I drove north from Missoula, Montana to the Blackfoot Area.

My God placed a hedge about us. He rides with us, flies with us and walks with us. Therefore, we shall fear no evil for nothing can touch us except it come through His hand first—even 18-wheelers.

Did my eyes deceive me? I looked again. Those big wheels sped closer in my direction.

“What can I do? I gasped.  My partner said nothing. Angels grabbed those 18-wheelers and helped me pull off the road and park on the shoulder. With thumping hearts Grace, my partner, and myself thanked God for His deliverance.

Many other times God’s angels have hovered over me and delivered me from certain danger. They saved me from drowning, falling off a horse, and many other things.

How great is my God! Every time we leave our house and come back in God protects us. When we go in and when we go out, He keeps His promise to keep us. He guards us this time, and the next time and the next time. Praise be to God!

 

Dear Lord, Thank you for protecting me from 18-wheelers and other hazards that cross my path. Thank you for your angels. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

 

Bio: Lynn writes from her parents’ farm in Montrose, Colorado. She enjoys watching calves and deer at play. Robins, mourning doves, hawks and eagles take of in flight. Her articles flew off to various editors who printed about eighty of them. Her first book, Our Lifeship: Studies in Proverbs for Women soared to Ambassador Emerald International. They liked it and published it! Her second book landed at Tate Publishing. Its title: Do Kangaroos Carry Platypuses?  She spoke in one private school. She will speak in it again next fall.  (For several years Lynn and  her husband, now in Heaven, served as missionaries to the Navajo Indians.)

A Cage of Nerves

 

Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you (I Peter 5:7).

 

Without realizing it, I had become a worryholic. Deep depression alighted upon me, but I knew not the cause. Four times, I had failed to depend upon the Lord. Therefore, I suffered four nervous breakdowns.

I can pronounce yield and trust without any problem, but it took me years to apply them.

My schedule filled up and I had no time to myself. I arose early to prepare breakfast for my husband. I spent all day home schooling my daughter. “I have no time for a quiet time,” I reasoned.

“Lynn, you’re carrying around too many burdens,” my pastor said to me.

“Get up at five o’clock before the family arises,” Bro. Taylor counseled me. “You can have your quiet time then.”

“My alarm clock will wake up my husband,” I argued. “He works hard and needs his rest.”

“Talk it over with him,” he urged. “Tell him you need this time with the Lord.”

“Okay,” I consented, knowing my weary body could not rise at that intolerable hour. However, Leon, my husband agreed with this plan. It pleased the Lord, too. He refreshed me so that I did not miss the extra sleep.

Worry robs a soul of peace and joy. Lacking understanding, I called my anxieties “nerves” and continued to worry. After all, I reasoned, I cannot change them; they belong to me. Consequently, I lived a defeated life.

When God took my beloved husband to Heaven, it forced me to depend more upon the Lord. Soon afterwards, I spent a precious night of communion with my Lord. He released me from my “cage of nerves”. At that moment, God opened my understanding. What a fool I had been not to see my nerves, worries, burdens and cares all amounted to the same thing!

The following night my burdens glided into my territory again. “Lord, please take them away,” I pleaded. Again, my “nerves” took wing.

Although my life still has stress, the Lord keeps me from deep distress. My burdens no longer get me down. I trust under the shelter of the Lord’s wings to keep from worry. He set me free from my cage of “nerves.” When I stay close to Him, I soar upwards as a bird.

 

O Lord, teach me to trust Thee more and to walk in Thy paths. Please take away my nerves. May I continue to cast them upon Thee. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

 

Bio: Lynn writes from her parents’ farm in Montrose, Colorado. She enjoys watching calves and deer at play. Robins, mourning doves, hawks and eagles take of in flight. Her articles flew off to various editors who printed about eighty of them. Her first book, Our Lifeship: Studies in Proverbs for Women soared to Ambassador Emerald International. They liked it and published it! Her second book landed at Tate Publishing. Its title: Do Kangaroos Carry Platypuses?  She spoke in one private school. She will speak in it again next fall.  (For several years Lynn and  her husband , now in Heaven, served as missionaries to the Navajo Indians.)