Editor's
note. Today I'm offering you excerpts from a remarkable Prayer
Breakfast speech delivered at NRLC 2008 by Charles and Kay
James. You will be moved and motivated by what Charles says in
today's TN&V, as you will in equal measure be moved Monday by
excerpts from the second half of that speech delivered by Kay.
Corrie Ten
Boom was a Dutch woman, a Christian woman in a German
concentration camp during the Nazi occupation during the WWII.
She wrote a book ["The Hiding Place"], and in that book she
said, "You don't get your ticket until you get on the train." So
many of you know that you have been called to this work and
gifted once you came to it, gifts that you did not even know
that you had because God equips you if he calls you to do his
work. So you need never say, "I can't do that. I don't know
how to do that." Those are merely excuses that you put up before
Almighty God as a reason for not being obedient. But once you
are obedient he will equip you and there is great and wonderful
joy in being obedient to God.
We are
here this weekend to celebrate life as the nation celebrates its
birthday. Isn't that interesting? How those two things come to
together. Yet, if we listen to the news it's not about
celebration, it's about destruction, it's about
violence…setbacks to the glorious call that we have to celebrate
life, which comes from God. The times in which we live are not
new, they're not new at all. If we go back six-hundred years
before the birth of Christ, if we were to put ourselves in that
situation in Israel, it would be the same situation.
The
prophet Habakkuk, looking all about seeing no justice, seeing
law set aside, seeing violence, seeing the wicked prosper. He
was perplexed-- How can this go on God? He had a complaint, and
he took his complaint to God as I'm sure many time, we in this
room, have taken our complaints to God; and God answered him. …
So the
Lord replied, in verse two, chapter two [of the book of
Habakkuk], "Write down the revelation and make it plain on
tablets so that a herald may run with it. For the revelation
awaits an appointed time, it speaks of the end and will not
prove false. Though it linger, wait for it, it will certainly
come and will not delay."
We all
want fast food from God. We want to pick the green apple rather
then wait for the ripe apple, that's just because we're people.
But, if we're people of faith, we have to trust that God hears
our prayers, answers them in His own way in his own time. But
stand at the ramparts. Stand and watch--continue doing what we
do and the day will come when we will rejoice in the answer from
God.
Our job is
to stand firm, telling the truth, fighting for those babies. And
though it may look dark, it may look impossible; we get set
backs from time-to-time…God is in control. We can trust in Him.
And so, with that, how shall I--how shall we--then live in light
of the glorious mercy and power of God for our cause, for our
lives, for our family and for this wonderful nation which he
created for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness? And Kay
is going to give you an answer.
If you
have any thoughts on this, please drop me a line at
daveandrusko@hotmail.com
