Footsteps of the Faithful, Part 2

 

(Can I really do a “part 2” of someone else’s article?) I was in awe of Amy’s post last week, partly because it is so relevant and strengthening, and partly because I had prepared this piece and it follows her thoughts so perfectly. She asked us to respond with biographies that have encouraged us in our faith. This one qualifies!

In 1731, Pietists Johann Schoenfeldt and his brother-in-law Johann Poet and their wives were making their way by boat from Count Zinzendorf’s estate, Herrnhut, in Saxony to Haarlem (Amsterdam), Holland, where they hoped to find freedom to worship as they wished. Count Z had earlier taken in all forms of religious dissenters for protection at his refuge, but subsequently decided to require all to become Moravians. Those who declined were forced out.

Poet’s diary of the trip is an amazing story of reliance on God for every event, every moment, every day of their journey. His object was to give his friends in Silesia, Germany, their former home, “a report of the way the Lord has led us.”

A day’s journey from Herrnhut, they engaged passage on a ship, but found, to their dismay, they had to wait 10 days to sail and had little money for food. The customs inspector referred them to a resident who gave Poet 10 days’ work, providing him wages and extra money for food. They went “with God’s guidance” on board the ship. Sprinkled among his accounts of the people they met and the kindnesses showed them are comments such as, “on the 3rd of May the Lord brought us to Wittenberg.” “On the 6^th of May in the morning the hand of God guided us safely through the bridge at Magdeburg.” “We were not aware of the great danger through which our Lord had guided us so gently.” “On the morning of the 16^th we arrived, with the guidance of the Most High, in Altona. We decided to spend this one day aboard the ship to see what the dear God had in store for us.”

At one point one of their companions went ashore to see if he could find a poor man who would rent them a room, “but the dear God led him by chance to a very wealthy Mennonite,” who offered a large house to shelter their whole group. Faced with the choice of whether to stay or to keep on with their journey, Poet wrote,” Now we are sitting here and looking, as children, up to our dear Father who has met our meager needs by means of our handiwork.” A month later, “We still sit here, however, and await the signal of the dear God. When He commands us to move on, then we are resolved to move on immediately.” Another month later, “the Lord again gave us courage, that we should go in his name to Holland. So in the name of God we boarded a ship on the 1^st of August.”

At that point they had been given bread and cheese but had little money. Poet commented, “We turned over our cares to God, and although we well knew beforehand that the trip would take at least 11 to 12 days, even with a good wind; that we had no hope of eating one single bite of warm food; that we were well aware of the weakness of our bodies; that we could expect seasickness; in spite of all this, we cast ourselves into the hand of the dear God and decided to be satisfied that we could do as He wished.”

The remainder of the diary is a similar account of hardships, amazing provision for their needs, encounters with believers of other denominations and sects, all couched in Johann Poet’s firm belief in God’s leading, provision and sovereignty. At every point, he credited God with guiding them and giving them success in their journey.

Credit: Maryland Magazine of Genealogy, Spring 1980, Fall 1980.

 We were provided a copy of this fascinating diary by Dr. Hale T. Shenefield who, along with Paul Shenefield, is one of the descendants of Poet’s traveling companions, Johann and Elizabeth Schoenfeldt. Dr. Shenefield comments, “This letter illustrates, better than anything else, their Pietistic approach to life, their interpretation of their whole life and the most prosaic experiences in terms of the direct intervention of God in their lives; providing a ship for the next part of the trip, lodging for the night, getting a good captain and so on. Today, such an approach to life seems exaggerated. To them, it was both right and inevitable in view of their religious commitment and the events of their world.”

It is sad that Dr. Shenefield is correct. “Today such an approach to life seems exaggerated.” It should not. God IS involved in our moment-by-moment lives. Every good and perfect gift is from Him – not merely a by-product of our relatively safe, relatively secure, relatively prosperous, freedom-boasting society. From what our missionaries tell us, persecuted Christians (which these Pietists were) today do consciously rely on God for provision and protection every day, believing God is working His will in all. May we humbly follow suit.

--Lynda Shenefield

Following in the Footsteps of the Faithful

There is a great heritage of godly lives passed down to us in the family of faith. Believers have lived in all times past, facing the challenges of the days at hand. From the time of Nero to the Middle Ages to the Reformation to the World Wars to today, God has always had his remnant, a people who have lived for Him and placed His glory above their own comforts. As Paul himself said, “Follow me as I also follow Christ” (I Corinthians 11:1), so we can look to and follow these believers who have kept the faith and surrendered all for what is unseen and eternal.

Perhaps this is why I enjoy biographies of believers. These stories serve as real-life examples of men and women, as human as you and me with fears and dreams and sin struggles, who relied on God and lived all out for Him. They lived Paul’s words in Philippians 3: They were willing to give up all in their lives to live for Christ and to know Him in both His power and His sufferings. Despite all challenges, they pressed on toward the upward call of God on which their eyes were fixed (Phil. 3:8-14). Paul encourages us to observe those who walk in this way so we can follow their examples (15-17). And one way to observe their lives is to read their stories.

I am currently reading The Little Woman, an autobiography about Gladys Aylward. I am only about half-way through, but already I have been challenged by what she went through simply to get to China in the first place: the long time she had to work to buy the train ticket across Europe, the distance she had to walk in Siberia in the cold because war was raging where her train had stopped, the days that she was held prisoner by the Japanese government before she was able to escape them, and finally arriving in China in very primitive conditions and the missionary lady she was going to help dying about a year after she arrived. Yet she never turned around; she never gave up. She tells of a time on this journey when she cried out to God, “Oh God, is it worth it?” She writes, “Like a flash came the answer: ‘Be not afraid, remember I am the Lord.’ “ My challenges seem so small compared to someone who went through so much, but her example serves to help me put my own challenges in perspective, to be reminded that God is faithful to His children, and to press on in what God has called me to do in the place and time in which He has set me.

So for those of you who, like me, want to read more about the saints who have gone before us, here are some biographies that I have read and learned from. Perhaps you can respond to this post with biographies that have encouraged you in your faith.

A Passion for the Impossible (about Lillias Trotter, missionary to Algiers)

A Chance to Die (about Amy Carmichael, missionary to India)

Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy (about Dietrich Bonhoeffer, German pastor during WW2)

Katharina von Bora (about Martin Luther’s wife)

Living Sacrifice (Helen Roseveare, missionary doctor to the Congo, part biographical, part devotional)

Susie (about Susanna Spurgeon, wife of Charles Spurgeon)

Marriage to a Difficult Man (about Jonathan and Sarah Edwards)

Faithful Women and Their Extraordinary God (short biographies about five different women)

John Piper’s The Swans are Not Silent Series (each book in the series includes three biographies)

I am reminded of Steve Green’s song that holds true for these men and women and many more whose stories will never be told in books:

“Oh may all who come behind us find us faithful.

May the fire of our devotion light their way,

May the footprints that we leave

Lead them to believe,

And the lives we live inspire them to obey.

Oh may all who come behind us find us faithful.”

 --Amy O'Rear 

Not Going Down

 My friend Becky recently shared an incident involving her grandson Leon. Two-year-old Leon said, "Grammy, I will hold your hand." She said, "No, Leon.  I will hold your hand." If Leon is the one holding on, then his hand may slip.  Leon may wipe out. If Grammy is doing the holding, Leon is safe.

I immediately thought of Psalm 37:23-24.  “The Lord directs the steps of the godly.  He delights in every detail of their lives.  Though they stumble, they will never fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand."  (NLT)  The NASB says “When he falls, he will not be hurled headlong, Because the Lord is the One who holds his hand.”

The picture I have is of a young child walking with his father in ice and snow. (Appropriate for this  weekend, isn’t it! I am in Atlanta with my grandson Ruben. He and his parents and I walked in the snow this morning.)  Back to my picture: the child’s feet may slip, but because the father is holding him by the hand, he may dangle for a minute, but he doesn't go all the way down.  He may hang, but he gets his feet back under him. He doesn't go down for the count.

So God is directing each Christian's way.  He delights in every detail of our lives.  And when we stumble, we don't fall all the way down, because the Lord has us by the hand.  Notice, "when they stumble."  It's not "if they stumble."  It's "when they stumble."  That means we are going to stumble.  There isn't any question about it.  We will stumble.  And when we stumble, we may struggle to get our feet back under us, but we won't go down all the way.  God is holding our hand.  Verse 31 of Psalm 37 says, "They have made God's law their own, so they will never slip from His path." 

I often feel as if I am dangling, just about to go down. I fret over my children. I fear for the son who lives on a sailboat. I worry about finances. Will I be able to pay that insurance bill?  I worry about my health.  Who will be here when I have to have that surgery? I feel lonely, sure that no one cares. But I don’t have to worry.  I have the certain promise, I can get my feet back under me. 

Psalm 55:22 says, “Give  your burdens to the Lord, and He will take care of you.  He will not permit the godly to slip and fall.” So take heart and don’t be discouraged, God is holding your hand. 

“This I declare about the Lord: He alone

is my refuge, my place of safety;

he is my God, and I trust him.” Psalm 91:2 NLT

~~~Faith Himes Lamb

Heaven's Music

Author's Note: Though this post has been ready for awhile to share on Cup of Grace, it is special to me to post it today, because I learned this week that my high school piano teacher just joined Heaven's Music. Thank you, Mrs. Pearl Jeffers, for living His song to so many of us. -MaryBeth Hall 

When I was in high school band on the Texas panhandle, there was a recurrent mental daydream in which I engaged. Taking the melody a well-loved hymn, my mind would arrange it with whatever instrument combinations I thought best suited the lyrics, as though I were in heaven with limitless possibilities. I especially liked regal arrangements, such as having dozens of trumpets play introductory fanfare to a medley of “Crown Him with Many Crowns” and “O Worship the King.” Thousands of Christians would be singing with all their hearts to their Lord. Surely nothing could be greater than worshipping our Creator and Redeemer face to face! May He hasten the day…

 

Heaven’s Music

^“And they sang a new song, saying: ‘You are worthy…’” (Rev. 5:9)

 

Hush! If you listen, you may hear

Strains of music without peer.

Heaven’s musicians in grand crescendo

Bring praise to the God Whose name I know.

My soul hears what my ears one day will;

Though faint, it’s enough to make my heart thrill

With joy, that one day I’ll play with them there,

Worshipping holy Trinity beyond compare.

 

 

As thunder rolling, tympanis vibrate

In praise of Majesty Who did all create.

Trumpets the royal fanfare proclaim,

Honoring the King: worthy is His name!

Woodwinds in minor key highlight redemption’s cost,

When the I AM left His throne to die for the lost.

Then harps’ flowing arpeggios, as a brook rippling over rocks,

Lift our souls and hands as we joy – out of the tomb He walks!

 

 

From selah’s contemplation to triple forte’s jubilation,

Who He is and all His acts will fill our adoration!

From guitars to violins, stringed instruments weave the story

Of all our testimonies: how He led us for His glory.

Pipe organs and pianos, instruments from every land

Combine with heaven’s new ones in that “Hallelujah Band.”

And those who’ve gone before us have taken now their chairs;

O, may He come tonight, and bring us Home to join them there!

 

 

The Spirit our Conductor tunes our hearts yet even now,

For soon the Father’s signal will the Son’s rapture allow.

Then in the chorus of the ages I will join to sing,

With all we are in awe of Him Who is our Everything!

Unlimited orchestration, choir members without count -

Arrangements of the heart poured at the feet of blessing’s Fount.

And the concert ne’er will end in the great eternal Day,

For the Giver of our lives will watch and smile as we play.

 

Yes, the Giver of our lives will watch and smile as we play.

 

Wrapped up in Hope

One of my favorite Christmas gifts this year is a little book called A Child’s Calendar. It’s a book of poems by John Updike. While I can’t endorse everything Updike wrote, I urge you to find this collection, as it is delightful. There is a poem and a beautiful illustration by Trina Schart Hyman for each month of the year. The pictures show family activities throughout the year, and the poems describe special moments in life that we all encounter each month.

The poem for December has six stanzas, but I want to share the last three with you.

                                Old carols peal.
                                  The dusk is dense.
                                There is a mood
                                  Of sweet suspense.

                                The shepherds wait,
                                  The kings, the tree--                
                                All wait for something
                                  Yet to be,

                                Some miracle.
                                   And then it’s here,
                                Wrapped up in hope--
                                  Another year!

Another year! Do these words fill you with hope or dread? I spent part of December meditating on Lamentations chapter 3. You are likely familiar with verses 22 and 23, but let me take you to verse 24: “The LORD is my portion, says my soul, Therefore I hope in Him!” We do have cause to hope for good things to come. Even if everything else fails, God will not fail. We have heard over and over recently how important it is to trust in God’s timing, and I’m here to reiterate that idea.

This book of poetry is one of the many things I lost in the tornado of April 12, 2020. And now I have another copy! I know it’s a small thing, but it is a reminder to me that God can and does restore to us the things he intends to use.

I resolve to look forward in hope. I will trust God to provide his blessings in his time. Here it comes, y’all---Another year!

--Sherry Poff