August 2008 Devotionals
August 25, 2008
Under Pressure? Sing!
A Conversation with Elizabeth Rice Handford
Walt and I went back to Wheaton College this spring for my 60th class reunion. My sister Joy and her husband went with us, to celebrate their 50th. We rented a car at O’Hare airport, and had a wonderful three days of seeing old and cherished friends, and reliving those heady days when life seemed so full of promise, and recounting how God had been with us in the long years since.
Early Sunday morning we headed back to the airport in a heavy storm. We got only two miles or so down the highway when a trooper flashed his lights at us. We pulled over, and saw, to our dismay, two more squad cars pull up, lights flashing ominously. After many minutes, the trooper got out of his squad car, came to the driver’s door, stared at all of use carefully. Seemingly satisfied that we were what we seemed, he said, “This automobile has been reported stolen. May I see your registration, please?”
Walt handed him our rental papers. “It’s a rental. We’ve been here for our 60th reunion at Wheaton.”
He thawed with a smile. “I’m celebrating my 30th.” He left and went back to his squad car, and came back. “This vehicle was reported stolen by a rental agency in Kentucky 30 minutes before they leased it to you. We’re trying to see what we can work out.”
Walt thanked him quietly. (I would have been tempted to argue and maybe cry, but Walt didn’t even protest.) For another 45 minutes we waited silently while it rained furiously. We wondered, would they confiscate the vehicle, leave us standing on the highway in the storm with our luggage at our knees? Surely they wouldn’t take us to jail, would they? Would we miss our flights home? (We certainly would, if some resolution didn’t happen soon!) Common sense told us this was not a big deal—but a knot of fear still gnawed.
At last the other two squad cars pulled away. The trooper came once more to the window. “We’ve talked to the people in Indiana. You can drive your vehicle on in to the airport.”
No one spoke as we drove onto the interstate. We were stunned, unbelieving, still not sure we’d make our flights. Then Walt began to sing quietly,
“I love you, Lord, and I lift my voice
To worship You. Oh, my soul, rejoice!
Take joy, my King, in what You hear.
May it be a sweet, sweet sound in Your ear.”*
We joined him, and a quiet, surprising peace filled that little rented, stolen automobile.
“Let the peace of God rule in your hearts,” Colossians 3:15,16 says, “ . . . singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.”
Yes, we caught our airplanes on time, and now we can joke about it. (Joy still answers our calls with “What jail are you calling from this time?”) But it was a day when we were anxious, and needed God’s peace in our hearts, and He gave it to us through a song.
*written by Laurie Klein, © 1978, House of Mercy Music
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Date Unknown
A Bridge You Must Someday Cross
A Conversation with Elizabeth Rice Handford
Have you ever been hurt so badly by someone, you felt you could never forgive him? Sometimes, humanly speaking, some actions really are beyond forgiveness. People do betray us. They are unfaithful. They wrong us irretrievably. So when Jesus tells us we must forgive others, we wonder how it is possible.
But Lord Herbert says this:
He that cannot forgive others breaks the bridge
over which he himself must pass—
For every man has need to be forgiven.
Someday, whether intentionally or innocently, we are going to deeply hurt someone else. (Indeed, surely we already have!) And then we will crave their forgiveness.
But there’s an even greater reason for forgiving one who wrongs you. When Jesus died for your sins, He paid for every single evil, thoughtless, childish, foolish, unforgivable sin you ever committed or will commit. You deserved Hell, and Jesus gave you Heaven. That’s the reason we must forgive others, even when they aren’t sorry for the way they’ve hurt us.
That’s why the Bible says, “Be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ’s sake, has forgiven you” (Eph. 4:32).
God forgave me, for Jesus’ sake. So I must forgive you.
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Date Unknown
Homing
A Conversation with Elizabeth Rice Handford
A letter to our local newspaper protests the release of doves into the sky after a wedding. “Poor things,” the writer said, “they won’t know how to live on their own, and they’ll die.”
We were reminded of our granddaughter’s wedding. Doves were uncaged and released when the bride and groom came out of the church. What happened then was an exciting revelation. When those “poor things” were released, they immediately flew a 360o circle, evidently to get their bearings, and then they chose a definite course, straight for home. They soared confidently (and we thought joyfully) into the sky, absolutely sure of their way. They were homing pigeons. They knew where home was.
We human beings need the same kind of homing instinct—not for the house where we live, but a moral “true north” that guides us, no matter how bewildering our circumstances. Life comes at us fast, with little opportunity to assess our decisions. But we make hundreds of decisions daily, often not even aware that we are making them. So our foundational commitment to what is right needs to undergird all our acts.
King David said, “I know, my God, that you examine our hearts and rejoice when you find integrity there” (I Chronicles 29:17). Astonishing to realize that God, looking down on His children, yes, looking down on you, is made glad when He sees you “homing,” choosing to do right, even in a multitude of difficult situations. Your acting with integrity gives Him great joy.
That’s not to say that every thing always turns out right when you act with integrity. Sometimes people will take advantage of you. But your Heavenly Father is pleased, and He will someday make it all turn out right. We’re headed for home!
- Libby Handford