Lord, I Am Willing

Lord, I am willing

To receive what You give;

To lack what You withhold;

To relinquish what You take;

To suffer what You inflict;

To be what You require.

~unknown

I found that powerful prayer (poem) in a book a friend gave me for my birthday. Its words remind me of this insightful statement (attributed to Amy Carmichael) that Elisabeth Elliot often shared on her Gateway to Joy radio program: In acceptance lieth peace.

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Not Forgotten By God

Are not five sparrows sold for two cents? Yet not one of them is forgotten before God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows.
~Jesus, in
Luke 12:5-7

The LORD Is Near...

Taken at Woody Pond in the Harris Neck National Wildlife Refuge in Townsend, Georgia (near Darien)

Like a Birdling In Its Nest

¹He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
            Will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.

²I will say to the LORD, “My refuge and my fortress,
            My God, in whom I trust!”

³For it is He who delivers you from the snare of the trapper
            And from the deadly pestilence.

⁴He will cover you with His pinions,
            And under His wings you may seek refuge;
            His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark.

Psalm 91:1-4, NASB

On Dec. 14^th, as a friend and I talked about our favorite devotional books, we mentioned Streams in the Desert. Later that day, I ordered that book for my Kindle but didn’t begin reading it until the following morning. The moment I read the poem at the end of the devotional for that day, I felt compelled to share it with others, especially with a friend whose one-year-old great grandson had been hospitalized the night before. I knew it contained good advice for her—and for all of us!

Trust and rest when all around you

Puts your faith to stringent test;

Let no fear or foe confound you,

Wait for God and trust and rest.

Trust and rest with heart abiding,

Like a birdling in its nest,

Underneath His feathers hiding,

Fold your wings and trust and rest.

Dec. 15^th reading, Streams in the Desert, written by L. B. Cowman, edited by James Reiman, ©1997. Original was published in 1925.