In 1901, Oliver Tomkins joined the effort, and on Easter Sunday, the two men decided to explore a new part of the islands. The next morning, they went ashore—and the two missionaries were never heard from again! A rescue party soon learned that the two men had been clubbed to death, chopped to pieces, cooked, and eaten. The horrible news flashed around the world. "I can't believe it!" exclaimed Dr. Joseph Parker from the pulpit of London's famous City Temple. "I do not want to believe it! Such a mystery of providence makes it hard for our strained faith to recover." It just didn't make sense!
In 1956, when Jim Elliot and four other missionaries were martyred by the Aucas in Ecuador, the entire world had to face a similar dilemma—how could a loving God allow such a thing, especially to such dedicated Christian men? And yet, that tragedy allowed their wives to continue the outreach, resulting in the salvation of the murderers themselves, multitudes of others in the village and surrounding areas, and the inspiration for hundreds of others to take to the mission field. As Jim Elliot once wrote in his diary, "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose." Praise God—He is in control! There is certainly no shortage of evil and its perpetrators in the world today, and that is not a good thing—but, in His providence, God can bring much good out of it. And that is a promise!!!
It is true! The mystery of His providence reveals the mastery of His promise. Just look at the Exodus —a way through the Red Sea when Israel was being pursued by Pharoah's army; bitter water made sweet in the midst of a difficult wilderness; miraculous manna from heaven to satisfy their hunger throughout the 40 years of wandering; a dry path through the Jordan River as the next generation proceeded into the Promised Land—in the midst of the trials and afflictions, God had His hand on the way. But God also had some expectations—before they could really enter in, they would need to be consecrated unto the Lord. The sign of this would be a renewal of the covenant through circumcision—symbolizing the cutting away of the life in the flesh, and a moving forward in the Spirit of the Lord. The Passover was next—this new generation would be reminded of the deliverance marked by the lamb's blood. Yes, their next steps must be taken under the blood of the Lamb of God. The next few verses tell the story—"And they ate of the produce of the land on the day after the Passover, unleavened bread and parched grain, on the very same day. Then the manna ceased on the day after they had eaten the produce of the land; and the children of Israel no longer had manna, but they ate the food of the land of Canaan that year." (Joshua 5:12 NKJV) The manna didn't stop raining down the day before they had access to the other food in the new land; it didn't cease the day of, BUT rather, it was the day after! No gaps! No gaps at all! God provided every step of the way.
Then look what happens—"And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a man over against him with His sword drawn in His hand, and Joshua went unto Him, and said unto Him, Art thou for us, or for our adversaries? And He said, Nay; but as captain of the host of the Lord am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship…" (vss. 13,14 KJV) Whoa! What an amazing provision before the battle—the pre-incarnate Christ, the Captain of our Salvation (Heb. 2:10)—personally lays out the battle plan. Yes, the battle was the Lord's, not Joshua's! And it began with one, simple piece of obedience—"Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so."(vs.15) Praise God—Joshua obeyed; he obeyed every detail, and the walls came "tumblin'" down, just as the song says.
It was all a test of the zeal that both Joshua and the people had for the Lord and His holy ways. Submission to God's directives was most certainly the key to victory, though that is often not the easy way to go. Even in the church, we want to do the things of God, but our way. It would have made much more sense to boldly attack the city, than to march around it for days in perfect silence. Praise God—we must be willing to take off the shoes of our own "goings" and take the steps that the Lord Himself has laid out for us. And don't forget—such following of the Captain must be continual, even to the end. Their success at Jericho was so overwhelming, they thoughtsoundly defeated. Why? They didn't follow the Lord's leading—not just in insisting on their own way, but there was also sin in the camp. Yes, Achan had taken some of the forbidden spoils from Jericho. When caught, he admitted it, but that is not a true-heart repentance and a hatred of sin. At best, it is just remorse over getting caught. Achan and his family were stoned and buried under a pile of rocks—a memorial to God's call for holiness!
they had the pattern down pat. The next city, Ai, was smaller and would not be a big deal—just send two or three thousand men, and it will be a piece of cake. Well, it wasn't—Israel was
Yes, the repercussion of sin and disobedience will be devastating, but what about when godly"The truth is, whenever God has done a major work in my life, it has been during my darkest hours. I have learned my most lasting life lessons in my times of deepest pain. That is when His mercy came—when I finally stopped trying to figure things out and instead just held on, trusting Him to deliver me and work His way in me." This man knows what he is talking about—his wife, Gwen, has endured more than 25 surgeries, with many of them for cancer. She also has lost much of her sight to macular degeneration, but the Lord has sustained both of them. I know what he is talking about—right now, two very precious members of my family are going through these exact…same…things! Is there a gap in God's care, or is He speaking?
people are called to endure? Is there really a gap in the care of God? David Wilkerson, founding pastor of Time Square Church, recently wrote,
Teresa Conlon, the wife of Time Square's senior pastor, Carter Conlon, told of a worship service she recently led in Ireland. At the closing altar call, over 95% of the people came forward. Speaking to some of them afterwards, she began to see what had prepared the way for such a victory. A young on-fire Christian man had recently told his God-fearing mother, "If I gather the people, will you preach to them?" Figuring he was referring to scheduling a revival service, she agreed. Tragically, the young man was soon killed! As hundreds gathered at the home for the wake, generators and outdoor lights were set up in the fields for parking. In the process, a cousin and an uncle were electrocuted and lay dead on the ground. In trying to save them, five other family members were critically injured. A few days later, the funeral had become a media event—every newspaper reporter, TV and radio news crew, and even the country's president, were in attendance. The mother stood up, and putting her hand on her son's casket, she gave the Gospel of Jesus Christ to her whole country. She called all to love God and hate sin. She called allno other way to the Father.
to take off the shoes of their own "going", and go God's way—Jesus Christ—the Way, the Truth, and the Life, for there is
Later, when Teresa held that altar call, that mother and her family were among the first to come forward—they had found it difficult to be in church, with all the questions and such. But now, multitudes followed her to the altar in support, love, and care. Satan had meant the whole thing for evil, but God meant it for good. We often have the idea that everything that is difficult is "bad", but if God allowed it, can we not see His good purposes? Paul writes to us, "…all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose." (Rom. 8:28) And don't ever forget, "..our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory." (2 Cor. 4:17) Are you facing an overwhelming circumstance? Know this—there are no gaps in God's love and care. The "good" and the "bad" are intended to bring us to see our need. Such is the amazing mystery of God's providence; it truly does reveal the mastery of His promises!
