Feel forgotten?

“The land which I do give them, even the children of Israel” (Joshua 1:2).

God here speaks in the immediate present. It is not something He is going to do, but something He does do, this moment. So faith ever speaks. So God ever gives. So He is meeting you today, in the present moment. This is the test of faith. So long as you are waiting for a thing, hoping for it, looking for it, you are not believing. It may be hope, it may be earnest desire, but it is not faith; for “faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” The command in regard to believing prayer is the present tense. “When ye pray, believe that ye receive the things that ye desire, and ye shall have them.” Have we come to that moment? Have we met God in His everlasting NOW? –Joshua, by Simpson

True faith counts on God, and believes before it sees. Naturally, we want some evidence that our petition is granted before we believe; but when we walk by faith we need no other evidence than God’s Word. He has spoken, and according to our faith it shall be done unto us. We shall see because we have believed, and this faith sustains us in the most trying places, when everything around us seems to contradict God’s Word.

The Psalmist says, “I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of living” (Ps. 27:13). He did not see as yet the Lord’s answer to his prayers, but he believed to see; and this kept him from fainting.

If we have the faith that believes to see, it will keep us from growing discouraged. We shall “laugh at impossibilities,” we shall watch with delight to see how God is going to open up a path through the Red Sea when there is no human way out of our difficulty. It is just in such places of severe testing that our faith grows and strengthens.

Have you been waiting upon God, dear troubled one, during long nights and weary days, and have feared that you were forgotten? Nay, lift up your head, and begin to praise Him even now for the deliverance which is on its way to you. (from Streams in the Desert)

Peter from St Petersburg

Morning is the hardest part of the day for me in St. Petersburg. I wake up early to pray, read and work on my slides. After a few hours of being awake, my mind gets confused because of the darkness outside. Only by 11 am do the first rays of sunshine leak through the frosty sky. By the afternoon the sun rises high becomes especially bright and sharp thanks to the arctic freezing weather. Every day it is the same -20 C(-10 F).

For the first few days upon arriving I tried to be faithful to my morning routine of a daily fast paced walk. I have to acknowledge that those walks were beautiful. The monumental architecture of Saint Petersburg is absolutely breath-taking. However, my body was not ready for this drastic change in climate and I felt that familiar but unpleasant scratchy pain in my throat. Remembering that my voice is the only reason I am in this part of the world, I had to stop the amazing walks and retreat to my hotel, or as I call it, my “cell”. Despite the comfortable and convenient room I am staying in, some days I feel like I’m living in a prison cell after a few hours of my study time go by.

On another note, I am very pleased to see the conference administration’s involvement in the whole process. The president, the secretary and the treasurer are the first ones to arrive to the auditorium. They are meeting and greeting people, helping with the study guides, setting up the equipment, arranging hot teas for the singers and many other tasks. They are also the last to leave the hall after the meetings.

St. Petersburg is certainly different from many of the other cities where I have preached. It is hard to draw the people’s attention with anything at all. They live in a city with the best universities, famous art galleries, an outstanding symphony orchestra and a number of world-famous drama theaters. They have seen and heard rock music superstars, world political leaders and Hollywood actors. They definitely feel self-sufficient and are not much interested in the eternal truths of the Bible.

However, every night I see a large group of devout souls searching for the spiritual treasures of the Bible.  A mile long walk from the nearest metro station through freezing weather similar to that of an arctic country is not an issue to them. They come because they are interested in what the Bible has to say about the future of this world. I am impressed and humbled with their sincere attention and warm spirits.

Please, continue your prayers for these meetings.

PK