The Weekly Encourager - August 26, 2010 - "Make Known His Deeds"

It's time for another encouraging story! This happened just few weeks ago to a friend I will call K. for King's daughter. The Lord used this lady's trials to encourage me to have faith, to persist in prayer, and to share my trials and outcomes as they were happening. Names and some details have been changed to preserve privacy.

I heard about the situation through a mutual friend I'll call S. for Sister in Christ. She sent me an email requesting prayer for K., saying, "She is going through some very difficult and trying times and truly needs many prayer warriors to support her. You all know that she is a very new Christian and hasn't had the opportunity to grow in our Lord, but she is calling on Him as her Abba Father in this time of distress....She lost her job and then just one month later her car was stolen from in front of her home. K. keeps everything she owns in her car. [Due to problems with a disabled child, K. cannot leave valuables in her home.] That means along with her car she lost her house keys, her credit cards, her cash, checks, the keys to the homes of the people she [works for], her medical records and on and on. Her car was 11 years old and she's put a lot of money into it lately including just getting a new battery that very day for $135. Her insurance will pay for the car after 21 days but there is no way she can get a car or a loan without a job and the amount you get for an 11 year old car won't buy you much. The Lord needs to intervene here BIG TIME and we know we have a BIG GOD who can do just that. It will take more prayer though, so please let's join together and [pray]."

About two weeks later, I heard this report: "Thank you all so much for praying for K. God has been so very gracious to her in that her car was found last week. EVERYTHING was in it except for the one key to the car, so she will be having the locks changed. She had gone ahead and bought a new, used car but so she was returning the 'new' car to [the dealer] and will be refunded her money. They give you 5 days to change your mind - again God's grace over her, or she would have been stuck with two cars and a debt as well that she doesn't need.... Her car was found less than 2 miles from her home [Indications are that] it was driven there after being stolen and parked so it was meant simply to harass K....She so appreciates all of your prayers and her faith has remained strong throughout all these trials that have befallen her. She needs continued prayer and she needs contact, I know some of you have called but she feels like she just can't talk because there is so much to tell that's bad and nothing good. She said sometimes people don't want to hear all your troubles as they feel it might be contagious. She still doesn't fully grasp Christian love and the desire to help and most of all listen and pray for those going through trials. I can tell you once again that all of you listed on this email are the only Christian sisters she knows....My heart aches for her and I pray she will begin to reach out."

Only two days later, this news came from S.: "It's a cool, dreary, day but the Lord has caused the sun to shine in my heart and I'm just praising Him for His goodness and mercy on our dear sister K. She got a call yesterday from [the place where she worked] saying her job has been reinstated and she will get all back pay! The reason she lost her job was because 2 co-workers...framed her by saying she hit one of them and the other was a witness to it all. K. went through the proper steps to file a grievance with the company and when they looked into it they discovered the witness wasn't a credible person."

Remember the verse the Lord gave me a few weeks back? "No weapon turned against you shall succeed, and you will have justice against every courtroom lie. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their vindication is from Me." - Isaiah 54:17 This lady who was falsely accused received justice in the "court" of that employer! God vindicated her!

Some further comments from S: "K. has been an inspiration to me in all of this, sort of a modern day Job actually, as I've watched her lose almost everything she had, but not her faith and trust in our Lord. Not once did she say 'why me?' or cry out in anger to Him or even cry at all for that matter. This is a woman who has seriously been refined as silver, the dross has been extracted and she now stands as a shining and faithful daughter of the King....Can you imagine the witness she has been to [her unsaved child] through all of this?" S's email ended with a request to continue to pray for this lady, her child, and some ongoing needs.

Isn't this a wonderful story of God's unfailing love and help to His dear child? It certainly put my problems in perspective - I was facing aggravation, loss of some money, and possibly a legal judgment against me if I lost in court, yet K. had lost her job, her money, all her records, and her car! And, she's a single mom dealing with a disabled child, loneliness, and persecution! If anyone had cause to worry, it would be her, yet she persevered! Brava! One day God will say to you, "Well done, good and faithful servant."

Now a word about the mutual friend S., the bearer of good tidings. How often people ask for prayer, yet they never report back with the answer! That really bugs me! It was so neat to be able to pray for someone as it was happening and then hear God's dramatic answers as they were happening. How often do we rob one another of encouragement in Christ by failing to ask for prayer, or by failing to report the answers! This new Christian Kid is blessed to have such a faithful Sister in her life! To S. I say Brava! One day God will say to you, "Well done, good and faithful servant."

Lord, there is so much to learn from this story, first of Your love and faithfulness, but also of the proper working of Your church. There are many who are lonely and struggling with far more serious trials than I am. Lord, let me minister to the lost and hurt, and do it as unto Christ. Let me be a friend like S., who not only encouraged K. but all of us who prayed for K. (What a privilege to have had even a small part in Your work!) Lord, let me me be aware of all the good things that You have given me, the solid gold that remains after the straw is burned away. Christ healed ten people yet only one returned to give Him thanks. Lord, let me be that one who returns to give You thanks!

" I will give thanks to the LORD with all my heart; I will tell of all Your wonders." - Psalm 9:1
"Oh give thanks to the LORD, call upon His name; Make known His deeds among the peoples." - 1 Chronicles 16:7-9

God is faithful. Make known His deeds.
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