Volume 2, Issue 2

Dear Friends,

As many of you are aware, this summer has been one of the most difficult times in my family’s lives.  On July 14th, my niece was killed in a tragic car accident.  Exactly two weeks later, a dear friend suddenly went home to be with the Lord.  Then, one month after my niece died, my Daddy passed away.

It has been amazing to see the hand of God carrying our family through these very trying times.  Once again, the Lord has proven Himself faithful in our lives.  But very honestly, the question of “why” has plagued my mind.  Over and over I have tried to understand what God was thinking in all of this; “Why did you allow this?”, “Why did we not have the opportunity to heal from the first death before the two other blows met us head on?”   Again and again, these thoughts, along with many others, have tried to torment my mind.

Over and over I have tried to understand what God was thinking in all of this; “Why did you allow this?”, “Why did we not have the opportunity to heal from the first death before the two other blows met us head on?” Again and again, these thoughts, along with many others, have tried to torment my mind.

Then one day, the Lord reminded me of a sermon that He had given me several years earlier about Elijah and the widow woman. In I Kings 17, the scripture tells us that when Elijah's brook dried up, God told him to go to Zarephath and He had commanded a widow woman there to sustain him. As I began to research this information, I became aware of several odd situations. First of all, Zarephath was quite a distance from the brook where Elijah was getting his water. There's no doubt, since the brook was already dried up before God gave him the next directions, that Elijah was a thirsty man. And to think that the Lord wanted him to go all the way to Zarephath for his provision must have seemed ridiculous to Elijah. The second thing that seemed rather odd was the fact that God had commanded a “widow woman” to sustain Elijah. In those days, women who were widows usually were under a great financial burden. So the question is, “What was God thinking?” Why a widow woman and why so far away? Have you ever asked the “why” question? To the natural man, this situation made absolutely no sense whatsoever. But what Elijah had to realize was that God saw the big picture. Yes, He was planning to take care of Elijah's needs, but at the same time, God saw a widow woman in Zarephath that was in need of a miracle also. And God knew, if He could trust His prophet to obey Him, even when it didn't make any sense, God could bring forth a miracle that could touch many lives! This miracle not only blessed the prophet, the widow woman and her son, but I truly believe that people in the community had the opportunity to see God in action and possibly even get to be a part of the blessings from God, who is always “More than enough!”

What will your answer be? Will you continue to trust in the middle of difficulty? There are things about God that we may never understand, but I know for certain that His word is absolute and He is working things out for our good!
I know we can trust Him!

My family wishes to thank you all for your prayers and support…it has carried us and He has been our strength. May His love and peace be yours today.

With love,
Pastor Beth

Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways
acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths. Proverbs 3: 5,6