Mark 4:10-13 (11)
A man born in the city decided to move to the country and start a chicken farm. He bought 200 baby chicks and a farmhouse with some land around it. The chickens all quickly died. He bought 200 more baby chicks. Again, they all died. Puzzled and distressed, the man wrote to the county agricultural agent and described his problem. He concluded his letter, “I want very much to be a successful chicken farmer. Therefore, can you tell me: Have I been planting the chicks too close together or too deep?” Whereupon the county agent wrote back and said, “I can’t answer your question until you send me a soil sample.”*
The disciples seemed to be about that dense sometimes. Sometimes I am as well. And yet I take great satisfaction in reading that spiritual things are spiritually discerned. (1 Cor 2:14) Because of my relationship with Jesus Christ I now have a greater insight into the meaning of God’s Word. There are some passages of Scripture that we will still struggle with until we develop more in Christian growth. But as Mark Twain once said, “Most people are bothered by those passages in Scripture which they cannot understand. The Scripture which troubles me most is the Scripture I do understand.” It is essential that we accept and work with what we DO know as we are developing a greater understanding of the Word.
*Adapted James S. Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc, 1988) p. 211.
Dr. Gayle Woods
Isa 62:10-12 (11) “…Behold thy salvation cometh…”
While pastoring in Tennessee my wife and I both drove school buses to supplement our income. One morning my wife stopped at a rural intersection. She looked to the left at the distant hill, back to the level stretch on her right and then again to the left before entering the empty road. She continued for about 100 feet, turned on her left turn signal, looked in her mirrors and then began to make the left turn.
At this time a pickup traveling at a tremendous rate of speed struck her left fender. The impact was so great that it knocked the turning bus to the right shoulder of the road. The front end was knocked out from under the bus. The pickup continued into a field for some distance before finally stopping.
The driver later sued the County School District. We were somewhat apprehensive not being sure how the large law suit would affect us personally.
Finally the court date arrived. The preceedings progressed until at one point the prosecuting attorney looked out over the packed courtroom and made eye contact with me. I had met the man once in a minister’s meeting. He was a Christian lawyer.
Just a few moments later he spoke privately with the judge and asked for a recess to talk to the defense attorney and the clients. After awhile they returned and we found that a settlement for a much smaller dollar amount had been made out of court. We were relieved!
As we went down the steps of the Courthouse my wife and I were surprised to hear a man calling to us. We looked around in time to see the attorney coming. He shook my hand and told me it was good to see me again. I did not know the man personally. I had met him on one occasion. Yet God superintended the circumstances by having the couple who was suing the county choose this Christian lawyer who I had met on one occasion to argue their case. The case could have gone differently. But God intervened and we were delivered.
Dr. Gayle Woods
