How Can 5 People in 500 Years Say the EXACT SAME THING???
Friends! Don’t you love it when you discover something anew?
Such was the case while I was preparing a talk for a women’s event recently, using a few different authors’ books to back up a point. It hit me like a ton of bricks. I can’t wait to show you this:
It happened when we were to discuss Savannah Guthrie’s newest book, Mostly What God Does: Reflections on Seeking and finding His Love Everywhere. Here’s the cover:
I had three main points to share. My last post, about the second main point, was about us wearing a garment of praise. The first main point is a cool phrase my friend, Gwen gifted us with.
Gwen’s husband, Mike, had had a scary short battle with cancer, leaving us after only thirty-three days from diagnosis. How Gwen navigated her new normal without him was nothing short of breath taking.
She maintains it was her years and years and years of Bible study that shored her up, provisioning her for the long journey. She says God’s Word was (and is) her “Holy Anesthesia.”
I love this phrase for a number of reasons. One very shallow one includes how fond I am of anesthesiologists. If you’ve ever been on the receiving end of an epidural, you know what I’m talking about. So couple that and make it holy, well there’s a lovely horse of a different color! I digress…
Likewise in Savannah’s book, she shares with us readers she’s had seasons where she’s been on again, off again with the Lord. But, the Scriptures she memorized somehow stayed with her.
Savannah tells us these verses were like a lifeline God threw out to her, reconnecting her to Him. She adds,
Let’s STOP a second and talk about the definition of provision. I immediately think of provision as being boy-scout-prepared. (I cannot conscientiously speak about being girl-scout-prepared, because the only thing I associate with Girl Scouts are their cookies!!! Forgive me.)
Webster’s definition says,
“Provision is the act or process of providing,
The fact or state of being prepared…beforehand.”
Author and Pastor Rob Bugh, in his book When the Bottom Drops Out: Finding Grace in the Depths of Disappointment, says,
“After years of pastoral ministry, I’ve concluded that a key difference between Christ followers—who transcend their circumstances, and those that don’t is that before a crisis ever hits, the first group is deeply passionate about their faith, and they are deeply rooted in the Word (that’s that provisioning again), while the second group considers faith as just one more good thing in their lives.
As a result….when difficulty comes, the first group focuses on, and lives in light of the divine realties of life, again deeply rooted in the Word, while the second group is unable to do so.” (DANGER, WILL ROBINSON!!!)
This past July, on one of Liz Curtis Higgs’ Facebook devotions (She does these weekly on Mondays and you can catch them whenever your schedule allows.), she, too, says the Scriptures she memorized long ago keep coming back to her, bringing comfort to her. More Holy Anesthesia.
Finally, would you believe St. John of the Cross, who lived in the 1500’s, said,
There’s that provision again! So friends, we have:
Savannah from today,
Gwen from 13 years ago (when Mike went to Heaven),
Rob Bugh from 13 years ago (He, too, lost his wife to cancer),
Liz from a couple of months ago(from Scriptures she learned years ago), and
St. John of the Cross (who lived in the 1500’s) from five hundred and twenty-four years ago
all saying the EXACT SAME THING.
The Lord will provide for us straight from His Word. All we have to do is read it and when we do, may we heed the words of Ruth Graham to her daughter, Anne, which she inscribed in her Bible:
“We give you this Book, your ONE SURE GUIDE in an unsure world.
Read it,
Study it,
Love it,
Live it.
In it you will find a verse for every occasion. Hide them in your heart.”❤️📚
Dear Friends, the Word of God is our very lifeline.
May we all cling to Holy Anesthesia.
Amen and Amen.
‘Til next time!
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