Day 130

TRUST GOD AND ACT WISELY

Today’s Text: He that handleth a matter wisely shall find good: and whoso trusteth in the LORD, happy is he. (Proverbs 16:20)

Today’s Thoughts: Today’s text is pretty simple to understand and shows obvious outcomes. If we handle situations wisely we will have good outcomes. If we trust in the Lord we will be happy. If we do both we will be even better off. There are times when we need to leave our problems totally in God’s hands, and there are times that God wants us to use the wisdom He has blessed us with to sort out a problem as well as trusting Him to do His part. If we do this, we will truly be happy.

Today’s Testimony: In South Africa there is such poverty that the poverty stricken will come and look through the trash bins or bags that are waiting for collection to find food or anything else of value. Here in Australia, the poor are looked after and have no need to search through rubbish. Australia is also very much a “throw away” society: if you don’t want it – throw it away. Twice a year we have what is known as “hard waste collection” in which all abnormal rubbish like appliances, furniture, household accessories, tools and toys etc. are put out for collection and then a big truck comes along and these items are collected and crushed, no matter what condition they are in. I think this is one of the most disturbing things I’ve seen in Australia, especially coming from South Africa where poverty is everywhere. But the unwanted goods have to be disposed of somehow I suppose. The more calming part about it is that people do go around and see if there is anything of worth to them and therefore save a lot of the truly valuable items.
Anyway, to get back to our washing machine… One evening while sitting having supper, my step-dad mentioned that he’d seen a washing machine thrown out for collection the day before. We all said, “Why didn’t you go get it?!” And so he did. It was still there and it was brought home. This was one of the items that had been thrown out exceptionally early. A few days later when he had a chance, my step-dad tried it to see if it worked. It seemed ok, until it came time to spin. The pump had seen the last of its days. We figured it was all excitement for nothing, but then the Lord gave me an idea and I asked if the pump for our washing machine was the same size. The two washing machines were the same make but this one was bigger. My step-dad looked and said it possibly would fit. Finally he had our pump out and in the “new” machine. Then it was time to test it. It all seemed ok at first, but then water started leaking out the bottom where the screws fitted in. We once again thought it was premature joy. But then the Lord impressed my step-dad to turn the pump and use some other holes on it for the screws instead, which he did. Now we have a bigger, better (metal drum as opposed to our plastic one), working washing machine. God is so good! We needed to trust Him and then work wisely with the wisdom He has given us and then we were truly happy. God sustained us for a while and then intervened.

Today’s Task: Trust God no matter what it is you need. Pray for wisdom and then be sure to use it. God wants us to be wise – not with the type of wisdom the world promotes, but with true wisdom that we can only acquire from God. Leave your problems and concerns at His feet and then listen for His direction if He has a part for you to do. God always knows what is best.

Today’s Thanks: Dear Lord, I thank You that You can sustain us and also intervene when we need help. I thank You that You grant us wisdom to do what we need to do to fix the problems. I praise You that You are a powerful God who does not need our help, but also that You give us the privilege to be a part of Your miracles sometimes too. I thank You that You care about us so much and long to make us truly happy. I praise You. Amen.

Day 129

GOD CAN SUSTAIN YOU

Today’s Text: Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and He shall sustain thee: He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved. (Psalm 55:22)

Today’s Thoughts: Do you have a burden that you’re battling to bear? God knows what it is and He longs for you to cast it on Him. He may take the problem away totally or He may see it best to help you bear the load for a little longer. He knows how much we are able to bear and will intervene at the perfect time. If we forsake Him because of trials it is our own lack of trust. He will never give us more than He knows we are able to handle because He is not willing for us to forsake Him. God is willing to sustain us and to deliver us – we just need to trust Him completely.

Today’s Testimony: Firstly I need to say that a lot has been happening in my life over the past year. The sending of Today’s T’s had a break for quite a while, and I therefore need to fill you in on what’s happening in my life before I share today’s testimony.
My step-dad applied to immigrate to Australia a while ago, everything was eventually approved and right now I am already in Australia. I’ll share more blessings about this at a later stage. Right now I just needed you to know that I have moved to Australia.
Getting ready to move was a nightmare. There was a long list of things we couldn’t bring into the country so we had to decide whether to give forbidden items away and who we would give them to or to sell them. Then we had to decide what other things we were going to keep, get rid of and get rid of and replace in Australia. It was cheaper to bring most of our household goods over in a container than to replace them this side, so we did.
Our washing machine had had its pump replaced and now for some or other reason would only fill if the water pipe was connected to the hot water side, even though we were filling it with cold water. But it seemed to still have some life in it so it came with. Soon after we arrived it began throwing a tantrum. We think something had possibly disconnected in transit. Our washing machine would wash, but when it reached the spin cycle it would either stop or refill. Refilling for the rinse cycle instead of spinning wasn’t so bad, but when it was due to spin for the last time we would have to run to stop it before it refilled. Then we would have to ring out all the freezing cold washing and either just hang it on the line or try spinning it in sections and see if it worked.
Now for the testimony. It was shortly after we’d arrived in Australia and we had quite a lot of hand washing to do. That meant washing the clothes in buckets and then spinning it in the washing machine. Question was whether the washing machine would do its job properly. So I began washing all the clothes. I started with the first load, chucked it in the machine to spin and then prayed that it would spin properly. I stood there and watched as the machine span as I hadn’t seen it spin in ages and then left to wash the next load. The loads were not too big at all, but the normal size I usually put in to spin. Even a load of one item had been giving trouble at that time. But because I had cast my burden on the Lord He intervened and I was able to spin all the loads I wanted to – about 6 loads I think.
We still had many ups and downs with our washing machine, but God sustained our patience until He intervened in a greater way. That story you’ll have to wait till tomorrow to hear.

Today’s Task: Cast your burdens on the Lord and trust Him to deliver you or sustain you till the right time to remove it. If you have burdens of sin cast them straight on the Lord and He will remove it – He longs to free you from sin. He cares about you and does not want to see His people suffer. He allows trials in order to refine us and not to harm us – trust Him.

Today’s Thanks: Lord I thank You that You care about us. I thank You that You will never give us burden’s that we cannot bear and that You will help us to bear our heavy burdens. I thank You that You are able to deliver us from our burdens. Please help us to trust You. Please help us to surrender our burdens of sin. I thank You that You are willing to take them. We love You and praise You in Christ’s name, Amen.