“If a man die, shall he live again?” – Job 14:14 

On a Sabbath day, Rabbi Meir had gone to the synagogue. While he was there, his two little boys had climbed up a tree and tragically fallen. They were both found dead beneath the tree. 

His wife, Beruria, took the corpses to an upper room, covered them with a sheet, and went downstairs to prepare a table for her husband. When he returned home, he said the prescribed prayers, sat down at the table and asked about the children. She answered him, “Well, they are children, what can you expect from them?”

When he had finished eating, she said, “I have to ask you a question. A neighbor gave me a pair of costly earrings to keep for her because her husband was a drunkard, and she feared he might have sold them. Now her husband is dead, and she asked me to give them back . I love them. When you were not at home, I used to ornament myself with them before the mirror. They were one of my joys; should I give them back?”

The Rabbi answered, “I wonder about that question, for it is a difficult one, but I think you should return them, and thank her for the privilege of having them for so long a time.”

Then she said, “Come with me. I wish to show you how beautiful they are.”

She took him to the upper room, drew away the sheet, and said, “These are the gems. We have enjoyed the time with them. Now we must hand them back to their owner with thankfulness.” 

He answered with tears in his eyes, “Blessed is a husband with such a wise wife. God has given; God has taken. Let the name of God be praised even in a loss such as this.”

From “Reaching Towards the Heights ”Devotional, by Richard Wurmbrand. 

There is nothing in this world we can hold onto, even the lives of those we love. It is only the love of the Lord that is Eternal. Christians all are travelers here, and although each day on this earth is precious, there is someone who has gone home to prepare a place for us long before we took our first breath in this world we have known. 

Let us live today like the wife in this story with the fullness of God’s purpose for our lives. Let us bless each other and those we love in their comings, and their goings. For we don’t know what will be required of US this day. 

“If I have found grace in Thy sight, show me now Thy way that I may know Thee.” – Moses to God – Exodus 33:13

One night the famous Bible teacher F.B. Meyer stood on the deck of a ship approaching land. As they guided the vessel in, he wondered how the crew knew when to safely steer towards the dock. It was a stormy night,  and visibility was low. Meyer, standing on the bridge and peering through the window, asked “Captain, “How do you know when to turn this ship into that narrow harbor?”

“That’s an art,” replied the captain. Do you see those three red lights on the shore? When they are all in a straight line, I go right in!”

Later, F.B Meyer wrote, “When we want to know God’s will, there  are three things which always need to line up, the inward impulse, the Word of God, and the trend of circumstances. Never act until these three  things agree.”

One of the most asked questions today by Christians today is “How do I know God’s will for my life?”

Never doubt in the darkness what God has shown you in the light. There are certain truths you know to be right that God has shown you in your life, but often when faced with a time of darkness, we doubt these truths. When seeking God’s will for your life, always keep this in mind. The Bible teaches us not to “lean on our own understanding.” (Proverbs 3:5)

This is where most of us get in trouble. Fear often demands that we make sense of everything right now, when God is teaching us something through a personal trial. Many answers are not known until He reveals  His purpose at the end of a difficult season. My experience with God is that He likes to work outside of our own understanding as he molds and shapes our lives into the person he created us to be.

I like F.B. Meyer’s advice on seeking God’s will. Examine your inward impulses, seek the Word of God on the subject, and examine the circumstances that are outside of your control to see where your control ends and where His leading begins.