What are you worried about?

Dear Friends,

What are you worried about? Every day I hear worry in people’s voices and read about the stress that people are feeling at this uncertain time. People with disabilities in Nepal do not even know there is a pandemic because they don’t have access to information in their own language. In the slums of India, people live dangerously close together, and they can’t go out to their jobs, so they worry they will die of hunger.

Looking at international news I see headlines of civil unrest in many countries. My heart is broken for the people who have lost businesses because of looters who take advantage of the unrest.

I have included with this letter a few prayer requests for the nations. These prayer requests are the concerns that really touched my heart from the last 14 weeks of my Pray with Grace time. Please print them, cut them apart, put them on your mirror, tuck them in your Bible, or start a prayer box to keep on your dining room table. Use them to guide your prayers each day. Maybe you want to add a verse of Scripture on the back or add in some of your own concerns.

God does invite us to trust him. “God, the Lord, is my strength,” would be a good one to start with. Agree? I often wondered what “deep calls to deep” Psalm 42:7 meant until I read this quote by Bernard of Clairvaux—“The deep of my profound misery calls to the deep of Your infinite mercy.”

I lived by the ocean for many years in Papua New Guinea. The waves would carry you out farther and farther away. I didn’t learn how to swim until I was 20 and in Jungle Camp in southern Mexico. Knowing how to swim was one of the requirements for passing. I managed a couple strokes and figured out that you will go in the direction your arm is pointing. The waves of despair will carry us deeper and deeper until we drown, but if we let that deep hurt carry us into the deep love of Jesus, then we are assured of the peace found in Him. In other words, as you swim those choppy, dangerous waters of suffering, keep your arm pointed at Jesus. The dangers are real. Our sufferings are profoundly serious, but He makes sure that the rivers of sorrow do not overflow because He keeps those waters constantly flowing into His infinite sea of mercy.

How do we keep calling to the deep of His infinite mercy? One good way is to reach out to these rock-solid certainties in Scripture, like:

• God cherishes me.

• God is working out His eternal purposes.

• God will accomplish something invaluable in me and through me.

• God tells the ocean how far to come or to go, and He won’t let me suffer any more than necessary.

One of my favorite hymns is “O the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus.” Dr. Pike used to lead us linguistic students in singing that song. He would direct us to sing louder, then even more exuberantly, then fade to softness so we could sense these waves of God’s love washing over us.

We have this reminder from our Father in heaven. “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:10 So while we are reaching out for Him, His right hand stretches out to us. What beauty, what grace! I smile at this truth.

“O the deep, deep love of Jesus
Vast, unmeasured, boundless free;
Rolling as a mighty ocean
In its fullness over me 
Underneath me, all around me
Is the current of Thy love…”

This time of social distancing has made me realize how much we need each other. Maybe there’s something to that old saying, “Absence makes the heart grow fonder.”

Please keep safe. I hope you are soul-nourished by that eternal freshness flowing from God’s heart of love. Thank you for your generosity which makes it possible for me to keep advancing the gospel to the nations through prayer, writing and the lives I touch. I count it a blessing to be your friend and co-laborer. Let me know how I can pray for you.

Stretching out for more of Him,

Grace

P.S. #1 Many ministries report, “We have never had a time when people are more open to considering eternal issues than during this global pandemic.” Lauren Libby-Trans World Radio
P.S. #2 Here’s a photo of my first great grandchild, a little girl named Amelia Grace, born to Isaac and Lauren Fabian on July 28, 2020. Also, Leah, granddaughter, graduated with a degree in Elementary Education and is teaching in Virginia. Congratulations!
P.S. #3 Your homework is to find Bible verses to go with each of the four points above.Photo by Andrew Zuber on Scopio Photo by Joel Cabrera on Scopio Photo by Leah Fabian

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This post was written by Grace Fabian