Burunche’s Blog

Proverbs 3:1-2 My son, never forget the things I’ve taught you. If you want a long and satisfying life, closely follow my instructions. 3 Never tire of loyalty and kindness. Hold these virtues tightly. Write them deep within your heart. 4-5 If you want favor with both God and man, and a reputation for good judgment and common sense, then trust the Lord completely; don’t ever trust yourself. 6 In everything you do, put God first, and he will direct you and crown your efforts with success.

7-8 Don’t be conceited, sure of your own wisdom. Instead, trust and reverence the Lord, and turn your back on evil; when you do that, then you will be given renewed health and vitality.

9-10 Honor the Lord by giving him the first part of all your income, and he will fill your barns with wheat and barley and overflow your wine vats with the finest wines

If you are fond of considering yourself as being self-made, this proverb will surely offend you. Generations ago, people spoke of someone as “having pulled himself up by his own boot straps.” At a time when men’s boots had straps on each side of the top to aid in pulling them on, this phrase served to indicate that this man had accomplished everything on his own without any outside help.

If you read Proverbs 3 closely, you realize that the concept of a self-made man, or woman, is a myth. God is the One who gives us abilities and who opens doors for us. When we try to go in a way God does not approve, He cannot only lock but barricade those doors so that they become impenetrable.

Where do we take inspiration and direction? These days, many people are being taught to rely on AI, artificial intelligence. But who programs the AI in the first place? How do you know that someone might not be using AI to brainwash you into thinking in a particular direction? Do you trust AI more than you trust the God who has created you?

These days, four things drive me to prayer for my beloved country: data centers, solar farms, the ongoing fires in many parts of the country, and the dismantlement of the U.S. National Park system. God has gifted America with some of the finest, richest farm land ever created. Now farms are being gobbled up to build solar farms and data centers. Data centers are sucking enormous amounts of water as they raise the ambient temperature of the surrounding environment. How much does that temperature rise contribute to global warming? The wind generators we hoped would help solve energy problems have not lived up to their promises, and that land is also out of production. For years, mining companies have slavered at the thoughts of the “untapped” resources in our national parks. Now laws previously protecting those magnificent assets are being set aside. This is not good stewardship!

7-8 Don’t be conceited, sure of your own wisdom. Instead, trust and reverence the Lord, and turn your back on evil; when you do that, then you will be given renewed health and vitality.

Traditionally in Africa, the elderly have been respected as repositories of wisdom. But as increasing numbers of people swarm into cities, many elders in the villages find themselves marginalized by their children in urban centers who have no use for wisdom but only for what they get from social media. While some of the traditional medical practices might be outmoded or even dangerous, much of the traditional wisdom is still sound and worth consideration. God is the One who has commanded children to love and respect their parents, and the Bible reinforces this idea in many places. When we fail to honor our parents, we are in effect dishonoring ourselves as well, for we carry their DNA. Remember that the measure you give out is the measure you will receive. As you are ignoring the elderly, you yourself are aging.

How do we know what is evil? God has shown us both good and evil in His Word, the Bible. When we study God’s Word and ask Him for enlightenment, He will surely open our eyes.

9-10 Honor the Lord by giving him the first part of all your income, and he will fill your barns with wheat and barley and overflow your wine vats with the finest wines

We must hold everything God gives us lightly, for at any moment He might ask us to share with someone else. We cannot give out when our hands are closed tightly, but neither can we receive anything either. When we leave our hands open, blessings will flow. When we become grasping and greedy, the blessings will stop. And God is not about to beat your hands open; you must open them yourself.

Due to economic downturns, many of our hospital patients find settling small bills or even feeding themselves difficult. We channel hundreds of dollars a month through several trusted staff members to help patients and their families, not only to settle bills but also to ensure that they won’t starve when they return to their villages. We are not wealthy; however, God continues to move others to donate so that we can be channels of His Love. If we were to hang onto this money, not only would many people suffer but God would also cause the sources of funding to dry up for us and re-direct the money to someone else who would handle it properly.  

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding” has been one of the Scriptures believers have relied on for centuries. AI or DI (Divine Information.) The choice is simple, for when you trust in the Lord, you are blessed. Does this mean I am totally opposed to AI? Not necessarily; however, I remain skeptical and watchful. Any system that encourages you to stop thinking for yourself and stop praying for guidance is headed in the wrong direction. Use AI? Possibly? But trust in the LORD with all your heart!

PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and caring for us. Lord, help us to trust You and not artificial systems. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.

Psalm 52:1 Why do you boast in evil, O mighty man? The goodness of God endures continually.
2 Your tongue devises destruction,
Like a sharp razor, working deceitfully.
3 You love evil more than good,
Lying rather than speaking righteousness. Selah
4 You love all devouring words,
You deceitful tongue.

5 God shall likewise destroy you forever; He shall take you away, and pluck you out of your dwelling place,
And uproot you from the land of the living. Selah
6 The righteous also shall see and fear, and shall laugh at him, saying,
7 “Here is the man who did not make God his strength, but trusted in the abundance of his riches, and strengthened himself in his wickedness.”

8 But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God; I trust in the mercy of God forever and ever.
9 I will praise You forever, because You have done it; and in the presence of Your saints I will wait on Your name, for it is good.

We are preparing to attend a memorial service for Madam Doris Hokett, a missionary who died while still serving at the age of 86. Doris and her husband Arthur served together from 1966-2011. They preached in Nigeria, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Niger, Burkina Faso, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Botswana, South Africa, Swaziland, Mozambique, India, Sri Lanka, Mexico, Haiti, El Salvador, Holland, England, Switzerland, plus the United States. (This might not even be a complete list, for Doris was forever evangelizing.) Together, Arthur and Doris prayed for the sick, and saw many people healed by the power of Jesus. Together, they raised funds for building 48 churches. Once Arthur died, Doris continued the ministry alone, speaking in all those countries and raising funds to build another 104 churches for the Assemblies of God, Ghana and another 3 churches for Fountaingate Chapel.

Doris traveled throughout all these countries carrying a portable Christian bookstore with her. Pastors in remote areas without access to Christian books and videos were thrilled to patronize Doris, and those funds helped build all those churches. We knew Doris did not feel well when earlier this year, she canceled three weeks of speaking engagements, something she had never done before.

Doris always told us that retirement wasn’t in the Bible and that she wanted to burn out rather than to rust out. God granted that wish and Doris continued to minister until the very day she died. Truly, Doris remained “a green olive tree in the house of God.”

Now all of us can praise God for His faithfulness, His goodness, and His mercy in preserving Doris Hokett and all those who have helped her.

I trust in the mercy of God forever and ever.
9 I will praise You forever, because You have done it; and in the presence of Your saints I will wait on Your name, for it is good.

The example of Doris Hokett graphically demonstrates that God can preserve those actively working for Him. We can all take encouragement from that sterling example. May God help all of us so that we will all be “green olive trees in the house of God!”

PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and caring for us. Lord, help us to continue to trust You and to serve You our entire lives. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.

Psalm 11 In the Lord I put my trust;
how can you say to my soul, “Flee as a bird to your mountain”?
2 For look! The wicked bend their bow, they make ready their arrow on the string, that they may shoot secretly at the upright in heart.
3 If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?

4 The Lord is in His holy temple, the Lord’s throne is in heaven; His eyes behold, His eyelids test the sons of men.
5 The Lord tests the righteous, but the wicked and the one who loves violence His soul hates.
6 Upon the wicked He will rain coals; fire and brimstone and a burning wind shall be the portion of their cup.

7 For the Lord is righteous, He loves righteousness; His countenance beholds the upright.

1 In the Lord I put my trust; how can you say to my soul, “Flee as a bird to your mountain”?
2 For look! The wicked bend their bow, they make ready their arrow on the string, that they may shoot secretly at the upright in heart.
3 If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?

We didn’t know which way to turn. We had served with one mission group for twenty years. But now the founder and head had died, and we weren’t sure what would happen next. What if the mission advisory board chose to close the mission? What could we do? Just when we were beginning to completely despair, a missionary friend told us about a new mission group, one dedicated solely to medical missions rather than more traditional groups that would include health workers in a patronizing fashion. Within a few months we joined the new group, maintaining our relationship with our original mission group as well.

4 The Lord is in His holy temple, the Lord’s throne is in heaven; His eyes behold, His eyelids test the sons of men.
5 The Lord tests the righteous, but the wicked and the one who loves violence His soul hates.
6 Upon the wicked He will rain coals; fire and brimstone and a burning wind shall be the portion of their cup.

7 For the Lord is righteous, He loves righteousness; His countenance beholds the upright.

What did we learn from this experience? The swift acceptance from the new group validated our calling as medical missionaries. We gained new friends who believed in us and who clearly understood the stresses of our particular position and who were prepared to help. Blessedly, our original mission group was able to survive and continues to operate to the present. Rather than losing the only mission group channeling support to us, we now had more opportunities open to us.

Why does the Lord test the righteous? God doesn’t test us to hurt us but to clarify what’s real in our lives and help us to see how He can move when all appears hopeless. God hates wickedness and violence for the sake of violence because such people have turned their backs on Him and have become totally dark. Darkness and light cannot exist in the same place at the same time.

6 Upon the wicked He will rain coals; fire and brimstone and a burning wind shall be the portion of their cup. Does God really send coals, fire and brimstone and burning winds? There are all kinds of ways God can deal with the wicked, but generally, God does not attack the wicked but leaves them to the results of their own deeds. Wickedness carries the seeds of its own destruction. Satan will use people until he has no more use for them and then he will discard them.

The entire universe tilts on the axis of free will. God has created us with the ability to make choices, whether good or bad. Proverbs 14:12 says “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.” Proverbs 19:21 says, “Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.” AndEcclesiastes 12:13-14 tells us, “The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.”

Feel as if the foundations of your world are crumbling? No worries! Trust the Lord of the Universe who can redeem any situation.

PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and caring for us. Lord, help us to trust You no matter what happens. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.

Psalm 39 I said, “I will guard my ways,
Lest I sin with my tongue;
I will restrain my mouth with a muzzle,
While the wicked are before me.”
2 I was mute with silence,
I held my peace even from good;
And my sorrow was stirred up.

It was one of the most trying experiences of my career. I thought I was only a part of a delegation at the chief’s palace to support a hospital leader who had been accused of something. Instead, I found myself a target in five public meetings. Suddenly, community leaders were accusing me of causing problems in the very institution my husband and I had worked in and supported through donations for twenty-five years. I was given no opportunity to defend myself, and the charges were both specious and ridiculous. As I sat in those meetings, I consciously strove to force my body into a relaxed posture and to smile, giving the impression that these scathing remarks weren’t touching me. Only after the meetings finished did I return home, relax, and begin asking the Lord what was happening. Eventually, I realized that these attacks were part of an orchestrated campaign to remove as many forthright and honest leaders in the hospital as possible. Blessedly, God preserved us and continues to do so.

3 My heart was hot within me;
While I was musing, the fire burned.
Then I spoke with my tongue:

4 “Lord, make me to know my end,
And what is the measure of my days,
That I may know how frail I am.

5 Indeed, You have made my days as handbreadths,
And my age is as nothing before You;
Certainly every man at his best state is but vapor. Selah

There’s nothing like repeatedly facing false accusations and lies spewed forth by the very people you have served for decades to cause your heart to burn. And I have never had any doubts as to my frailty. “Time keeps on slippin’, slippin’, slippin’ into the future.” Years ago, the Steve Miller band popularized a song with this chorus. The shocking thing about aging is how fast time rushes away from you. One day, you are young and strong, certain that you will continue to walk into a bright future for the rest of your life. The next day, forty years have passed and your joints remind you of their existence each time you get up from a chair. Sure, you’re “vapor;” you’re just NOISY vapor!

6 Surely every man walks about like a shadow;
Surely they busy themselves in vain;
He heaps up riches,
And does not know who will gather them.

7 “And now, Lord, what do I wait for?
My hope is in You.

Face it, folks, our only secure hope is the Lord. When Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme collapsed in 2008, it sent shock waves throughout the world. Many small investors had trusted Madoff’s company with their retirement savings, and the fall of his empire forced many retirees back into the work force simply to survive. Since the collapse of Madoff’s investment house and his 2009 guilty plea, the Madoff Victim Fund has paid more than $4 billion to nearly 41,000 victims in 127 countries. While the final payoffs were made in 2024, the dimensions of the social havoc already incurred were incalculable.

8 Deliver me from all my transgressions;
Do not make me the reproach of the foolish.
9 I was mute, I did not open my mouth,
Because it was You who did it.
10 Remove Your plague from me;
I am consumed by the blow of Your hand.
11 When with rebukes You correct man for iniquity,
You make his beauty melt away like a moth;
Surely every man is vapor. Selah

Decades ago, I read a book entitled “Will Jesus Return Before My Body Parts Go South.” At the time, I thought that was merely a clever title. Now I know that gravity is not the friend of the elderly, and that yes, eventually every bit of my body is likely to go south unless I keep exercising. Take those selfies quickly if you are addicted to admiring your own face!

12 “Hear my prayer, O Lord,
And give ear to my cry;
Do not be silent at my tears;
For I am a stranger with You,
A sojourner, as all my fathers were.
13 Remove Your gaze from me, that I may regain strength,
Before I go away and am no more.”

This psalmist can’t seem to make up his mind. First, he begs God to remember him and to help him. Then as he is begging for help, he also begs God to “remove Your gaze from me,” as if God is the Source of his troubles. While it’s true that we might be struck speechless and weak in the presence of God’s pure holiness, it’s equally true that God knows how weak we are and He can give us the strength to continue His work. When Isaiah saw the Lord in the temple, he was stricken with the knowledge of his own unworthiness until God sent a cherub with a flaming coal to cleanse his lips and his heart. But that was the start of a new and magnificent ministry for Isaiah. We are far better off feeling helpless and weak in God’s presence than we are feeling as if we can handle everything ourselves, for considering ourselves to be self-made people is a delusion that can bring disaster.

May God help us to wait on Him, knowing that He is far more than sufficient to handle all our problems. We are far safer being weaker in the presence of God than we are by feeling strong in ourselves.

PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and caring for us. Lord, help us to trust You and wait for Your provision, Your strength, and Your enabling. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.

APRIL 24, 2026-WAITING FOR PENTECOST #15 GOD REMAINS OUR REFUGE-WAIT FOR HIM!

Psalm 46:   God is our refuge and strength, a tested help in times of trouble. 2 And so we need not fear even if the world blows up and the mountains crumble into the sea. 3 Let the oceans roar and foam; let the mountains tremble!

4 There is a river of joy flowing through the city of our God—the sacred home of the God above all gods. 5 God himself is living in that city; therefore it stands unmoved despite the turmoil everywhere. He will not delay his help. 6 The nations rant and rave in anger—but when God speaks, the earth melts in submission and kingdoms totter into ruin.

7 The Commander of the armies of heaven is here among us. He, the God of Jacob, has come to rescue us.

8 Come, see the glorious things that our God does, how he brings ruin upon the world 9 and causes wars to end throughout the earth, breaking and burning every weapon. 10 “Stand silent! Know that I am God! I will be honored by every nation in the world!”

11 The Commander of the heavenly armies is here among us! He, the God of Jacob, has come to rescue us!

It’s not a scene I will forget readily. I had only been in our small village clinic a few months when the head of the church health services ordered me to stop paying a government health worker because she was failing to complete her tasks. As I prepared to preach at the morning devotions on the clinic verandah that morning, the female worker suddenly accosted me, screaming at me and attempting to intimidate me. Unbeknownst to her, she had picked on the wrong woman. I had trained previously in martial arts, and as this woman was screaming at me, I was sizing her up, considering what I might have to do in case she chose to attack me. Rather than moving away, I began moving closer, shocking the lady so much that she stopped screaming and left. (I never touched her.)

Meanwhile, patients and staff stood aghast looking at me. Obviously, I needed to preach a strong message of God’s protection, so I turned to Psalm 46.

God is our refuge and strength, a tested help in times of trouble. 2 And so we need not fear even if the world blows up and the mountains crumble into the sea. 3 Let the oceans roar and foam; let the mountains tremble!

February 21, 2026, our Children’s Ward and NICU burned completely, forcing us to evacuate dozens of patients whom we then had to move to another ward. That day we certainly had to trust God as our refuge and strength as we watched expensive equipment, beds, linens, and all kinds of other supplies go up in smoke. Nearly two months on, we are continuing to struggle to create a new NICU, but God is helping us care for our patients.

4 There is a river of joy flowing through the city of our God—the sacred home of the God above all gods. 5 God himself is living in that city; therefore it stands unmoved despite the turmoil everywhere. He will not delay his help. 

 As we struggle to care for patients in a crowded setting, we continue to take joy in the recovery of those for whom we are caring. We trust that God will help at the right time.

6 The nations rant and rave in anger—but when God speaks, the earth melts in submission and kingdoms totter into ruin.

7 The Commander of the armies of heaven is here among us. He, the God of Jacob, has come to rescue us.

8 Come, see the glorious things that our God does, how he brings ruin upon the world 9 and causes wars to end throughout the earth, breaking and burning every weapon. 10 “Stand silent! Know that I am God! I will be honored by every nation in the world!”

11 The Commander of the heavenly armies is here among us! He, the God of Jacob, has come to rescue us!

As we continue to work, we are trusting that the Commander of the heavenly armies truly is here with us and that He has come to rescue us!

PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and caring for us. Lord, help us to trust You even when things look grim. In the mighty and precious Name of King

Psalm 123

1 I lift up my eyes to You, the One enthroned in heaven.

2 As the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maidservant look to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes are on the LORD our God until He shows us mercy.

3 Have mercy on us, O LORD, have mercy, for we have endured much contempt.

4 We have endured much scorn from the arrogant, much contempt from the proud.

One of our favorite TV shows on satellite TV is “Air Crash Investigations.” This program depicts air disasters throughout the world, both those in which passengers and crew survive and those that end in catastrophe. Although some of the disasters stem from failures of equipment, terrible weather, or unexpected interference from birds or other aircraft, many of the problems stem from a failure of pilots to completely understand how to trouble shoot malfunctions on their airplanes, failure to pay attention to others in the cockpit or failure to follow instructions from air traffic controllers.

These days, responsible airlines make sure their pilots train in simulators that allow operators to face every kind of emergency possible. In addition, there has been a cultural shift in the relationships between pilots and first officers. In the past, pilots have tended to believe that they had God-like powers and that their first officers should remain quiet and respectful, no matter what. Sadly, when cockpit voice recordings are played, investigators learn that many situations could have been salvaged had the first officer voiced his/her opinions more forcefully and had the captain listened respectfully to the first officer. At other times, pilots and copilots fail to follow instructions from control towers.

In this psalm, the psalmist compares waiting for the Lord to the behavior of servants and maid servants with their masters and mistresses. Traditionally, servants found themselves in a very precarious position, particularly if the master or mistress was an imperious bully. Servants who lost their places in a household might find themselves out on the street with no income, no resources, and no place to live. A vicious master or mistress could spoil a servant’s reputation so that nobody else would employ that servant, leaving the servant and their family to starve. Servants had no option other than enduring contempt from arrogant and proud masters and mistresses, not to mention guests who might also abuse the servants. If the master or mistress ordered a servant to jump, the servant had better begin jumping and ask “how high?” on the way up.

Blessedly, the Lord is merciful; however, obedience is still paramount. During the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus advised his listeners, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’

Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you workers of lawlessness!’ (Matthew 7:21-23)

Air crashes occur because pilots and first officers fail to communicate properly or prepare sufficiently to operate the particular aircraft they are operating. Additionally, pilots must attend carefully to all weather reports and maps, particularly to information from air traffic controllers. For us to wait on the Lord, we must study His Word and try to obey His Will for our lives, just as those servants would obey their masters and mistresses. If we don’t want to crash and burn, we must keep our eyes on God!

PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and caring for us. Lord, help us to keep our eyes on You, no matter our circumstances. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.

Psalm 69:18-19 Come, Lord, and rescue me. Ransom me from all my enemies. You know how they talk about me, and how they so shamefully dishonor me. You see them all and know what each has said.

20 Their contempt has broken my heart; my spirit is heavy within me. If even one would show some pity, if even one would comfort me! 21 For food they gave me gall; for my awful thirst they offered vinegar. 

Few things are more disheartening than accidentally overhearing people you thought were friends conspiring behind your back, “shamefully dishonoring” you.

When we first arrived in our current location 33 years ago, we swiftly realized that our supervisors hadn’t done us any favors. The health services head should have brought me to the Regional Director of Health Services along with copies of my training documents and my license so that the RDHS could assure himself of my legitimacy. Instead, I had to play catch-up, presenting myself, something that should not have happened. This failure to introduce me to all the relevant authorities left me open to vicious rumors and criticisms. My legitimacy remained in question until I upgraded our small health center into a district hospital in the middle of a tribal war, establishing blood transfusions, operations, and proper inpatient treatment. Meanwhile, my husband helped repair equipment at the local vocational school, as well as reviving their aging tractor.

What did we learn from this experience? You can outlast any lies if you just keep breathing oxygen long enough; in other words, remain faithful, remain consistent, and don’t pay attention to the doubters.

22 Let their joys turn to ashes and their peace disappear; 23 let darkness, blindness, and great feebleness be theirs. 24 Pour out your fury upon them; consume them with the fierceness of your anger. 25 Let their homes be desolate and abandoned. 26 For they persecute the one you have smitten and scoff at the pain of the one you have pierced. 27 Pile their sins high and do not overlook them. 28 Let these men be blotted from the list of the living; do not give them the joys of life with the righteous.

WOOF! Just in case you thought the psalmist was about to meekly turn the other cheek, think again! The psalmist feels that God has already smitten and pierced him/her; therefore, God is the One who should deal with these vicious critics. As far as the psalmist is concerned, God can wipe these people off the face of the earth.

29 But rescue me, O God, from my poverty and pain. 30 Then I will praise God with my singing! My thanks will be his praise— 31 that will please him more than sacrificing a bullock or an ox. 32 The humble shall see their God at work for them. No wonder they will be so glad! All who seek for God shall live in joy. 33 For Jehovah hears the cries of his needy ones and does not look the other way.

Throughout the Bible, God repeatedly emphasizes that obedience is much more important than any amount of animal sacrifices. It’s quite possible to furnish perfect expensive animals while continuing to have a wicked rebellious heart. God know our hearts and He knows when someone is faking it. Here the psalmist is offering praise and thanksgiving, offerings that demand true-heartedness and authenticity.

34 Praise him, all heaven and earth! Praise him, all the seas and everything in them! 35 For God will save Jerusalem; he rebuilds the cities of Judah. His people shall live in them and not be dispossessed. 36 Their children shall inherit the land; all who love his name shall live there safely.

When our hearts are right with God, He can bless us. Eventually, God does save Jerusalem and rebuild the cities of Judah. But Israel remains under attack, so this part of the psalm has yet to be fulfilled completely.

PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and caring for us. Lord, thank You that You are the One who justifies us and preserves our reputations. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.

Psalm 69:1-4 Save me, O my God. The floods have risen. Deeper and deeper I sink in the mire; the waters rise around me. I have wept until I am exhausted; my throat is dry and hoarse; my eyes are swollen with weeping, waiting for my God to act. I cannot even count all those who hate me without cause. They are influential men, these who plot to kill me though I am innocent. They demand that I be punished for what I didn’t do.

“And remember, folks, if it rains steady for more than 30 minutes, go out and check your branch, and if the water’s rising, GET OUT!!!!” It was 1978, and I had recently moved to complete my general surgery residency in Charleston, West Virginia. I was listening to the radio as I prepared to leave for work. Charleston is located on the Kanawha River and surrounded by short steep mountains with valleys known as “hollers” (hollows) and streams up each of those hollers that are referred to as “branches.” The general arrangement of holler geography is a road, a stream, and a flat strip of land on which people have built cabins. Sometimes the cabins are on the same side of the stream as the road, and sometimes cabin dwellers must cross the branch on small bridges to reach their homes. The problem for West Virginians is rapid run-off when torrential rainstorms hit. Those rapidly-flowing streams drain large forested areas, resulting in flash floods. In November 1985, rainstorms raised river levels by nearly 10 inches in six hours. Massive flooding occurred, resulting in losses of 3500 homes, 180 businesses, 46 lives, and damages amounting to $570 million. Even large towns in river valleys found themselves inundated.

Although we think of water-driven floods, there are other kinds as well. Sometimes we might find ourselves in the way of “influential men” who view us as simply obstructions to be eliminated as expeditiously as possible. As I am writing these words, I am praying for the reversal of the horrific decision to allow copper mining into the Boundary Waters wildlife area in Minnesota and the push of data groups and solar groups to ruin prime farm land for their own profit. Farmers in other parts of the world would be overjoyed to possess the land unfeeling profiteers desire to ruin.

5 O God, you know so well how stupid I am, and you know all my sins. 6 O Lord God of the armies of heaven, don’t let me be a stumbling block to those who trust in you. O God of Israel, don’t let me cause them to be confused, 7 though I am mocked and cursed and shamed for your sake. 

Sometimes we can say or do wrong things from the very best of motives. We do need to pray that God will not allow us to become a stumbling block or a source of confusion to those who trust Him.

8 Even my own brothers pretend they don’t know me! 9 My zeal for God and his work burns hot within me. And because I advocate your cause, your enemies insult me even as they insult you. 10 How they scoff and mock me when I mourn and fast before the Lord! 11 How they talk about me when I wear sackcloth to show my humiliation and sorrow for my sins! 12 I am the talk of the town and the song of the drunkards. 13 But I keep right on praying to you, Lord. For now is the time—you are bending down to hear! You are ready with a plentiful supply of love and kindness. Now answer my prayer and rescue me as you promised. 14 Pull me out of this mire. Don’t let me sink in. Rescue me from those who hate me, and from these deep waters I am in.

15 Don’t let the floods overwhelm me or the ocean swallow me; save me from the pit that threatens me. 16 O Jehovah, answer my prayers, for your loving-kindness is wonderful; your mercy is so plentiful, so tender and so kind. 17 Don’t hide from me, for I am in deep trouble. Quick! Come and save me. 

“Why are you going to the mission field? Can’t you find enough good deeds to do right here?” It was 1988, and my 93-year-old grandmother was questioning our calling as missionaries. As far as Grandma was concerned, I was now a fully-trained, board-certified general and pediatric surgeon and I should be making enormous sums of money. Sure, Grandma was willing to go listen to missionary talks at church from strangers, but this was her only granddaughter and the rules should be different for Grandma’s family.

Throughout the centuries, unbelievers have mocked believers for humbling themselves before God, never realizing that God is worthy of far more humility than any of us can express. Obviously, the psalmist’s family contains many doubters who are more than ready to criticize any sacrifices of time or comfort the psalmist is making. Harold Hill, a Christian author and speaker of an earlier generation, has stated that “It isn’t a sacrifice of praise until you have to push it out through clenched teeth.”

One of the worst parts of enduring physical, financial, or spiritual floods is the loneliness. While the National Guard or the Cajun Navy might send out small boats to pick you off the rooftop in a flash flood, you’re likely to have to go through other kinds of floods without any help apart from God. Many times, people who do not understand your situation may even feel qualified to castigate you, criticizing every single thing you have done and blaming you for problems that you did not create in the first place. In the story of Job, Job’s wife even advises Job to curse God and die. We never hear any further mention of Mrs. Job, so one wonders if God quietly eliminated her.

When we’re caught in problems of any kind, the one Person on whom we can rely is God. Hebrews 13:5-6 tells us, “Stay away from the love of money; be satisfied with what you have. For God has said, “I will never, never fail you nor forsake you.” That is why we can say without any doubt or fear, “The Lord is my Helper, and I am not afraid of anything that mere man can do to me.”

Caught in a flood? You can echo the prayer in verses 16-17. O Jehovah, answer my prayers, for your loving-kindness is wonderful; your mercy is so plentiful, so tender and so kind. Don’t hide from me, for I am in deep trouble. Quick! Come and save me. \

PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and caring for us. Lord, help us to trust You, no matter the trials we are enduring. We bless Your Name, for You are a prayer-answering God. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.

Isaiah 30:18 Therefore the Lord will wait, that He may be gracious to you; and therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for Him.

19 For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem; you shall weep no more. He will be very gracious to you at the sound of your cry; when He hears it, He will answer you.
20 And though the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your teachers will not be moved into a corner anymore, but your eyes shall see your teachers.
21 Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” whenever you turn to the right hand or whenever you turn to the left.
22 You will also defile the covering of your images of silver, and the ornament of your molded images of gold. You will throw them away as an unclean thing; you will say to them, “Get away!”

23 Then He will give the rain for your seed with which you sow the ground, and bread of the increase of the earth; it will be fat and plentiful. In that day your cattle will feed in large pastures.
24 Likewise the oxen and the young donkeys that work the ground will eat cured fodder, which has been winnowed with the shovel and fan.
25 There will be on every high mountain and on every high hill rivers and streams of waters, in the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall.
26 Moreover the light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the Lord binds up the bruise of His people and heals the stroke of their wound.

Therefore the Lord will wait, that He may be gracious to you; and therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for Him. We always think about the effort we put into waiting for God to act, but how many of us consider that God must wait on us? We want God to do all the heavy lifting   doing everything for us without any commitment on our part. Spoiler alert: God doesn’t operate that way!

Deuteronomy 11:13- 17 ‘And it shall be that if you earnestly obey My commandments which I command you today, to love the Lord your God and serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul, then I will give you the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the latter rain, that you may gather in your grain, your new wine, and your oil. And I will send grass in your fields for your livestock, that you may eat and be filled.’ Take heed to yourselves, lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them, lest the Lord’s anger be aroused against you, and He shut up the heavens so that there be no rain, and the land yield no produce, and you perish quickly from the good land which the Lord is giving you.

When the Israelites came out of Egypt, they were a ragtag lot with a few true believers and a bunch of idolaters who had mixed the Egyptian pantheon of gods in with memories of Yaweh to create a syncretistic pseudo-religion. In short, these people were a spiritual mess, and God was fully aware of the fact. Throughout the Law of Moses, God continually advised the Israelites that blessings depended on heart attitude and obedience. God was unwilling to settle for the kind of half-hearted attempts at worship the Israelites had made in the past, for He knew full well that many of these people simply viewed him as one more local deity who might hand out blessings if sufficiently propitiated.  

The Creator of the Universe, Melech-ha Olam, had never been interested in fake piety and therefore gave the Israelites specific guidelines to help them learn how to live righteously and how to worship Him. Sadly, God’s people had their fingers in their ears and were doing everything they could to ignore His commands.

When Isaiah is giving this prophecy, the situation is worsening in the two kingdoms. The Assyrians conquer the Northern Kingdom in 740-722 B.C. and move on to threaten Judah as well. But when God strikes 185,000 Assyrian soldiers dead overnight and when the Assyrian commander hears rumors of attacks in other places, the Assyrian army leaves. Sadly, there are those in Jerusalem who assume that God will never allow Jerusalem to be conquered, even though they have filled Jerusalem with pagan idols and some civic leaders are burning their own children as live offerings to Molech in the Valley of Tophet. It is against this background of political upheaval that Isaiah sounds his prophecies of warning and hope.

Actions have consequences, and God wants His people to clearly understand that fact. Note that God’s blessings are conditional, depending on citizens of Judah destroying their idols, rejecting false gods. Isaiah does not sugar coat anything. The Judeans have been steadfastly ignoring God’s prophets, and that must stop. The Judeans will suffer for their misdeeds; however, God promises to send true-hearted teachers.

20 And though the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your teachers will not be moved into a corner anymore, but your eyes shall see your teachers.
21 Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” whenever you turn to the right hand or whenever you turn to the left.

There is a Latin phrase quid pro quo, meaning that an exchange takes place in which each of two parties gives something to gain something else. God’s quid pro quo has always been simple: obedience. Adam and Eve sinned through disobedience. Noah, Samuel, and many others found grace in God’s eyes through obedience. When we worship God and honor Him in our hearts through obedience, our actions release God’s blessings. God wants to bless us; however, disobedience and rebellion block the way.

Make no mistake! God is just as interested in our obedience and worship of Him today as He has ever been. There’s a Christian song that says, “Guard your heart, guard your heart. Don’t trade it for treasure or give it away.” When we pursue wealth or power or social position, we are trading our hearts away. Proverbs 4:23 advises us, “Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.”

Today, are we guarding our hearts? Are we careful about the media to which we expose ourselves? Are we careful about videos, online posts, TV shows or anything else that might imprint images onto our brains and hearts?

God is waiting to be gracious to us, but we must wait for Him as well. Why not allow the Lover of your soul to bless you? Wait for God, for God’s quid pro quo is simple: we give Him our whole-hearted devotion and He gives us eternal life.

PRAYER: Father God thank You for loving us and caring for us. Lord, help us to truly wait for You and to worship You. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.