Christian Living

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Larry Lilly's Letter Thursday January 19, 2006

Like many unusual men, Henry Drummond marched to a different drummer. He is often confused with a relative by the same name and poet with a similar name. Henry’s book, "The Greatest Thing In The World" based on 1Corinthians 13 sold over 12 million copies and would certainly sell many times that number were it fresh off the press today in the modern vernacular. And though he helped in the revival with Mr. Moody in the British Isles, he would be maligned today by most who hold to such meetings. Yet you will go afar to find a more thorough, simple 8 statements on discovering God's will and implementing God's will in your life. I am expanding my comments along with his concise statements on the subject and making this booklet available in the near future.

Henry Drummond's 8th item in living in God's will:

"You may not find out until afterward that you have been led in it all."

One of the saddest people in all the world is the man or woman who relies on immediate, empirical evidence of failure only to find out later, sometimes much later, that they really were a participant in God's will!

A story that has made the rounds for years, said to be true, illustrates this principle.

'A Christian man in Chicago lost everything in the crash of 1929. He did everything he could to put food on the table. While not a trained accountant he did hear of a place that needed one. He applied only to discover the establishment was one of 'Ill Fame.' The nice lady who interviewed him told him that he would not suit their needs, but she did give a him a huge red apple. He left the place and was standing on the corner feeling sorry for himself. A well dressed man said, "Sir, how much for the apple?" He hesitated and the man gave him a nickel. Now at the point of trying anything, he went to the farmers market and bought two apples and then sold them for a dime! He repeated this several times. In the course of years his retail fruit sales led the city and he was the biggest dealer in town. He gave liberally to different charitable works. At an awards ceremony where he was given a plaque for being an outstanding citizen the Master of Ceremonies remarked about our man's lack of formal education saying, "Just imagine what our friend would have been had he earned a formal education!" Our fruit retailer responded with, "Yes, with formal education I would have been the book keeper in a house of ill fame!"'

Okay, the story did use a different term than 'House of Ill Fame.' I had the man's name and have forgotten it. At my age I can forget without even trying.

He thought for a time that he was a failure and that he had missed God's will, yet in later, more prosperous years he was able to grasp the truth of Fanny Crosby's phrase, "Jesus Led Me All The Way." I suspect the same is true in your life.

Larry Lilly Copyright © 2006 Use with credit.

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