Christian Living

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Larry Lilly's Letter Monday September 11, 2006

I love to hear, tell and live stories of faith, the outrageous faith that every now and then gets over the edge and puts absolute faith in the Lord.

Dr. James Kennard, director of military missions with Baptist International Missions and long time pastor of the largest church to the military in the world on the island of Okinawa told such a story the other night during his sermon on the faith promise method of supporting missionaries.

Although a man was struggling financially he felt a burden to help a certain missionary and promised Christ that he would give the man five dollars a week as the Lord provided. For the first few months the money came to him in strange ways. And then. And then it seemed as though God's spring of supply just dried up. The day to send the money dragged on and no special money, no letter with cash, no stranger walking up, no opportunity to earn the five dollars. The man was about to despair when suddenly, out of the night as he walked along the street, a man stepped out of an alley, with a pistol in his hand and demanded our friends money, all of it. The man who made the faith promise started laughing so hard that tears came to his eyes. He turned his pockets inside out, did the same to his worn out wallet. The robber asked, "Why is this so funny to you?" Our man Faith said, "Today is the day I promised to send money to a missionary, it is 11:45 in the middle of the night and I don't have a dime." The robber, a little bewildered said, "Get out of here!" As our man Faith started to walk away, the robber said, "Hey buddy, wait a minute." The man of faiths heart was beating many times its normal rate as he waited with more than a little fear. The robber walked up, looked him in the eye and said, "Here!"

Faith looked and the robber had put five dollars in his hand and said, "Send this to the missionary." Dr. Kennard said, "The robber had probably taken the money from some church member who did not tithe!"

Joyce and I, along with the congregation laughed. I know the Great Blonde and I have had our moments, when just in the nick of time, the Lord 'came through' with His provision for our needs, for the wherewithal to meet commitments we had made in good faith to His work.

Paul spoke of this grand intervention of the Lord in our lives when he wrote in Hebrews 4:15-16: "For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need."

Often, this grace comes 'just in the nick of time.'

Larry Lilly Copyright 2006 Use with credit

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