I hold in my hand a letter that a mother wrote
to me years ago. She would be amazed to know
that I have kept her letter all this time. The
little poem that she enclosed with her letter
is still clipped to that letter. There is seldom
a week that I have not thought. of the words
that this little mother wrote to me. And it's
been a long time ago now. Dear Catherine, here
is a little verse cut from a Scotland paper which
sounds just like me. I'm so tired being tied
down all these years with my young waterhead
helpless. and three grandsons that is so lively
and destructive. One thing is, you always say,
God makes no mistake. I must believe this. But
if only I could learn to stop telling God what
to do. If only I could Trust him completely and
say thy will be done. That's all that was written
in the letter. The woman signed her full name.
And then this was the little verse that she had
enclosed having cut it from a Scotland paper.
On bended knee with sweat and tears, I knelt
alone to pray. i told god i could not endure
not for another day but though my tears ran fast
and hot god answered not on bended knee contrite
i prayed but no loud words had i i waited humbly
on the lord my prayer was but a sigh. And in
the wondrous stillness, he gave his strength
to me. You've heard me say many, many times as
I've prayed, Father God, please hear that prayer
in that sigh. I have never forgotten this woman's
letter. Neither have I forgotten the little clipping
she enclosed from the Scotland paper. The prayer
in the falling tear. The prayer in the sigh.
Because the burden was too heavy. The woman with
the helpless waterhead child. I'm so tired, Miss
Cooman. I'm so weary of staying at home constantly.
I'm caught in this dungeon. I'm caught in circumstances.
I've cried until I can cry no longer. Please
pray that God will give me grace in my dungeon.
I was so deeply touched with this letter. I got
in contact with her immediately. I said, I have
a little work for you to do. You can do it right
there in your own home. You know, I'd like some
dresses made for some children that I know who
are starting to school and their parents are
too poor to buy little dresses for them. I'll
get the pattern. I'll buy the material. start
sewing for me. And we worked together on a little
project. And it wasn't long before that woman's
dungeon turned into one of the brightest spots
in that whole neighborhood. The happiest mother
that you ever saw in your life. And today...
She is one of the most victorious mothers that
I know anything about. Though sure you too may
be saying, I'm caught in a web of circumstances
that bind me hand and foot. How can I have abundant
living under these circumstances? I'm caught
in my dungeon. Beloved, If you find grace at
all, you must find it in the dungeon. You're
caught. You're not able to get out of the dungeon.
Then the only thing to do is to get the dungeon
out of you. Find grace in that very dungeon.
Find grace in my... circumstances. And the first
thing that you do, get your eyes off of your
circumstances. Look up. As long as you look down,
as long as you keep your eyes on your circumstances,
you'll never get victory. Never. And above all,
do not permit yourself to accept pity. either
from yourself or from anyone else. Accept no
man's pity. I repeat, do not permit yourself
to accept pity. Pity is the most dangerous form
of emotional charity. I don't know anything besides
fear that you can take in your own life. that
is more destructive to you than pity, self -pity.
It may seem to comfort you at first, but be aware
of such comfort, for it will turn you into a
spiritual bomb. It will turn you into a whining
weakling. Is there anything? That is worse to
have around than a whining weakling. An individual
who has given himself over completely to self
-pity. It's destructive. And sooner or later,
it will destroy you. It'll kill you. It'll defeat
you. It matters not what has happened to you.
It matters not what life has done to you. You
may be crippled in body. You may be broken financially.
Cheated. Robbed by death of the thing that was
dearest to you. No matter what has happened to
you, no matter what your disappointments, still
within you there will remain something that is
unbeaten, something that may inspire respect
and command service. You can still come back
if you don't accept pity. But the very minute
that you give yourself over to self -pity, you've
destroyed your influence, you've destroyed yourself.
Self -pity is destructive. Out of the night that
covers me, black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be for my unconquerable
soul. It matters not how straight the gate, how
charged with punishments the scroll. I am the
master of my fate. I am the captain of my soul.
Those are noble words. Make them your words.
Stand up straight in your rags. Stand unquivering
in your wounds. God alone knows the victory that
will be yours if you refuse to go down in defeat.
This moment is yours. This hour is yours. Your
life is yours. Your soul is yours. Hold fast
to that proud treasure. Do not trade it for any
man's pity. Among the most beautiful of Paul's
writings are these words. This salutation is
in my own hand. From Paul. Remember, I am in
prison. Grace be with you. You would have expected
Paul to say, I am in prison. I am in a dungeon.
My circumstances are insurmountable. God give
me grace. But no, he puts it just the other way.
I am in prison. Grace be with you. I have found
grace in the dungeon. Enough and despair. I pass
it on to you. And it works. I tell you the truth.
It works. Many a time have I gone into an auditorium.
Many a time have I walked out on a stage, on
a platform. Many a time have I faced a congregation.
When I got the... in my own life, my own soul,
by giving to others. Oh, gracious God and Heavenly
Father, if my circumstances become a dungeon,
then help me to find grace enough for myself.
and to spare for others. Help me not to whine
or complain, but to find resources enough in
you to pass on to others. For I know that thy
grace is sufficient for me, and not merely when
life is free and open, but when life turns into
a dungeon. I shall find grace enough for myself
and to spare. For God hath made me fruitful in
the land of my affliction. The summer showers
are falling. And the poet stands by the window
watching them. They're beating. They're buffeting
the earth with their fierce downpour. But the
poet sees more than the showers that are falling
upon his eyes. And before him, he sees the lovely
flowers which shall be soon breaking forth from
the watered earth, filling it. with matchless
beauty and fragrance. And so he sings. It isn't
raining rain for me. It's raining daffodils.
In every dimpling drop I see wildflowers upon
the hills. A cloud of grey engulfs the day and
overwhelms the town. But it isn't raining rain
for me. It's raining roses now. Perhaps in this
very moment, even while I'm speaking, someone
of God's precious children is even now saying,
Oh, dear God, the rain is coming down in torrents.
I'm almost defeated. It's raining so hard for
me this hour. Maybe a midnight hour for somebody.
And you're almost on the brink of defeat. It's
so dark, it's so lonely. You feel so all alone.
You've been caught in circumstances. And there
doesn't seem to be a way forward or backward.
There just doesn't seem to be a way out. There
isn't a star in that... darkened sky for you
tonight. The walls are blank. But remember, hope
will put stars in darkened skies. Hope and trust
and faith will put windows in walls where there
are no windows. Testings are raining upon you
which seem almost beyond your power to endure.
Disappointments are raining fast to the utter
defeat of all of your chosen plans. Bereavements
are raining into your life which are making a
shrinking heart quiver in its intensity of suffering.
The rain of affliction is perhaps beating upon
your soul these days. You're caught in a web
of circumstances and you can't move. All that
you can think about is defeat. And self -pity
is about to creep in. Oh, my friend, don't be
overtaken. It isn't raining rain for you. Not
really. It's raining... Blessings. If only you
could see beyond those darkened skies. The sun
is shining on the other side of the cloud. Oh,
those blank walls. On the other side of those
blank walls, there's victory. It isn't really
raining rain for you. It's raining blessing.
If you will but believe your father's word, underneath
that beating rain are springing up spiritual
flowers of such fragrance and beauty as never
before grew in that stormless, unchastened life
of yours. If you could only know, if you could
only see, if you could only believe, if you could
only trust, open those blinded eyes just now.
Just now. And let that one see, if only for a
brief moment. You indeed see the rain. But do
you see also the flowers? You're pained by the
testings. But God sees the sweet flower of faith,
which is upspring in your life. Under those very
trials, you shrink from the suffering, but God
sees the tender compassion for other sufferers,
which is finding birth in your own soul. I know.
How could I feel another's disappointment had
I not had disappointments? How could I feel the
suffering of another if I had never suffered?
How could I talk about the stones that bruise
one's feet on the highway of life if my own feet
had not been bruised? And the blood marks of
suffering on those stones. How could I feel the
suffering of another if I had never suffered?
How could I talk about a life on the brink of
defeat if I had never stood on the same brink?
How could I promise you victory, complete victory
in the Lord Jesus Christ if... I had not experienced
that wonderful victory through the power of God
Almighty. Oh, sure your heart is broken under
the sore bereavement of the passing of a loved
one. I too have stood there at the open grave.
I too have had the flowers. watered by my tears.
But God sees the deepening, the enriching, which
that sorrow has brought to you. No, beloved,
it isn't raining afflictions for you. It's raining
tenderness. It's raining love, compassion, patience,
thousand other flowers and fruits of the blessed
spirit, which are bringing into your life such
a spiritual enrichment as all the fullness of
worldly prosperity and ease was never able to
give to you. In this moment, look up. You've
had your head down for so long. Look up. See
the sunshine. See the flowers. See his grace.
Be enriched by his love. One day, I walked a
mile with pleasure, and she chattered all the
way and then left me, none the wiser for all
that she had to say. But one day I walked a mile
with sorrow, and not one word said she. But oh,
the things I learned that day when sorrow walked.
with me. I am the person that I am today. Not
because of the sun that shone in my life or the
flowers on my pathway. I am what I am today.
The person that I am this hour. Because of the
stones that bruised my feet. Because of a heart
that was broken. Because of a will that was surrendered
to his will. And he turned the dungeon into a
place. where I was able to find His grace. More
than just enough for myself, but enough and to
spare. And I pass that grace on to you. Not one
of us need ever... be defeated not on a single
score, not so long as God is still God Almighty.
God bless you.