Sleep – something I cherish. It is most rare that I don’t enjoy it or want at least 6 hours of it.

Money – something I have that I can do many things with. Save it. Invest it to get more of it. Spend it on myself and members of my family. Give it away to worthwhile endeavors. Give it away to unworthy endeavors.

Time – something I have a finite amount of. In ways it is similar to money except I cannot save it for future use. I can do many things with. Invest it, but not to get more of it. Spend it on myself and members of my family. Give it away to worthwhile endeavors. Give it away to unworthy endeavors.

Relationships – something I can use my time and money to grow. Something God initiates for his glory. The older I get, the more I cherish good relationships.

Bible – my guidebook for life. The Word of God. Wisdom. Something I can choose to obey or disobey. My compass. My rebuke.

God – my Creator in whose image the Bible tells me I was created. My Savior, the one who gave his only Son, Jesus, in order to restore my broken relationship with Him.

So how do I relate these topics to today’s blog? Sleep, money, time, relationships, Bible, God?

Psalm 37:23 says “The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way.” While I cannot claim to be a good man, it is my heart’s desire to do good and honor the One who has redeemed me and made me perfectly righteous, Jesus Christ. I believe every day consists of divinely ordered events which bring us into relationships with each other in order to bring about His perfect will and for His ultimate glory. Such was this weekend. We are in PA (the Harrisburg area) visiting with our daughter Sara and son-in-law Caleb. We have enjoyed time with family and even got to eat at the most amazing place – the largest smorgasbord I have ever seen! Shady Maple, is called by a fellow BJU professor, Dr Dan Olinger, the “Disneyland for people who eat”.

So we are on our way to their church, Mount Calvary Church of Elizabethtown, for the Sunday evening service. Along the way I was thinking I would like to invite the Pastor and his family out for a meal after the service. But upon arriving I learned the Pastor, along with most of the men of PA, was to be in a deer stand in the PA woods by dawn in order to participate in the opening day of deer season. Therefore he would be leaving right after the service. Now this event is pretty amazing, in fact Caleb is there right now awaiting his chance to bring down the elusive 12-point buck! This event is part of the reason, in the providence of God, we are even here this weekend, as my son Joseph was interesting in going on his first hunt, a story for another blog.

At the same time we were driving to church, an amazing Filipino family was calling around to find a church where they could present their church planting ministry that evening. They called Pastor Chan and he invited them to come share during the service. It was during their short presentation the Lord began to lay on my heart a desire to get to know them. Pastor Chan said they were in need of a place to spend the night. Not wanting to rob any of his church folks the blessing of ministering to this family, I was after all just a visitor myself, I decided to wait around and see if anyone jumped at the opportunity. No one did, so I did! Now wanting to keep peace in my own family, I quickly decided against inviting them to spend the night in Sara’s townhouse. Instead we took them to dinner then on to see Hershey’s famous Sweet Lights, an awesome display of Christmas lights, albeit without once using the word Christ or Christmas! Their 3 little girls (grades 5th, 4th, K5) absolutely enjoyed seeing all the lights and displays!

Finally we checked them into a Hampton Inn for the night for a good nights rest before continue on to Ohio, the next leg of their American journey. Now comes the sleep part. About 5Am I wake up, after being shorted 1 hour of my desired 6 hours, thinking about this family. Have they ever stayed in a hotel before? Do they know about the complimentary breakfast? Will they know when to check out? Finally my mind says STOP, you are not God! God chose to use me to help them along their way and perhaps wants me to invest more of my time and money into their ministry, but I need not worry about all these details. Of course next time I have the opportunity to put a family from a foreign culture into an American hotel, I’ll be sure to spend a little more time making sure they know all they need to. I did call the hotel this morning and asked them to make sure the Filipino family got breakfast before they left.

So I’m up at 5Am and can’t go back to sleep. I figure God wants me to spend some extra time in prayer, so I do. I’m wondering is last night was just some “chance encounter” or if God truly wants me to be aware of this family and be able to help meet the needs of their ministry. The final clincher comes as I read Spurgeon’s Morning & Evening devotional for November 30. I am amazed at God’s grace and mercy in leading the paths that I take for His glory!! I don’t believe it is possible for a Christian to out give God!! If you don’t believe me, I challenge you to give it a try and see what happens.

Spurgeon’s Morning & Evening devotional for November 30

- 2Ch 25:9 And Amaziah said to the man of God, “But what shall we do about the hundred talents that I have given to the army of Israel?” The man of God answered, “The Lord is able to give you much more than this.”

A very important question this seemed to be to the king of Judah, and possibly it is of even more weight with the tried and tempted O Christian. To lose money is at no times pleasant, and when principle involves it, the flesh is not always ready to make the sacrifice. ” Why lose that which may be so usefully employed? May not the truth itself be bought too dear? What shall we do without it? Remember the children, and our small income!” All these things and a thousand more would tempt the Christian to put forth his hand to unrighteous gain, or stay himself from carrying out his conscientious convictions, when they involve serious loss. All men cannot view these matters in the light of faith; and even with the followers of Jesus, the doctrine of ” we must live” has quite sufficient weight.

The Lord is able to give thee much more than this is a very satisfactory answer to the anxious question. Our Father holds the purse-strings, and what we lose for his sake he can repay a thousand-fold. It is ours to obey his will, and we may rest assured that he will provide for us. The Lord will be no man’ s debtor at the last. Saints know that a grain of heart’ s-ease is of more value than a ton of gold. He who wraps a threadbare coat about a good conscience has gained a spiritual wealth far more desirable than any he has lost. God’ s smile and a dungeon are enough for a true heart; his frown and a palace would be hell to a gracious spirit. Let the worst come to the worst, let all the talents go, we have not lost our treasure, for that is above, where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God. Meanwhile, even now, the Lord maketh the meek to inherit the earth, and no good thing doth he withhold from them that walk uprightly.