Forewarned by Faith
Seeing and Overcoming Hidden Threats
Acts 23:16 (KJV)
And when Paul’s sister’s son heard of their lying in wait, he went and entered into the castle, and told Paul.
We live in a troubled world, and it presents us with many troubles. Some of them are unavoidable. We suffer through them. We learn from them (or else we grow bitter through them). Eventually, we will all face a trouble that results in the loss of our life. “It is appointed unto man once to die…” (Hebrews 9:27).
But for those who place their faith in Christ, and perhaps especially for those who are called and follow the Lord into Christian ministry, it is remarkable how often God will see to it that we hear of those troubles in time to reverse their course.
I am reminded of an incident that happened during my pastorate in Astoria, OR. We had a couple of ladies in the church who had been attending and were members for some time. They were always pleasant and encouraging. One of them was a talented pianist, and both of them were well-educated. We had been preparing for our Resurrection Sunday services with special music, all orchestrated and involving this lady on the piano. It was supposed to be a pretty big service.
A few days earlier, I had the difficult duty of dealing with a problem in a family…
