When I was a girl I remember the old saints talking about ‘stakes’ being driven in their lives. The phrase was used to mean events and people who made deep impressions in their spiritual life and served to hold them secure in times of trial. I looked many times for a scripture that the saying had reference to and never found it. However the fact that I didn’t have an exact quotation did not hinder my understanding.
Today I can point to specific people and happenings that ‘staked’ my tent down in the spiritual sense. There were messages that clarified Biblical doctrine in my mind. There were the righteous men of God who preached those messages. There were the godly women who made no headlines in society or the business world, but who set holy examples before their children. There were the old saints who testified of miracles and God’s loving care in providing shelter, finances and even the healing of vehicles and animals. There were the trials that I saw no way through, around or over but the Hand of God made them evaporate after I had endured a while. There were the physical healings that I witnessed time and again, growths which melted away, children raised up from deep lethargy of fevers, women healed of appendicitis, cancer and physical failings. Each event drove a stake in my heart and when the storm winds of trial and fear and oppression blew strong around me, those things held me firm in my faith. They taught me I could depend on the Lord in every situation.
The Navajo have a term, “t’sin sita”. The words apply to the mileposts that the army installed along their routes of march to keep track of the distance. It is literally translated as “wood standing up in place” or “standing posts.” But I always liked the definiteness of the sound of the words as they are pronounced in the language. They sound so solid and so permanent. "t’sin sita” They remind me of the posts that have been driven into my heart that mark the way my life in the Lord has progressed. They are ‘set in stone’ and permanent. I can never forget them. I can never ignore them. And they are leading the way clearly to glory.
I worry sometimes that so many young people in the world today don’t have those stakes and posts to hold them secure.
Today I can point to specific people and happenings that ‘staked’ my tent down in the spiritual sense. There were messages that clarified Biblical doctrine in my mind. There were the righteous men of God who preached those messages. There were the godly women who made no headlines in society or the business world, but who set holy examples before their children. There were the old saints who testified of miracles and God’s loving care in providing shelter, finances and even the healing of vehicles and animals. There were the trials that I saw no way through, around or over but the Hand of God made them evaporate after I had endured a while. There were the physical healings that I witnessed time and again, growths which melted away, children raised up from deep lethargy of fevers, women healed of appendicitis, cancer and physical failings. Each event drove a stake in my heart and when the storm winds of trial and fear and oppression blew strong around me, those things held me firm in my faith. They taught me I could depend on the Lord in every situation.
The Navajo have a term, “t’sin sita”. The words apply to the mileposts that the army installed along their routes of march to keep track of the distance. It is literally translated as “wood standing up in place” or “standing posts.” But I always liked the definiteness of the sound of the words as they are pronounced in the language. They sound so solid and so permanent. "t’sin sita” They remind me of the posts that have been driven into my heart that mark the way my life in the Lord has progressed. They are ‘set in stone’ and permanent. I can never forget them. I can never ignore them. And they are leading the way clearly to glory.
I worry sometimes that so many young people in the world today don’t have those stakes and posts to hold them secure.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment