Reflections on God's Word

by Victoria Robinson

Girlfriends, have you ever watched a movie, (Especially a romantic story!), and anxiously waited and hoped for the story to end the way you wanted? Of course you have—you’re a girl! However, as you know, you can never be certain what the ending will hold in store until the screen goes black.

The story of King Hezekiah takes some twists and turns—so what will the ending be? Hezekiah becomes king at the age of twenty-five. His reign signifies a return to godliness for Judah. As he takes the throne he immediately gets rid of all the ungodly filth that defiled the land. Then fourteen years into his reign at the age of thirty-nine, Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death. The prophet Isaiah came to him and said, “This is what the LORD says: Put your house in order, because you are going to die; you will not recover.” This story is not going to have a happy ending—or is it? After the prophet leaves, Hezekiah immediately prayed and wept. Before the prophet had left the middle court, the word of the LORD came to him: “Go back and tell Hezekiah, the leader of my people, ‘This is what the LORD, the God of your father David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears; I will heal you. On the third day from now you will go up to the temple of the LORD. I will add fifteen years to your life.” Just as the Lord said, Hezekiah did indeed live for fifteen more years. A happy ending!

I have been fortunate to know a real life “Hezekiah”. In 1990 the Lord placed a most interesting man and his family in our life. We were living in a peaceful college town when the tranquility was shattered by the gruesome murder of two young women. This was followed by three more murders of college students. As all this tragedy was unfolding, even more tragic news would come to us. The detective in charge of the murder investigation came to my husband Rick and told him he had been diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer. He then proceeded to pour out his heart’s desire. What would he say? That he wanted to be healed … needed care for his family … to catch the killer? Nope! Though he did need all of those things to happen, his unselfish desire was that he would be able to lead someone to Christ before he died. As the days followed, Rick taught him how to share his faith and he did indeed lead not only one person to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, but many! Oh and before this story ended our precious godly friend lived for nineteen more years! Even in death, our friend’s story was not over. His family shared the gift of eternal life so beautifully at his funeral so that through this man’s life story—eternity will be filled with those who knew him.

Dearest girlfriends, let us not judge the end of our story, but place our trust for the outcome in our heavenly Father’s trustworthy hands.

by Victoria Robinson

Girlfriends, an angelic treasure hunt sounds fun doesn’t it? I am not talking about searching for angels. I am referring to a beautiful story found in the book of Genesis. Abraham was old and wanted to find a proper wife for his son. He sent his chief servant on a treasure hunt and told him, “The LORD, the God of heaven, … will send his angel before you so that you can get a wife for my son from there.” Girlfriends, that is a breathtaking romantic story! We should all believe in God’s divine guidance when we seek to choose a spouse. My eldest son actually fasted and prayed for the beautiful lady he believed God had chosen for him. After a persistent romantic pursuit, (He inherited his father’s romantic gene!), she said yes, and  they are now blissfully married!

But this story has far more to do about a principle of our heavenly Father rather than about romance. It shows the wonderful guidance He wants to send us as we seek the treasures He wants to give us. In this story, His provision came through seeking, prayer, and angelic intervention.

Dearest girlfriends, are there treasures you are seeking from your heavenly Father today? If so, pray and believe Him to provide divine guidance.

Abraham was now old and well advanced in years, and the LORD had blessed him in every way. He said to the chief servant in his household, the one in charge of all that he had, “… I want you to swear by the LORD, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you will … go to my country and my own relatives and get a wife for my son Isaac.” The servant asked him, “What if the woman is unwilling to come back with me to this land? Shall I then take your son back to the country you came from?” “Make sure that you do not take my son back there,” Abraham said. “The LORD, the God of heaven, who brought me out of my father’s household and my native land and who spoke to me and promised me on oath, saying, ‘To your offspring I will give this land’—he will send his angel before you so that you can get a wife for my son from there. ~ Genesis 24:1-7 NIV

Then he prayed, “O LORD, God of my master Abraham, give me success today, and show kindness to my master Abraham. See, I am standing beside this spring, and the daughters of the townspeople are coming out to draw water. May it be that when I say to a girl, ‘Please let down your jar that I may have a drink,’ and she says, ‘Drink, and I’ll water your camels too’—let her be the one you have chosen for your servant Isaac. By this I will know that you have shown kindness to my master.” Before he had finished praying, Rebekah came out with her jar on her shoulder. She was the daughter of Bethuel son of Milcah, who was the wife of Abraham’s brother Nahor. The girl was very beautiful, a virgin; no man had ever lain with her. She went down to the spring, filled her jar and came up again. The servant hurried to meet her and said, “Please give me a little water from your jar.” “Drink, my lord,” she said, and quickly lowered the jar to her hands and gave him a drink. After she had given him a drink, she said, “I’ll draw water for your camels too, until they have finished drinking.” So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough, ran back to the well to draw more water, and drew enough for all his camels. Without saying a word, the man watched her closely to learn whether or not the LORD had made his journey successful. ~ Genesis 24:12-21 NIV

Then the man bowed down and worshiped the LORD, saying, “Praise be to the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, who has not abandoned his kindness and faithfulness to my master. As for me, the LORD has led me on the journey to the house of my master’s relatives.” ~ Genesis 24:26-27 NIV