God Uses People

 

 

 

I have often heard

“I have no help but God”

But is that really true?

Think before you applaud.

 

“God came through for me”

But how did God do this?

In so many ways, they say,

And then supply a list.

 

“Were it not for God

To whom would I have turned?”

Think again, I advise,

There’s much you can learn.

 

“God sent me the money

To pay an important bill,

And to think of how He did it

Really gives me a thrill.

 

I hadn’t a clue concerning

How the money would come

But in God I put my trust

And Presto! It was done.”

 

 

 

But, did it fall from the sky

Like manna in Bible days?

Certainly not, my funny friend,

Is what you’d likely say.

 

God does not print money

He uses what is in print,

All the more reason, my friend

Why I am begging you to think.

 

“I could find help nowhere

So, as always, I turned to God,

He provided the help I needed:

It was surely not King Fraud.”

 

When people cannot help us

It’s God to whom we turn

But is this really the lesson

This poem wants us to learn?

 

Look again, I beg you,

And its lesson you will learn,

“God uses people!”

It’s people to whom God turns.

 

 

It’s always somebody He uses

To help us in our trouble,

Think back again and you’ll see

God uses people.

 

The one who gave the money,

Or the one who paid the bill,

The one who brought the meal

Or the one that vacancy filled.

 

A helping hand that was given

Or a piece of needed advice,

A timely word of soothing comfort

That in a difficult time sufficed.

 

A lift to the supermarket

And a ride back home again,

An hour or too spent in company

As you deal with severe pain.

 

That shoulder you cried upon

A cheery good morning greeting,

Yes! God uses people

Is certainly worth repeating.

 

So, whenever God responds,

It’s people that He uses,

In the many and varying ways

It is people God chooses.

 

Stewart Russell © July 23, 2021

 

Prayer Meeting Extraordinaire

 

 

 

I will never forget

That extraordinary prayer meeting,

Convened on our brother’s behalf

When we could be sleeping.

 

It was back in the early church

Not long after Pentecost

One of our leaders had been slain

And another about to be lost.

 

Herod had executed James

And Peter had been imprisoned,

Hence, this special time in prayer

Hoping for Peter’s freedom.

 

I was just a young damsel

Observing the others in prayer

When I heard a knock on the door

And went to see who was there.

 

I did not have to see his face

I knew who was at the door,

From the moment I heard his voice

I needed nothing more.

 

I was so filled with excitement

I ran back to tell the rest

And Peter could do no better

Than stay right where he was left.

 

In my excitement I left him

Outside the meeting place

And back to those intercessors

I had excitedly raced.

 

Of course, they did not believe

What I revealed to them,

They suggested I had seen a ghost

And with that I had a problem.

 

 

Peter continued knocking

And eventually the door was opened,

There he stood in front of them

A testament to what God had done.

 

Their excitement was continuous

Like it would never cease

Causing Peter to beckon to them

And request they hold their peace.

 

He explained all God had done

And then he went his way,

Actually, he left that same very night

Before the turn of the day.

 

I believe as they prayed for Peter

They were praying for his release

But then it happened so quickly

It shocked their own belief.

 

Hence, the initial evidence,

Having been shrouded in disbelief,

Had an opposite effect on them

Despite praying for Peter’s release.

 

 

Prayer meeting extraordinaire!

The saints prayed while yet in doubt,

 But according to His own purpose

God still brought Peter out.

 

The lesson to one and all

Is to trust God however we feel

And in God’s own time appointed

All will be revealed.

 

Stewart Russell © September 25, 2021

 

 

Be Wary of Sayings

 

 “Why worry

When you can pray?”

"Worry is unbelief"

I’ve heard Christians say.

 

“Too blessed to be stressed

I tell God my problems,”

“I don’t have to worry-

He can solve them.”

 

“Regarding any problem

God is infinitely bigger,

So, why don’t I worry?

Now you go figure.”

 

“Don’t tell God

How big your problem is,

Instead, tell your problem

How big God is.”

 

Here’s another saying:

“Talk is cheap”

And once you have a tongue

It is easy to speak.

 

I am pretty sure

That most Christians worry,

But self-talk, I have discovered

Really works for me.

 

After the initial upset

I seek out the consolations,

“It could be worse”

Is a primary consideration.

 

The next one is:

“Now, what can I do?”

I certainly cannot reverse it

And neither can you. 

 

What’s done is done

It is time for the lesson,

So, doing what I can do

Constitutes my next session.  

Ultimately, though,

God is always in control,

And He takes especial care

Of all in His fold.

 

Worrying is natural

But it is not all that you do,

Just remember as you worry

God is looking out for you.

 

Some believers advise

That you should P.U.S.H.

Pray Until Something Happens

Instead of just fuss.

But what is that something

Which ends your pray,

That Push Until Something Happens

Becomes the way?

 

P.U.S.H does sound good

As an acronym

But does it make sense

Or is it just a whim?

 

Trusting God always

Works much better for me

And I am learning to do that

Even when I worry.

 

Oft I don’t even know

How I should pray

But I trust the Holy Spirit,

He knows what to say.

 

Telling me not to worry

But instead to pray

Puts me in a real jam

If I do not know what to say.

 

 

Sometimes regarding prayer

We can’t even start

But that is no problem

God listens to our heart.

 

We hear our heartbeats

But God hears our cries

And those that come from the heart

He never denies.

 

He acts for our good

Although always for His Glory

So, trust Him in all circumstances

And even when you worry.

 

Stewart Russell © November 13, 2020