Day 10 of 30 Days of Praise

Wow! I've made it to 10 days. And believe me...God is teaching me. I try so hard to soak in all that God is teaching me. I want it to become fruit in my life. I brought along some Christian biography books to read on the trip and I think an excerpt from Watchman Nee's book is in order. It sums up so well what I believe about submission. God doesn't care in what form we learn it---as long as we learn it. If we aren't submitting to our husbands, bosses, etc.....we aren't submitting to God. Period. So read this with an open heart. Margaret Barber was Watchman Nee's (WN from here on out) mentor.
"Stay broken," she would often say to him. "Don't believe all the good things people say about you. You must stay broken. His Word says that if your ways are pleasing to the Lord, He will make your enemies to be at peace with you. He is most pleased with your brokenness. Remember the cross, WN. You must stay broken."
And Miss Barber made sure he learned that lesson well. After WN joined her ministry, she purposesly put him under the charge of a supervisor who drove him to distraction. WN's temper flared up every time he disagreed with this man, who was a few years older but not nearly as gifted as he. Following each controversy, WN would find Margaret and heatedly state his grievances.
"He's wrong again!" WN would claim. "He never does anything the way I know it should be done. You must speak to him and correct him."
Predictably, Margaret would firmly reply, "The Scriptures say the younger should obey the elder. You have much to learn," she said, closing the matter. Time and time again, WN would walk away angry with her, the Scriptures, and life in general. But slowly the lesson began to take hold. Later he would write,
After a dispute, I would go to Sister Barber hoping that she would vindicate me. But I would weep again after she said, "Whether that coworker is wrong or not is another matter. While you are accusing your brother before me, are you like one who is bearing the cross? Are you like a lamb?" When she questioned me in this way, I felt very ashamed and I could never forget it....In that year and a half, I learned to obey an elder coworker and I came to realize what it is to bear the cross.
Father, thank you for heroes of the faith from our generation. Thank you for all they learned and left for us to learn through them. I praise You for these men and women who were just like us---trying to get these lessons down. Thank you for their encouragement. Please ask those people in our great cloud of witnesses to cheer a little louder so we can hear them clearly---encouraging us across the finish line. I love you, Daddy. You're so faithful. Bless the people reading this with the same drive to learn these lessons well. And bless this writer to get it down quickly!! In Jesus' name, Amen!
Congratulations! You just read a biography. Ha! I highly encourage you to get this series and keep them for your children to read some day. They're called "Heroes of the Faith" series and are put out by Barbour Publishing. They're written on a middle school level and are so easy to read and give you such a great insight into those who have gone before us! Do you see how important it is for your children to learn submission to you? To obey quickly? If they learn it as children, they won't have nearly the problem I'm having as an adult!