The Works of God

In 2007 Pastor John was preaching in 1 Peter 3:1-7 on The Beautiful Faith of Fearless Submission.

This statement then and now reminded me of my Dianne:

So verse 5 said that the holy women of old hoped in God. And then verse 6 gives Sarah, Abraham’s wife, as an example and then refers to all other Christian women as her daughters. Verse 6b: “And you are her children, if you do good and do not fear anything that is frightening.”

So this portrait of Christian womanhood is marked first by hope in God and then what grows out of that hope, namely, fearlessness. She does not fear the future; she laughs at the future. The presence of hope in the invincible sovereignty of God drives out fear. Or to say it more carefully and realistically, the daughters of Sarah fight the anxiety that rises in their hearts. They wage war on fear, and they defeat it with hope in the promises of God.

Today is Dianne’s birthday.

I’ve observed that the anniversary of another year of life produces great anxiety in some people.  Not true for her.

She also has an infusion appointment today related to her cancer.  For more than seven years she has endured an almost-monthly reminder that this life is unpredictable and the future is unknown to us.  She doesn’t live with anxiety about that either.

Not perfectly, of course.  Pastor John was right and wise to say we must wage war on fear.

God has granted her the faith to fight, and to make this Proverb a reality in our home:

Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come. (Proverbs 31:25 ESV)

I am a very blessed man and very grateful to God for my wife!