March 14,1997
Dear Br. Gary:
I wanted to share with you some blessings the Lord has given us recently. When ever brothers share the Lord’s providences with others, everyone is encouraged to trust him, which is often the reason for the blessings in the first place.
As you know, I have a ministry I call Homeward-Bound Family Services.
The letters I send to you and other brothers, I call Dear Brothers.
These letters and other materials of the company are intended
to encourage men and women to seek the Lord for guidance, wisdom,
and salvation. While on earth, Christ often appealed to nature
in his parables and teachings as one of the means God uses to
illustrate the nature of his character. Therefore, I include colorful
photographs of nature scenes in my letters to you and other men
as a means of attracting the mind and thoughts to God the Creator
and Savior.
However, these pictures are expensive to purchase, costing approximately
$85.00 per CD-Rom disk containing 80 pictures or a little more
then $1.07 per picture. Recently, I purchased mountainscapes and
skyscapes and desired to purchase other sets of nature pictures,
but the cost was prohibitive, for these additional photographs
sold for $235.00 per 100 photographs. Well beyond the means of
the company.
I don’t remember if I actually prayed, but I did express
my desire to the Lord to have additional photographs. Several
days ago, I received a catalog in the mail that offered a series
of 2500 nature photographs for a phenomenally low price of $149.00
a set. How gracious of the Lord to call my attention to this new
source of nature pictures at a price the company can afford.
As you probably know, because both Sevilla and I are blind, she
more then I, we depend on others for transportation, living as
we do nearly seventeen miles from town. As of last week, we had
two sources of transportation, a pastor of a local church and
the East Tennessee Human Resource Agencies transportation van
that comes out of Newport to transport handicapped persons and
welfare families.
For the first year we lived in Del Rio, this van was a godsend.
We could travel anywhere in Cock country, almost any day with
just a nominal payment. However, recently this service was no
longer available to us as more welfare families, who have a higher
priority then we do, were utilizing the service, thus bumping
us off their rooster. However, the Lord provided the pastor I
just mentioned to take up the slack.
Many folks are willing to help us when they realize our need but
their help always has limits. Folks are willing to help as long
as their help resolves or solves a problem, but in our case, all
the help in the world will never eliminate our need for continual
transportation, and eventually, everybody grows weary of helping.
We asked our pastor friend for assistance and, contrary to his
usual practice, he began putting us off for another day. We waited
over a week until our need became acute. He promised transportation
on Thursday, but by Tuesday we needed to go to town. Praying about
the problem, we both agreed to trust the Lord and wait, if this
was required of us, until he provided the help we needed.
After we prayed, we were both convicted to call Transportation.
Yes, they were available today, and within half an hour I was
on my way to Newport. The very next day, our pastor friend put
us off again and it became clear he wanted to quite driving. People
can cause us incredible injury by doing nothing, but the Lord
assured us that he will take us up when others fail us. Even though
we lost a driver, the Transportation van seems to be available
once again. We trust in the Lord and He neither grows weary nor
fails us. The more we need him, the more he is available. The
less we need him, the less he is able to manifest his love.
Last night I needed to go to the store. There is a small, and
I stress the word SMALL country store about 2.5 to 3 miles from
our home. Our one lane dirt road is pitted by numerous pot wholes
and is constantly being washed out by the rains. The county recently
dumped loads of large sized gravel on the road in an endeavor
to fill up the pot wholes, which it failed to do and to prevent
further erosions. Over the last several weeks, vehicles have thrown
this gravel aside, creating two narrow paths that I use when I
walk the road. However, these paths are filled with pot wholes
so I must be exceeding careful to weave my way around and throw
them in order not to sprain my ankle. This particular evening,
I left 45 minutes before sunset, reached the store slightly after
sunset and returned to our pitted road well after full dark. I
had a flashlight but it was of little help as the contrast between
intense darkness and intense light tends to blind my eyes. There
was a quarter moon in a clear sky; I relied on its light to guide
me along my way. Finding a smooth path through the gravel, caused
me to bounce from side to side, careful not to get too close to
the creek on the left and a four to eight foot drop off.
There was insufficient light to see the pot wholes, but it soon
became apparent that I wasn’t encountering them. Near the
end of the 1.5 mile road, I turned on the flash light and there,
all around me, were pot wholes. How the Lord prevented me from
stepping in a whole and spraining my ankle, I don’t know,
but I arrived home safely with the groceries in me nap sack on
my back and my ankles in good condition. God loves his faithful
children. Those who place their trust in him are never disappointed.
While we may face temporary set backs, discouragement over ruined
or spoiled plans, or apparent loses, “all things work together
for good for those who love the Lord and are the called according
to his purposes.”
God loves you my dear brother, place your full confidence in him,
ask the impossible, believe that you already have it and when
you need it the most and it will most glorify God, you shall have
it. May God be gracious to you and reveal himself in a special
manner that will increase your faith. Your brother in Christ.
Allen A. Benson