Something similar and just as wonderful happened last Sunday.
A bit of background: Sometimes I know what Mark (my husband) is going to teach on or at least the gist of it, but sometimes I don’t. Last Sunday I knew nothing of his lesson except that he would be finishing up the book of Acts (28:11-31). In fact, last Saturday I wasn’t even sure if he would have a lesson to teach on because as of 9:00 pm Saturday night he was suffering from a (another) terrible headache and had been unable to focus on studying at all that day and the clock was ticking - so to speak.
9:30 pm last Saturday night: Mark asked me what he should do (about teaching on Sunday morning) and I asked him if he could teach the passage without studying it. He said he could. I told him to go to bed. He did. I spent some time praying for the next day - that God would take away his headache and that God would give him a lesson - God’s words to speak. Then I went to bed. I did not think to read the passage he was going to be teaching on the next day. I was worn out and Sunday is often a joyful, but busy and tiring day.
Sunday morning: About an hour and a half before we needed to leave for church I woke Mark and asked him how he was feeling and if he wanted to get up and study a bit. He said he felt a little better (not great) and would get up. I had a few extra minutes Sunday morning so I spent the time looking up verses on healing and then I spent a few minutes before we left reading Voices of the True Woman Movement, A Call to Counter-Revolution by Nancy Leigh DeMoss and others. I was reading in chapter 4 of the book and the subject matter was the kingdom of man vs. the kingdom of God. Looking back I realize that should have spent my extra time reading the passage Mark was going to teach on, but as you will see God spoke through what I did read.
9:30 am/Sunday school: Mark is teaching and I am silently praising God because He has given him words and his headache has receded a bit. It is a good lesson. I am thankful. I am also sitting in amazement because God is speaking…at least to me. Guess what Acts 28:23-31 is about? Yes! So amazing! Or maybe not. Just God. Exactly what I’d read about in those few minutes before we left for church. Of course! Paul preaching about the kingdom of God in Rome. So what do you think the main part of Mark’s lesson was about? Yes! The kingdom of man vs. the kingdom of God. Wake up O sleeper and see. Precious.
Marvel. Amazed. Blessed. Grace. Gift. Precious. These are the words that best described how I felt that morning and still feel. God is so good.
When they had appointed a day for him, they came to him at his lodging in greater numbers. From morning till evening he expounded to them, testifying to the kingdom of God and trying to convince them about Jesus both from the Law of Moses and from the Prophets. -Acts 28:23
To follow Him we must give up our own kingdoms - whether relationships, wealth, or power - and embrace God’s kingdom. -Hettinga
In all of life, it’s important to recognize that there are always two stories going on at the same time - two perspectives, two worldviews, two ways of looking at life. There’s the drama that you can see, and then there’s the drama behind the drama. There’s the obvious plot, as well as the plot beneath the plot. The first plot is the visible, human one - the drama taking place on earth. We might call this the kingdom of man,…Backlighting the human plot and story is a heavenly drama, an unseen story that’s always going on behind the scenes in the spiritual realm. It is the Kingdom of God, overshadowing and outdistancing the kingdom of man as God fulfills His eternal purposes through the events on earth. …Therefore, we as true women, playing out our individual roles in the story of our times, must keep our eyes on what is unseen, knowing that what our God is doing in the background is higher, broader, and more eternal than anything we can see with our natural sight. -Nancy Leigh DeMoss
Please believe me when I say that the wondrous acts of God are not limited to by-gone days. Our powerful, redeeming God is alive; He has not abdicated His throne; He is intent on displaying His glory in our world. And our minds cannot fathom all that He is able to do in and through the lives of those who trust in Him. - Nancy Leight DeMoss
P.S. Mark is still suffering from almost non-stop headaches and they are wearing him down mentally and physically. Your prayers are appreciated.
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