“He gives me joy … in place of sorrow; He gives me love … that casts out fear; He gives me sunshine for my shadow, And “beauty for ashes,” here.”

That is a chorus I find in one of the smaller hymn books called “Elim Choruses.”

THINKING ABOUT MY LIFE I CAN TRULY SAY THE LORD GAVE ME “‘BEAUTY FOR ASHES.”‘

CHAPTER ONE (Father)

Ashes:

First of all I want to think about my family in the east of Germany and there especially about my father, for the father is the head of the home.

My father died in WW II and I cannot remember him at all; I don’t even know exactly where he died and how he died. Total ashes, really!

Beauty:

But the Lord gave me a Christian family at the other end of the world, in New Zealand. A Christian home consists of a God – fearing Father, God – fearing Mother and God – fearing children. I am thinking here especially of my God – fearing Father in law.

Also for 13 years I worked as a missionary in Thailand. There we had a field leader from the United States of America and he was actually like a “father” to me.

And of course straight from the time when I believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, God became my heavenly Father and that is actually all that matters.

CHAPTER TWO (Home)

Ashes:

Secondly, because of WW II I had to leave my home in the east of Germany. We fled from the east of Germany to the west of Germany and ended up on a farm in the north of Germany not far from the Danish border. Total ashes, again, really!

Beauty:

But the Lord gave me a home in Thailand for 13 years, when I worked there as a missionary and then here in New Zealand, first of all in Kaikohe and now here in Kaitaia.

But of course my real home is in Heaven.

In Isaiah 61:1-3 it says, “He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, … to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion – to bestow on them the crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning.”

“Reden ist Silber, Schweigen ist Gold,” is a German saying (proverb) I remember. I am translating it into English like this: “Talking is silver, but being quiet is gold.”

Sometimes we find ourselves in a situation where we find it indeed very difficult, and I mean very difficult, to be quiet, not to open our mouth and reply something.

Have you ever been in a situation like that?

From long ago, maybe even from the time I believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, I remember reading in in the Bible Isaiah 30:15, where it says, “…, in quietness … is your strength, …”

This morning I managed not to open my mouth in a very difficult situation and keep quiet.

Should I be surprised?

No, I should be thankful that the Lord Jesus Christ is helping me to learn a very important lesson, a lesson I should have probably learned long ago.

Let’s remember that gold has more value than silver.

“The health of nations is more important than the wealth of nations, ” said Will Durant.

First of all we want to remind ourselves that there is physical health and that there is also spiritual health.

PHYSICAL HEALTH

Our local paper is reporting recently that one doctor succumbed to burn – out, because of the shortage of General Practitioners. We are also reading that newcomers to our area, the Far North of New Zealand, are told, that no surgery will enroll them.

“HEALTH [PHYSICAL HEALTH] ISN’T EVERYTHING, BUT WITHOUT IT EVERYTHING IS NOTHING!” – Dr. Hans Diehl

SPIRITUAL HEALTH

Fewer …

That we have 13% fewer adults, 22% fewer teens, 26% fewer children in our churches compared to a decade ago reported the New Zealand Baptist statistician not long ago. And she reported also that less than 10 children are recorded in 30% of the Baptist Churches in New Zealand.

Let us remind ourselves again also that SPIRITUAL HEALTH is more important than PHYSICAL health.

“But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.” – Genesis 45:7

“And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you.” – Genesis 45:5

“An Gottes Segen ist alles gelegen,” is a saying, a proverb, I remember from Germany. It even rhymes and I translate the proverb like this: “Without the blessing of the Lord everything is nothing.”

And not long ago I found out in a special way that that is really true.

There is a Bible verse hanging on the wall in the room where I am usually working in. The framed verse is really old. If I remember correctly I saw the verse for the first time in a dwelling in Auckland. That must have also been the place where I took the picture at the top of this post. I have also been told that someone wrote this verse for someone as a birthday present. It was the twenty first birthday of someone. And that was about 80 years ago.

The framed verse has been hanging on the wall in my room for quite some time now, but it is not many days ago that the Lord really blessed me by looking at the framed verse and reading it. And what a blessing it is. I have memorized the verse and can easily find it in the Bible. Here is the verse in modern English:

“YOU WILL KEEP IN PERFECT PEACE HIM WHOSE MIND IS STEADFAST, BECAUSE HE TRUSTS IN YOU.” – Isaiah 26:3