I have a guest blogger today! đ Actually, two of them. My friends, Tom and Pat Hall, have followed our journey and stuck by us through thick and thin. They are true friends.
Tom has recently received his Bachelor’s degree in Religion. He taught at the Wednesday night services at their church this past summer.
Pat has been a great encourager during some of our toughest times of living by faith and wondering what in the world was going on.
Tom did a teaching on faith at their church, and Pat emailed me parts of it to cheer me on. Many of the verses he brought out were the ones that helped me make it through the dark days of not knowing what was going to happen, and the seeming victory that satan was winning over us. We made it through the struggles of doubt and discouragement through the encouragement we found in God’s word and through the faithful few who saw that God really did have His hand on us and was directing our steps.
I hope that this teaching will encourage someone today who wonders what God is doing or where He is in the middle of their storm.
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Here is the teaching on faith:
Tom started his study with a quote from George Mueller:
âFaith does not operate in the realm of the possible. There is no glory for God in that which is humanly possible. Faith begins where manâs power ends.â
What an awesome thought, and itâs true!
Tom asked the congregation: If God is so powerful, then why do we even need to have faith?
Then he read some parts of Hebrews 11 to usâŚ
âNow faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.â
âThrough faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of GodâŚâ
âBy faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than CainâŚâ
âBy faith Enoch was translated that he should not see deathâŚâ
âBut without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.â
âBy faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an arkâŚâ
âBy faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a placeâŚobeyedâŚâ
âBy faith he sojourned in the land of promiseâŚâ
âThrough faith also Sara herself received strength to conceiveâŚâ
âThese all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced themâŚâ
âBy faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up IsaacâŚâ
âBy faith Isaac blessed Jacob and EsauâŚâ
âBy faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed both the sons of JosephâŚâ
âBy faith Joseph, when he died, made mention of the departing of the children of IsraelâŚâ
âBy faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months of his parentsâŚâ
âBy faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaohâs daughterâ
âBy faith he forsook EgyptâŚâ
âThrough faith he kept the PassoverâŚâ
âBy faith they passed through the Red SeaâŚâ
âBy faith the walls of Jericho fell downâŚâ
âBy faith the harlot Rahab perished notâŚâ
I am just going to go on now and make some statements which were in Tomâs notesâŚ
The believer must live day by day with a constant sense that Jesus is aliveâwe do not serve a dead God
No other religious leader can compare to Christânothing the world can offer can compare to Christ
He is looking after His affairsâand He can be relied upon in any situation
How did Jesus, our model of faith, teach us about faith?
19 of Christâs miracles give instruction on faithâwhy would He use so many miracles to instruct on faith?
Faith must grow because weak faith does not please the Lordâremember Hebrews 11:6?
Tom then gave a short illustration on growing faithâhe had discussed a story he read about the suspension bridge that spans the Niagara. First, they attached a thin thread to a kite and sent both across to the other side on the wind. Then, by using the thread, a heavier string was attached and pulled across. Then a heavier one and so on until they sent a rope and finally the first cable. Growing faith can be like that, too. Sometimes it happens in steps.
Jesus condemned weak faith in His disciples 3 timesâ
When he stilled the storm on the Sea of Galilee, when Peter walked on the water, and when the disciples failed to heal the demon possessed boy
And Jesus was grieved when His disciples showed a lack of confidence in Himâbut he didnât simply condemn the weakness in His disciplesâHe did something about it
He used miracles to build the discipleâs faithâif you have ever had a prayer answered that could be answered by no one but Christ or Christ moving a person to action on your behalf, then you have experienced a miracleâ
Jesus performed His first miracle at the wedding feast in Cana where He turned water into wineâthe miracle was designed to build the faith of His new disciplesâŚand it did
Faith building continued throughout Jesusâ ministryâjust a month before His death, Jesus was still working at building faith
Lazarus had died, and his sisters were full of sorrow. They asked for Jesus to come. He could have come sooner, but he didnât. He didnât come before Lazarus died. But, He did come and not just to console them in their sorrow. What did Jesus do? Was it the 9th inning or was it after the game looked like it was over? Jesus performed a miracle that would strengthen their faith in Him. He raised Lazarus from the dead.
The Gospels record 3 times where Jesusâ miracles resulted in saving faithâ
A man born blind received both physical and spiritual sight. The Gadaran man delivered from the demon went out preaching about Jesus after he was freed and saved. One out of ten lepers came back to thank Christ, and Jesus told him to go on his way because his faith had made him whole.
Read Ephesians 6:16, and take the shield of faith to quench the fiery darts of the wicked!
The Greek word for faith in verse 16 is âpistisââit is the foundational faith in a God Who will protect!
The God of creation is still at work in the individual lives of His children!
Christ appeared to His disciples several times after His resurrectionâ
Once he appeared just to speak with Thomas who had said that he would not believe until he could put a finger into Christâs wounds. He performed a miracle to build that one manâs faith which would serve to build the faith of generations to come.
Faith is believing without seeing!
Read Matthew 8: 5 â 13.
The servant of the centurion was being tortured by an extremely painful paralysisâhe was nearing death. Christ offered to come and heal the man. What was the centurionâs response? He believed in the power of the spoken word of Christ because he knew Jesus had the authority to back up His words. He understood that Jesusâ authority transcends time, space, illness, flesh, life, and death. He expressed belief without seeing. Think about the fact that this manâs faith is recorded in the Bible for all generations to read about!
Persevering faith looks past obstacles and continues to ask until the Lord respondsâ
Think about the woman with the issue of blood. She had suffered from her disease for 12 long years. She was considered unclean and could not participate in religious ritualsâimagine not being welcomed at church because of a disease. She fought through the crowd just to touch the hem of Jesusâ garmentâŚjust the hemâŚbelieving she would be healed. Notice how Jesus addresses herâŚâDaughterââsweet and loving words to a woman who had been cast aside by society. He showed she was a person with dignityâŚwith great value.
Jesus revealed that He is more than just a miracle worker. After all, do you want someone to love you just because of what you can do for them or because of who you are to them? God has a heart, too! He is the Lord of Creation, the Great Healer, the Savior of HumanityâŚand He proved it by taking time out to claim this woman as His own. He is the Lover of our soul.
Another example of persevering faith can be found in Matthew 15: 21 â 28.
This mother of a non-Jewish girl came to get help for her demon-possessed daughter. The disciples did not want to help her because she was not Jewish. Jesus agreedâHe came to the Jews first and to the Gentiles secondâŚPeter was apostle to the JewsâŚPaul was apostle to the Gentiles. Some ministries have to take priority at certain times. But she pursued Christ in faith, and God honors persevering faithâJesus responded to her.
Each time Tom teaches on Wednesday night, he offers a profile of someone who exhibits the particular character trait he is talking aboutâpeople arenât perfect, but Christians are supposed to shine for Christâ
So that week, Tom profiled Darlene Deibler Roseâand Iâd like to tell you a little about thatâand it really is just a tidbitâher life was so full
Her autobiography is titled âEvidence not Seenââa difficult read because of her experiences, but worth every single word.
Darlene married a man by the name of Russell Deibler and became a missionary to Papua New Guinea just before the outbreak of WWII. When the Japanese came in and conquered the area, they were extremely cruel to the missionaries that were there. they separated the men from the women and put them all to work. They lived in true concentration camps. They were beaten and starved and fed horrible things. Darleneâs husband would perish in a short amount of time. When she finally found out, the camp commander or commandant told her about it, and she could have been bitter and angry, but instead she gave her testimony to him.
Darlene lived through horrible thingsâtoo many to relate here. Suffice it to say, she offered up many prayers and many prayers were answered. Iâm certain Darlene prayed to walk out of that camp, but God doesnât always remove us from the horrid circumstancesâHe will, however, walk through them with us.
Finally Darlene was accused of being a spy. There was no evidence of such a thingâpoor Darlene didnât even know what was going on in the outside world. She was removed from the concentration camp and put into a cellblock where the occupants were condemned to die. There she was regularly tortured and beaten. But, Darlene still had faith.
She recited poems and sang songs to herselfâ(Penney, this is why your Bible work with your children is so criticalâmy praises to youâwe have to hide His words in our hearts!)
Darlene never had enough to eatâif she had anything at all, it was spoiled or contaminated with maggots, etc. One day, she was peeking out into a courtyard from her cell and was watching the native female prisoners walking around. She noticed that one of them walked over to a hedge when the guard was not looking, and someone slipped her a bunch of bananas which the prisoner hid in her dress. Darlene began to crave them, to see them in her mind, and to smell them.
She dropped to the floor and told the Lord that she didnât want a whole bunch of bananas like that woman hadâshe prayed for just a single banana. Then she did what we all sometimes do. She began to rationalize how God could get a banana into that cell. The guard wouldnât help, she thought. The interrogators wouldnât help. There was an old night watchman that might help, but she didnât want him to even think about it because she knew heâd be shot if he were caught. Sheâd run out of possibilities, but she prayed. She told the Lord there was no one there who could get a banana to herâso there was no way that He could get a banana to her. She then went on to say that she was truly grateful for the rice porridge. (By the way, the porridge was covered in flies and maggots, and yet she was truly grateful for it.) She explained to God that the bananas just looked so delicious.
Even though Darlene had experienced her own miracles, she had trouble seeing how God could get a banana through those prison walls. (Arenât we like that sometimes, too?)
Well, officers would come by the cells periodically, and the prisoners would have to get up and execute a proper bowâat a 90 degree angleâexactlyâor they would be beaten with a cane. The next day, Darlene heard officers coming, and she prayed for strength to give a proper bow.
When the door finally opened, it was her old camp commander. Sheâd undergone much cruelty in his camp, as did others. But he was smiling at her, and sheâd not seen someone smile in such a long time that she told him that seeing him was just like seeing an old friend. He observed that she was very ill and asked her what word she had for the women back at the camp. She said to tell them she was all right and was trusting in the Lord. She said they would understand and that she believed he understood, too.
When he and the other officers left, Darlene panicked. Sheâd forgotten to bow. When she heard the guard coming back, she knew it was for her. He opened the door and laid 92 bananas at her feet! She immediately apologized to God for her lack of trust.
(Then Tom read an excerpt from her bookââIn the quiet of the shadowed cell, He answered back within my heart: âThatâs what I delight to do, the exceeding abundant above anything you ask or think.â I knew in those moments that nothing is impossible to my God.â
Even those who have experienced miracles designed to strengthen their faith have sometimes struggled. Hang on! Christ lives yet! Nothing is impossible to Him!
Tomâs final words for this study: âWhen my wife and I are experiencing a particularly difficult time and we donât know how the outcome can possibly be good, we often think of Darlene Rose and we pray. For us, her story seems to put everything into perspective. We know that even when we cannot see how He can do it, Christ has always come through for usâalways! And then we look at one another, and we just say â92 bananasââ.
Penney, I know you and Gary have had â92 bananasâ moments beforeâŚand I know youâll have them againâŚso I am praying for you and cheering you on!
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I’ve left most of Pat’s personal comments in so that you could see what an encouraging friend she is. She is a wonderful writer, and I hope that some day she will have her own blog so that she can share all of her wonderful words of encouragement, wisdom and inspiration with many others.
I found a website for Darlene Deibler Rose’s ministry which she asked friends to continue for her. It is here at http://darlenerose.org/
There are testimonies and updates about a documentary that is being made based on her story. There’s a video of her actual speaking at the website. If you would like to read her book, there is ordering information there.
Penney,
Thanks for your kind words…
Some people came up to Tom after the service to ask what happened to Darlene…did she ever make it out of the prison where she was condemned to die?
Again, taking the information from her book, Tom used the next opportunity to teach to speak about her. She is a real favorite of ours in case you couldn’t tell. Darlene did get to leave the prison, but she went back to her former concentration camp. That camp was finally liberated, and she did get to visit her husband’s grave.
As she was getting ready to leave on a boat, she was thinking of two crosses on a hillside…one for her husband Russell and the other for her dear friend and mentor Dr. Robert Jaffray. She told God that she would never come back to those islands because they had robbed her of everything dear to her. She turned her head away from being able to see the island.
Then she heard the people wish her a peaceful journey…people she’d worked alongside of…people she’d loved. They raised their voices in song to her singing “God Be with You Til We Meet Again”. It was a hymn she’d sang with them, and she immediately asked God for forgiveness. She knew He had called her to be a missionary when she was just a little girl in church. She committed then and there to return one day…and she did.
Darlene died in 2004. Can you believe that, Penney? Don’t you wish we could have met her on this side of heaven? But it’s okay…for we know where we are going, and it will be a glorious day!
No one really asked about Mr. Yamaji, the camp commander, but his story is worth hearing, and Tom shared what he knew of that, too.
Darlene left knowing he’d been sentenced to death for the murder of a man he’d beaten to death. (I’m certain they could have found other charges, too.) Anyway, because of his kindness toward Darlene when she was in the prison where she was sentenced to die, he was given a life sentence of hard labor instead. He had pleaded on her behalf for her life, and God used him, an enemy, to make sure 92 bananas were delivered to Darlene.
Mr. Yamaji’s sentence of hard labor was commuted, too, and there was a report that he worked in a bicycle repair shop. He told a visiting chaplain that if he ever came into contact with anyone from the camp to tell them he was sorry.
Later Darlene had heard that Mr. Yamaji had spoken on the radio…sharing the Good News…the Gospel of Jesus Christ with the Japanese people.
Isn’t God so very good!? So very amazing!? Thankfully, His ways are not our ways.
We don’t always get the miracle we expect or pray for…remember, not everyone walked out of that concentration camp or that prison…but God always hears our prayers, and He answers them…and whether or not we understand or agree with them…His decisions are always perfect.
Just thought I’d add a few lines. Thanks for the post, Penney, and have a wonderful day!
Pat
Oops!? Did I use the right procedure to comment?? Perhaps, Penney, I do not need my own blog! Ha! Oh, well…i guess i have some learning to do!
Pat
Yes, you used the right procedure. I just get to decide whether to approve your comment or not. I did! Thank you so much. It means so much to me to have a loyal reader like you. And now you’re also a contributor to my blog! Thank you for the rest of the story too!
I have Darlene’s book and testimony on tape….but it’s been a while since I’ve listened to it…what a timely reminder! I love the 92 banana thing…was thinking about that as God fulfilled miraculously the desire of a camera and law school….but no house!? It doesn’t make sense to my understanding, but am so grateful for the reminder today that God IS in control and has me where I am for His glory, and for a greater purpose than I can even think of….in my head…now just need to get it into my heart! Thank you so much for sharing…again!