Do you know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Saviour? If you do, you have a wonderful God and Father who cares for you and provides everything you need everyday. He can use you in blessing to others and even make those things to also be a blessing to you in the future. The Bible says, “He that watereth shall be watered also himself” (Proverbs 11:2525The liberal soul shall be made fat: and he that watereth shall be watered also himself. (Proverbs 11:25)). The following story will illustrate the joy of knowing the Lord and sowing the “good seed,” which is the living Word of God.
You may have read the story a few weeks ago about a man named Garvin Seymour from Dickson Village, Saint Vincent. He was a teacher and also the school principle. You will remember that he used to walk sixteen miles every Sunday afternoon from his home village to the village of Fancy where he taught in the school there. Then Friday after school he walked those same sixteen miles back to his home and family. Those thirty-two miles were over a rough, mountainous, coastal road. Part of the way he traveled after dark and had to use his flashlight to see where the twisty road turned, so he wouldn’t fall over the edge.
One Sunday afternoon as he headed back to Fancy after spending the weekend with His family, he was feeling rather sad and depressed as he started out for the long walk. There were really four reasons why he felt this way: first, the long walk alone that he knew was ahead of him, knowing that it would be dark before he got there; second, he was asking the Lord, “Why me?” as he started out; third, the physical strain of the sixteen-mile walk; fourth, the fact that he had to leave his wife and family again.
However, he knew he had to do it and had said goodbye to his family and headed down the road. The miles seemed to be longer than usual, as he trudged up and down the mountains and around the curves. He finally reached the village of Owia, crossed a small river, and was thankful that it wasn’t dark yet. He still had several miles to go, when suddenly he realized how hungry he was. Usually Mr. Seymour carried some food with him, but for some reason there was nothing to eat in his bag this time. He wasn’t worried though, because he knew that just ahead at the three-way spilt in the road there was a small store that carried snacks and fruit drinks. So he felt better and hurried along, but when he reached the store, he found, to his disappointment, there was nothing there to eat! (Remember this happened many years ago when stores were not as well stocked as they are in Saint Vincent today. This was an isolated area of the island.)
By this time, Mr. Seymour was very hungry and more weary and discouraged than ever. There was nothing he could do but start up the next hill and hope that the store about halfway up had something to eat and drink. To his dismay, it was the same story ... nothing to eat or drink! By now Mr. Seymour was really hungry and very thirsty. He looked up the hill and prayed that the last shop at the top of that long, steep hill would have something—anything! Even just some dry bread or biscuits! Up, up he climbed. It seemed like every limb in his body ached and that his legs would give out from under him. His stomach growled and his throat was dry. How thankful he was to finally make it to the shop and find that they had some buns and some fruit drink.
As he sat on a bench in the shop eating and drinking and still wondering why the Lord allowed such things in his life, he looked up and saw a Bible verse on the wall. Here is what it said:
This verse really spoke to Mr. Seymour, because it was the living Word of God. It reminded him that he had a God and Father who loved him, had saved him, and was caring for him everyday. And then he remembered that he himself had distributed several of these cards with that verse on it some months earlier in that village. Now God was using the very verse that he had given to the shop owner to encourage him and speak to his heart. It reminded him of this Bible verse: “Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days” (Ecclesiastes 11:11Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days. (Ecclesiastes 11:1)).
He bowed his head and thanked his heavenly Father that His care never stops. He went on the rest of his journey, no longer hungry and thirsty and with a song of thanksgiving in his heart.
ML-07/08/2012