A ROCKY FOUNDATION

  In the eleventh century, King Henry III of Bavaria grew tired of court life and the pressures of being a monarch. He made application at a local monastery, asking to be accepted as a monk and spend the rest of his life in the monastery. “Your Majesty,” said the leader, “do you understand that the pledge here is one of obedience? That will be hard because you have been a king.”   “I understand,” said Henry. “The rest of my life I will be obedient to you, as Christ leads you.” “Then I will tell you what to do,” said the leader. “Go back to your throne and serve faithfully in the place where God has put you.” The King went back and bloomed where he was planted. When he died, a statement was written: “The King learned to rule by being obedient.” Acts 9:36-38 says, “   In Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (in Greek her name is Dorcas); she was always doing good and helping the poor. About that time she became sick and died, and her body was washed and placed in...

  Dr. Eric McLaughlin was a missionary doctor in Burundi. After years of watching one out of seven of his patients die, it was hard for him to hold onto hope. He wrote, “I fear to hope sometimes. My recent weeks have been filled with tragedies. There have been several times when it seemed like someone was going to recover only to suddenly die. ‘Hope deferred makes the heart sick,’ says Proverbs 13:12. Exactly; my heart was sick.” Later he told someone the story of Odette, a young woman who was hospitalized with severe kidney failure. Odette’s family pooled their money to send her to a kidney specialist in the city. Long-term dialysis was not an option, so Dr. McLaughlin wondered if such an expense trip would change anything for her. Amid his lament and doubt, his phone chimed in. It was a message from his former student and coworker, who was now working at a hospital in the city.   He wrote, “Good morning doctor. I want to let you know that we have been caring for Odette...