You Can Enjoy the Best Wine

 

Arthur and Wilda Matthews were missionaries in China when the country was overtaken by Communism. Other missionaries were allowed to leave, but they and their small daughter were left alone with barely enough money to survive. Their clothes grew ragged, and their food supply became so poor that even the Chinese felt pity.

For months they prayed earnestly for release and claimed God's promises for deliverance. But this "claiming" only wore them out and made them restless.

Then one day it occurred to Arthur that Jesus had left heaven, not just to fulfill the will of God, but also to delight in doing what His Father wanted. Up to now they had not really submitted. Instead, they thought they should be claiming His promises. Their prayers had selfishly centered around shortening their days in China.
They knelt before the Lord and joyfully abandoned themselves to do His will. They would gladly stay in that little room as long as He wished them to.

The peace of God poured in like a flood. Arthur wrote to people who had been praying for their release and quoted the words, "Thou hast kept the best wine till now." Arthur and Wilda began to cry with the psalmist, "I delight to do thy will, O my God" (Psalm 40:8 KJV).

In the following days, the Matthews never lost the peace that came with joyfully abandoning themselves to God's will. It is not just in doing God's will, but in delighting in doing His will, that we have the "best wine."

Thank You, dear Jesus, for the joy You give to those who obey You with all their hearts!

"Praise the LORD! Happy are those who fear the LORD. Yes, happy are those who delight in doing what he commands" (Psalm 112:1 NLT).

Aletha

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