Over a year ago I wrote my brother a letter. For awhile we were on a letter-writing spree, and this letter was simply a response to one of his. Nothing too out of the ordinary…
Yet something felt different about this one. I don’t usually save copies of the letters I write, but for some reason I wanted to save a copy of that one. I really felt like I had expressed my heart well in that letter, and I wanted to share it with others. But I felt like God was telling me that wasn’t a good idea. This letter was for my brother, not the world. Right?
So I took a picture of the letter, slipped the letter into an envelope, stuck the envelope in my brother’s Bible, and didn’t think too much more about it. Life went on.
Then, a couple of months ago, this same brother got up to speak at my graduation ceremony. As he was talking, I saw him pull a familiar red envelope out of his pocket, and instantly I knew what he was about to do. Oh, my gracious.
I think I bawled through the whole thing.
It was incredible to see how God had taken a simple letter, said no to my first impulse to share it, and then a year later brought it before many dear people. It was a huge blessing to me and a reminder of God’s beautiful, beautiful timing. I was thrilled.
But God wasn’t done yet.
One of my aunts asked for a copy of the letter, and my uncle shared it in a sermon. Then the sermon got circulated by family members. My letter was reaching people I had never seen.
Do not underestimate God.
He will take the simplest thing and use it in the most unimaginable way.
I wanted to share this letter with you today, because I keep coming back to it and being convicted. As the author, I feel a responsibility to be living out and exemplifying the principles I’ve laid out here… and I constantly need to be reminded of them.
This letter is reminding me to bring my focus back to the right place – and I hope it does the same for you.
The excellency of the power is certainly of God, not us. The more I live, the more I realize how desperately sinful I am. Any good that comes of anything touching my life is certainly of God. He is so, SO worthy of our praise! He has loved me with a love that I simply cannot fathom. He truly must increase as I myself decrease.
More and more God shows me that He wants my priority to be my relationship with Him – not even evangelism, relationships with others, or any other sort of good works. Those will flow from my relationship with Him. He looks at the heart, and if all my feeble attempts to serve Him don’t come from an earnest desire for Him, they are filthy rags to Him.
It is so, SO important to guard our relationship with Him from all that threatens to destroy – even if it means we are called radicals. This love is more than deserving of radical defense. It demands our souls, our lives, our ALL. It calls for action.
Are we acting?
Laurel Luehmann 
This was an amazing true story! And the letter is encouraging! Thank you for sharing. ❤
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I’m so glad it was a blessing, Leona!
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Amazing story and very inspiring….I think writing letters to others can really do amazing things. And I love how God uses the randomnest things we don’t think about, for the most wonderful…
A couple years ago – I think when I was around 9 or 10 – I wrote a letter to one of the dads in our church. He really loved and served God and I loved to write letters, so we wrote back and forth. And one day, I wrote something about how beautiful it was to hear the birds chirping and singing outside…
Well, the day he got the letter, was a day that he was really struggling with hearing all the foul language and words spoken by his fellow co-workers. And he read my letter and just felt lead to go outside and hear the birds chirp….Apparently that letter I wrote, when I was so young then, really helped him to focus on God and His creation, rather than the things man does.
I could name lots of other experiences I’ve had, with writing letters. But that’s one of my very favorites and I thought I’d share.
I think it’s really, really important that we constantly be living for God and when we FEEL lead to do something, to follow through with it. Because to do otherwise, is disobedience…
Again, lovely post! Pardon my long comment…I tend to write long ones. 😉
Have a wonderful day. Keep up the good work. I’ve followed your blog and I know I won’t regret it. 🙂
-Keziah ❤
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Oh, thank you so much, Keziah!
That is an incredible story… I love how God gives people just the perfect words to write, and delivers them to someone at just the right time. I’ve experienced this so many times… God is truly amazing!
Thank you for that reminder… it’s easy to SAY we’re living for God, but sadly our lives often say otherwise. I really needed that reminder today, so thank you. 🙂
No problem with the long comment… I’m in the same boat, obviously! 🙂 It was great to hear a piece of your heart. Thanks for following!
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Yes!! It truly is quite amazing. Our God is so wonderful. ❤
Have a lovely day. 🙂
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You, too! 🙂
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So beautiful. Thank you for being willing to share your heart with us, Laurel. God bless you! ❤
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Thank you so much, Tori!
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That is an awesome story and the letter is very inspiring. Thank you for sharing. =)
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