Glory Awaits!

October 2023

God's Amazing Providence

[Paul and Barnabus] returned…, strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.
Acts 14:21–22

God promised David a kingdom.

Samuel secretly anointed David king when David was around 15. But David’s path to the crown didn’t go as smoothly as he likely hoped and prayed. I’m sure when David later killed Goliath, he thought the reward of marrying the king’s daughter would be an easy step to the monarchy.

But King Saul reneged on his promise, became jealous of David, falsely accused him of treason, and tried to kill him.

As David fled Saul, God answered some of his prayers; for example, putting Saul and his guards into a deep sleep while David and his nephew grabbed Saul’s spear so David could again prove Saul’s accusations were lies. But he didn’t answer all his prayers as quickly or as easily as he would have liked. Thus he asked, “O men, how long shall my honor be turned into shame? How long will you love vain words and seek after lies?” (Psalm 4:2).

Still, David stayed faithful to God as he waited 15 long years.

Then in God’s amazing providence, Saul died on the battlefield and the people crowned David king at age 30. What a wonderful reminder that God doesn’t always answer prayers the way we hope, but he does complete his plan for us. God is in charge.

The last few weeks have seemed like we’re walking a path similar to David’s.

God has answered some of our prayers in wonderful ways. For example, last week we had an appointment from 2:00 to 3:00 at Cedars-Sinai 66 miles away. The doctor had been late to every appointment we’d had with him so far, and departing Los Angeles after 3:00 could leave us stuck in traffic for hours and cause us to miss our church small group meeting that evening.

So we prayed that the doctor would see us early. We arrived 30 minutes before our appointment. They took us within minutes! We left at 2:09 and were home by 4:30—plenty of time to eat and make our meeting.

It was another example of God’s providence. He knew ahead of time what we would pray, and he arranged the affairs of Southern California to grant our request.

These answers to smaller prayers pile up and assure our hearts when God answers a request with No or Wait.

We had some No and Wait answers the last few weeks too. But with all God’s done for us both, we know he’s trustworthy. Like David we’ll stay faithful and trust in his goodness and love.

After all, God’s promised us a kingdom too.

Your Insider Look at Last Month's Writing Results

Clay and I submitted our proposal for “How Does God Use Suffering?” to two publishers this week. Hooray!

When we started working on this book, Clay didn’t want to use a shared folder but preferred each of us emailing updated files to each other. But last week he accidentally edited an old version of a chapter. Yikes! Now we’re using a shared folder.

Meanwhile, I’m also working on a short story to help you look to the glory that awaits. It’s one I began years ago but put aside because it lacked oomph. I’ve been reading The Anatomy of a Story and am using its lessons to rework the story. It’s improving.

Valuable New Resources to Energize Bible Reading and Leading

Super Bonus Bundles and Bonus Bundles

To help you energize your Bible reading, engage with Scripture, and lead small groups more easily, I’ve created Bonus Bundles and Super Bonus Bundles for all five books in the Discovering the Bible series. They include leader guides, charts, timelines, and many other resources. Find links to them here: https://www.jeanejones.net/resources/.

"Get Wisdom" Bible Plan

You need wisdom daily to navigate tricky situations. This short 5-day plan looks to Proverbs to find wisdom. You’ll discover how to read Proverbs, who the righteous are, what the fear of the Lord is, and several sources of wisdom in my latest Bible plan, “Get Wisdom.” To read it if you have the Bible app pictured here, open the app and search on “Jean E. Jones.” If you don’t have the app, click here:

"Get Wisdom" Bible Plan

A Quick Look at What Happened in the Jones House

Thanks for all your prayers. The sponsor for a clinical trial has approved Clay entering the screening portion of the trial. They’re now screening for any medical problems that would disqualify him. We’ve hit a few bumps that doctors are hoping to resolve so Clay can proceed in the trial. Namely, Clay’s last echocardiogram showed a problem. His cardiologist changed his medication and scheduled another echocardiogram for Monday. Clay will see his other cardiologist Friday. Please pray that the heart issue resolves and that Clay qualifies for the clinical trial if it’ll be good for him.

Practical Fun Things to Make You Happy

Terrific Reads

This is heart-warming, uplifting, and theologically rich. Seasons of Sorrow will help both those who are working through sorrow and those who are comforting others. Pastor and theologian Challies chronicles working through his grief during the first year of loss. I heartily recommend it.

Seasons of Sorrow: The Pain of Loss and the Comfort of God by Tim Challies

If you’re looking for something to relax and charm you, try these delightful stories about a country veterinarian. The novel is based on James Herriot’s life and is the second of four books in the “All Creatures Great and Small” series.

All Things Bright and Beautiful by James Herriot

Your Thoughts

Now that the pandemic is over, how important are the videos that go with the Discovering series of books? Please click Reply and let me know on a scale of 1-5, with