Psalm 27:6- And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me; therefore I will offer sacrifices of joy in His tabernacle; I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the Lord. NKJV
onlineexhibits.library.yale.edu
February has come to an end, and with it, so are my posts on Black History. Although, I believe that the historical accounts of America have Blacks interwoven in them and therefore, our American history, is Black history!
Having said that, I thought it fitting to end with the Black National Anthem, “Lift Every Voice and Sing!” If you don’t know the song or the words, know that you are not alone. Many people, even Blacks, are unfamiliar with the song that we claim as our national anthem. I guess that is equally true for the American national anthem.
But I know them both, and my focus today is the Black National Anthem. It was written in 1900 by James W. Johnson in honor of President Abraham Lincoln and set to music by his brother John R. Johnson. It was then taught to a Black chorus of 500 students who sang the song at an assembly. The first performance was on February 12, 1900.
The school was burned down and the brothers moved to New York to try their hand at showbiz. The students who originally learned the song taught it to other people, and the song was passed around the South. By 1910, the song was well-known amongst Blacks as the National Negro Hymn. In 1919, the NAACP, of which James Johnson was a member, claimed the song as their official anthem.
Lift Every Voice and Sing was sung in Black churches across America, in schools, at graduation, and at civic organizations meetings. It was sung during meetings about the Montgomery Bus Boycott. It was sung on marches! It was quoted in speeches! It became a song of hope! A song of resistance! A song of Black pride and relevance! It is the Black National Anthem!
And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me; therefore I will offer sacrifices of joy in His tabernacle; I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the Lord.
Psalm 27:6 NKJV
I hope you enjoy one of my favorite renditions of this powerful song by Tasha Cobbs! Wonderful Jesus!
Jeremiah 20:9- Then I said, “I will not make mention of Him, nor speak anymore in His name.” But His word was in my heart like a burning fire shut up in my bones; I was weary of holding it back, and I could not. NKJV
Jeremiah is one of my favorite prophets in the Old Testament. He seems so real, so human. The experiences he wrote about would make someone wonder if he really had a relationship with God since people are prone to believe that trouble means God has forsaken you. But such was not the case!
Jeremiah experienced many attacks as he declared the word of God. Although he was anointed by God as a prophet to the nations, there are no known miracles attributed to him. He wasn’t accepted by the people or the leadership. He was put in a pit and later locked away. Things got so bad, Jeremiah said that he just wasn’t going to say anything else that God told him to say! Things were rough!
Jeremiah came to the point where he said that he didn’t want to make mention of God anymore. He even said that he didn’t want to speak in His Name! But try as he did, he couldn’t help himself! God’s word was like fire in his bones and he just had to share it!
Julia Foote knew some of what Jeremiah was talking about. Born in Schenectady, New York in 1823 to former slaves. Julia was raised in a godly home and from an early age had a sensitivity to the things of God. Wanting to read the Bible for herself, she asked her father to teach her to read, but because he was not a proficient reader, he agreed to send her to live with another family so that she could go to school.
I believed that if I were educated, God could make me understand what I needed; for in spite of what others said, it would come to me, now and then, that I needed something more than what I had…
Julia Foote, A Brand Plucked From Fire
While living with the other family, Julia was accused of stealing and was beaten. Although she adamantly denied stealing, the family didn’t believe her. This led Julia to turn her face from God and towards the world. When she returned home, she was no longer interested in the things of God. One night, while attending a dance, she reported that she felt the power of God so strongly, she believed she might have died on the spot if she didn’t quit dancing.
When Julia was 15 years old, she heard a sermon that caused her to give her heart to God, declaring that she was wonderfully saved from hell. The hunger for God’s word returned to Julia and she began studying the word at every opportunity so that she might understand it better, but she still felt burdened with sin. Julia said that she went to every spiritual leader that she knew to get an answer to her spiritual dilemma, but they all told her that what she was experiencing was a normal part of the Christian life.
I can relate to this part of her testimony, for as a young teen, I too hungered for God and was told that God didn’t expect us to really live out everything that was in the bible or to completely understand it. I didn’t believe that, and neither did Julia!
There came to our church an old man and his wife, who, when speaking in meeting, told of the trouble they once had had in trying to overcome their temper, subdue their pride, etc. But they took all to Jesus, believing His blood could wash them clean and sanctify then wholly…Their words thrilled me through and through…I needed a Philip to teach me.
Julia Foote, A Brand Plucked From the Fire
Julia continued to search for the truth of God’s word, and one day she visited with a couple whom her church associates warned her to stay away from. It was while talking with them that she learned about the doctrine of sanctification. When she visited a second time, she experienced “the weight of glory resting” upon her. Her prayers had been answered and through faith, she experienced her Savior as she had believed that she could! She became a new person! It sounds like she was filled with His Holy Spirit!
A few years later, Julia married George Foote, and together they moved to Boston. While in Boston they began attending the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church. George was a sailor and spent a lot of time away from Julia, during which time she devoted herself to service for the Lord.
“God is holy, and if I would enjoy constant communion with Him I must guard every avenue of my soul, and watch every thought of my heart and word of my tongue, that I may be blameless before him in love.”
Julia Foote, A Brand Plucked From the Fire
Julia began to believe that God had called her to preach the word, but she didn’t believe in women preachers. After much struggling to resist the call on her life, she yielded to the will of God. At this point, she began to experience persecution from the pastor and was kicked out of the fellowship. Once Julia had decided to respond to the call on her life, she walked through every door that was opened before in spite of the attacks against her.
Julia’s father and husband died while she was experiencing some of her toughest challenges. But she continued on with the work of the Lord. Julia shared an experience she had in one of her meetings where the power of the Holy Ghost fell in their midst and people were moved to prayer and tears. Many souls were saved as a result of that night and many other services in which she allowed God to use her.
Julia was a role model for other Black women who believed that God had called them to preach His word. Traveling throughout the United States and Canada for over 50 years, she was actively engaged in ministry until her death at age 78. Her message was simple, God sanctifies us and calls us to holiness after He saves us. Wonderful Savior!
Julia died in 1901, long before I was born. As a Black female minister, I am grateful for her service and passion for the kingdom of God. This may not be last that we hear of Julia Foote, and it most certainly isn’t the last that I will read of her, for tonight I have been inspired by this woman who dared to answer the call of God even when it was not popular or acceptable for her to do so! That’s the power of having the fire of God in your heart, for when you do, you cannot hold your peace! Wonderful Jesus!
Galatians 6:9 – And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. NKJV
Most Americans think of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks, or Malcolm X when they think of the civil rights movement in America. While their contributions were of the utmost importance in the fight for social justice, others worked just as diligently to see Blacks participate in the lifestyle guaranteed to every American through the Constitution of the United States. Thurgood Marshall, born Thoroughgood Marshall, was one of those people, and someone worth talking about.
Marshall graduated from Lincoln University in Pennsylvania, with honors, in 1930. He applied to the University of Maryland’s Law School but was rejected because of the color of his skin. Marshall then applied to and attended Howard University’s Law School, ranking first in his class upon graduation. Marshall’s mentor and lifelong friend, Charles Hamilton Houston, challenged him to be more than a lawyer, to be a vehicle for social change.
The first resistance to social change is to say it’s not necessary.
Gloria Steinem
Many felt that all was well with America and that we shouldn’t stir things up. But that wasn’t true for Blacks in America and Thurgood Marshall knew it! One of the first cases that Marshall won had to have brought him great satisfaction since he won a case against the University of Maryland. In Murray v Pearson (1935), Marshall filed a suit against the University of Maryland for denying admittance to a black student. His argument was based on the 14th amendment which guaranteed every American equal protection of the laws. This was the same law school that had once denied him entrance for the same exact reason.
As a lawyer for the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People), Marshall’s fight for civil rights was handled in the courtroom. Some thought him too passive and was unimpressed with what they considered a tortoise’ pace toward freedoms for Black people. But Marshall felt it was imperative for laws in America to be changed so that lives could change for his people.
Steadily working through the court system for the rights of Black Americans, Marshall was primed for the Brown vs Board of Education in 1954. Arguing successfully before the Supreme Court, Marshall stated that the government-backed position, held in high esteem since Plessy vs Ferguson, to maintain a “separate but equal” status in regards to Blacks was unconstitutional. He also argued that the viewpoint of separate but equal was detrimental to the self-esteem and social well-being of Black children in our nation. When asked by Justice Felix Frankfurter what equal meant to him, Marshall replied:
“Equal means getting the same thing, at the same time, and in the same place.”
Thurgood Marshall
This victory opened the doors for Blacks across America to attend schools that had been barred to them for years. The fight wasn’t over, and in Little Rock, Arkansas, Marshall was front and center fighting for the Little Rock Nine. Although Arkansas understood the law, they refused to adhere to it, so Marshall was back in court fighting for the immediate integration of the schools that were already three years behind the Supreme Court’s ruling. He won!
“The world changes according to the way people see it, and if you can alter, even by a millimeter, the way people look at reality, then you can change the world.”
James Baldwin
When Dr. King came along with his non-violent protests, many felt that everyone should join the protests and leave the other means of fighting for civil rights alone. Not Marshall! As a matter of fact, he became instrumental in getting Blacks out of jail after the Montgomery Bus Boycott! And even getting Dr. King out of jail! Marshall fought for voting rights and equal pay. Oftentimes his cases placed him in a position where he received threats of bodily harm. But he kept defending those who needed someone to fight for their civil rights. He fought in the way that God had prepared and gifted him to fight!
Many believed that King and Marshall were at odds! And in some cases, they probably were at odds! But the most important thing to remember is that they both fought for the rights of Blacks, using the gifts and callings that were upon their lives. They were on the same side fighting for change in America.
The bible reminds us that all change is not easy, nor will it always come quickly:
And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart
Galatians 6:9 NKJV
But the same verse tells us that we will reap in due season if we do not lose heart.
Marshall won 29 of the 32 cases that he argued before the Supreme Court. At one point, it is said that he oversaw 450 civil rights cases simultaneously! That’s hard work! Then many years later, in 1967, President Johnson nominated him to the Supreme Court. This was something that Dr. King wanted to see and was able to witness before being assassinated in 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee.
“Where you see wrong or inequality or injustice, speak out, because this is your country. This is your democracy. Make it. Protect it. Pass it on.”
Thurgood Marshall
Thurgood Marshall did not see all that was in his heart, any more than Dr. King had the chance to see his dreams come to fulfillment. But he fought against injustice and equality in the legal system with all that he had within him. Marshall died in 1993, having been named the Great Dissenter because even though he was a Supreme Court Justice, he was often on a side opposite to those he served with.
“I wish I could say that racism and prejudice were only distant memories. We must dissent from the indifference. We must dissent from the apathy. We must dissent from the fear, the hatred and the mistrust…We must dissent because America can do better, because America has no choice but to do better.”
Thurgood Marshall
Thirty years later, we are still reciting the same mantra as Thurgood Marshall, “America can do better because America has no choice but to do better.”
Some days it seems that our fight for social change will never happen. Even as believers, we look at the work of evangelism before us, and it feels like it will never be enough! Social change must happen legally, but it must also happen spiritually for there to be long-lasting change!
We cannot afford to give up on our responsibilities as citizens of the kingdom. As we push back the kingdom of darkness to expand the Kingdom of God, it brings about social change. As we see the wrong in America, we must fight to make it right because this is our democracy! If we are doing the spiritual battle correctly, the other should fall in place. But if it doesn’t, then we have a responsibility to let our voices be heard, and to let our actions be seen!
“A child born to a Black mother in a state like Mississippi… has exactly the same rights as a white baby born to the wealthiest person in the United States. It’s not true, but I challenge anyone to say it is not a goal worth working for.”
Thurgood Marshall
Let us not grow weary in well-doing! God Himself said that we will reap if we don’t faint! Wonderful Jesus!
1 Corinthians 10:31- Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. NKJV
Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune
During Black History month, we all tend to think of the icons of history, Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, George W. Carver, Dr. King, and Rosa Parks. And I am no different, as I have definitely written about some of them myself. However, I want to focus this blog on a woman I have heard about through the years, but just recently gotten to know through reading about her life and work, Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune.
Mary was born in Maysville, South Carolina. She was the last of her parents 17 children. The family lived in a cabin on land they had managed to purchase from their former slave owners. Mary’s family was said to have deep spiritual roots that sustained them and held the family together. Mary’s mother continued to work for her former owners to help with the purchase of the land. Accompanying her mother to the house, Mary was invited to play with the kids. Noticing the other kids reading, Mary picked up a book, but one of the girls gave her a picture book and told her that she couldn’t read.
“I thought, maybe the difference between white folks and colored is just this matter of reading and writing. I made up my mind I would know my letters.”
Mary McLeod Bethune
Mary knew then that she would learn to read. When a school opened 5 miles from her home, the family decided that Mary would be the one to attend school. She walked to and from school every single day, never missing a day of school. At age 11, she began teaching her first students, her family.
“The whole world opened to me when I learned to read.”
Mary McLeod Bethune
Mary attended Scotia Seminary, and then later Moody Bible Institute on scholarship. Mary’s heart was to become a missionary in Africa, where she could teach the people whose heritage she shared. That was not to be, because, upon graduation, she was told that no one would sponsor her to go to Africa.
“The drums of Africa still beat in my heart. They will not let me rest while there is a single Negro boy or girl without a chance to prove his worth.
Mary McLeod Bethune
Disappointed, but not defeated, Mary became a school teacher in South Carolina, where she met and married her husband. They had only one child, a son. The couple moved to Florida, where Mary sold insurance and worked in a church. Not long after that, in 1904, her marriage ended and she decided it was time to follow her dream. Mary opened a boarding school for Black girls in Daytona, Florida.
I plunged into the job of creating something from nothing…Though I hadn’t a penny left, I considered cash money as the samllest part of my resources. I had faith in a living God, faith in myself, and a desire to serve.
Mary McLeod Bethune
Opening the school was not just a dream, but a passion for Mary. She worked tirelessly to raise funds to keep the doors of her school open. Not only did she teach her girls, but she taught adults, who would in turn help around the place, give food items, animals for meat, or any assistance they could give to learn to read and write. She met her students where they were at, then taught them with all that she had.
Faith is the first factor in a life devoted to service. Without it, nothing is possible. With it, nothing is impossible.
Mary McLeod Bethune
Mary also began holding singing events at the fancy hotels in Daytona. She met wealthy people who contributed to the school, who became board members of the school, and who had influence in political settings. One of her dearest friends was Eleanor Roosevelt, wife of Franklin Roosevelt.
Mary was an educator at heart, and her drive to see young Black girls educated led to fundraising, which led to becoming an activist. As she fought for her school, she began to fight for improved healthcare for Blacks. In 1911, after seeing one of her students being turned away from the hospital, she opened her own hospital.
Mary was an activist for civil rights, fighting for women’s rights, the right for both women and Blacks to vote, and desegregation of public schools. Even when her life was threatened, she continued her efforts to fight for the rights of others.
If we accept and acquiesce in the face of discrimation, we accept the responsibility ourselves. We should, therefore, protest openly everything…that smacks of discrimination or slander.
Mary McLeod Bethune
Mary’s boarding school merged with Cookman’s all male student body to become the Bethune-Cookman Institute, and is now the Bethune-Cookman College, of which she was the first president. Today, over 4,000 students attend the Bethune-Cookman College, now a fully accredited university.
“If we have the courage and tenacity of our forebears, who stood firmly like a rock against the lash of slavery, we shall find a way to do for our day what they did for theirs.”
Mary McLeod Bethune
Mary started several organizations, including the National Council of Negro Women, which boasts a membership of over 4 million women.
“What does the Negro want? His answer is very simple. He wants only what all other Americans want. He wants opportunity to make real what the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution and the Bill of Rights say, what the Four Freedoms establish. While he knows these ideals are open to no man completely, he wants only his equal chance to obtain them.”
Mary McLeod Bethune
Mary was thrust into national attention as she headed the Bethune-Cookman College. She served as an advisor to presidents Calvin Coolidge and Herbert Hoover. President Roosevelt appointed her as an advisor to the National Youth Administrator, and then later made her director of Negro Affairs at age 61, the first Black woman to lead a federal agency.
Mary lived a life of service and commitment to God first, then to the literacy of her people. She also fought for women rights, no matter the color.
She truly exemplified the verse for today:
Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
1 Corinthians 10:31 NKJV
Everything she could do, she did! She overcame and overlooked racism when it benefitted her. When she needed to speak out, she didn’t hold her tongue. Whether she was teaching a class, leading songs, raising funds, talking on the radio, or talking with political figures of the day, she did it all as unto the Father. For His Glory! What a legacy! What a testimony! Wonderful Jesus!
In my previous post, I made mention of the grace of God being distributed to the children of Israel through His favor. Again, grace means to be favored by God or to be acceptable to Him. In the Old Testament, this definition is sufficient, but in the New Testament, we will look at a more complete description that is encapsulated in the person of Jesus Christ!
God’s favor to the children of Israel was displayed in Exodus through preferential treatment when He would not allow the plagues upon the Israelites that were on the Egyptians. Again, His favor was demonstrated in divine protection when He passed over them on the night of the Passover. His favor was seen when He told them to borrow gold and silver from the Egyptians, knowing full well that He would cancel their debt. And His favor was shown when He brought them out of 430 years of bondage to have a relationship with them in the land He had promised to Abraham.
I would be remiss to have you think that I believe that the precious grace of God is about us being loaded with material goods. It’s not far-fetched to see that His grace will bring material prosperity to our lives, but as I have already said, it is so much more!
Our key text is taken from Leviticus, and in this verse, God states that He will look on the children of Israel favorably and make them fruitful, cause them to multiply, and confirm His covenant with them. This promise was fulfilled naturally and spiritually for them, and He wants to do the same for us!
As they journeyed in the wilderness, it was evident that He caused them to increase. Formerly enslaved people were now warriors, artisans, worshippers, leaders! They multiplied as a people, multiplied in influence, and multiplied in the land. Over and over again, He fulfilled that promise to them because of His abundant grace. He chose them and set His love and favor upon them. And He hasn’t changed!
Jeremiah 32:40-41 – And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from doing them good; but I will put My fear in their hearts so that they will not depart from Me. Yes, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will assuredly plant them in this land, with all My heart and with all My soul.’ NKJV
Again, God promised His favor on His people. He said that He would make an everlasting covenant with His people and that He would not turn away from doing them good. This sounds like favor, and it sounds like God’s heart towards us. He even said that He would rejoice over His people to do them good. And if that’s not enough, He promises to plant them in the land with all of HIs heart and with all of His soul! This is some good stuff! It’s a totally different picture from the God that you probably heard about “who works in mysterious ways” or “who you never know what God will do” from religious people. For here, He promises to make an everlasting covenant of doing good to His people! And He did! That’s for another day!
In Psalms, chapter 30, David said that God’s favor is for life! (V.5) Isn’t that amazing? God promises us His favor, to do good for us, and it’s for life! David also said that God will surround us with His favor!
Psalm 5:11-12 – But let all those rejoice who put their trust in You; Let them ever shout for joy, because You defend them; Let those also who love Your name Be joyful in You. For You, O Lord, will bless the righteous; With favor You will surround him as with a shield. NKJV
When God extends His grace, it’s always abundant grace. There’s no slacking on His ability or His release of favor towards His people. He’s not stingy, nor is He withholding good things from us. Not when grace is His idea! God’s word says that His favor would surround us as a shield would surround us. That definitely sounds a lot like divine protection! I’ve seen it again and again!
Looking at the concept of grace is eye-opening. Many see grace as “carte blanche” to live life as they wish and still be okay with God. It’s not so! Neither is it a ticket to wealth and fame and living life in self-indulgence! It’s God’s deepest desire to shower His favor on our lives, starting at the door of salvation and reaching throughout eternity. We can’t earn His grace! We don’t deserve His grace! It’s not given based on our merit! It’s given as a free gift! More next time! Wonderful Jesus!
Isaiah 43:2 – When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you. NKJV
Little Rock Nine
I’m sure that you have realized by now that I am honoring individuals who make me proud. Such is the case with the individuals featured in this photo, known as the Little Rock Nine.
In our key text, Isaiah wrote:
When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you.
Isaiah 43:2 NKJV
It is possible that as he spoke these inspired words of God, he had a tiny glimpse into the lives of the three Hebrew young men: Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, better known as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
You might recall that Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, had a huge statue of himself built. On the day of his dedication he commanded his herald to announce his decree:
“To you it is commanded, O peoples,…that at the time you hear the sound of the horn… in symphony with all kinds of music, you shall fall down and worship the gold image that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up; and whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast immediately into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.”
Daniel 3:4-6 NKJV
And that’s what happened! Sort of! The people bowed down, when they heard the music, in worship to the statue of Nebuchadnezzar. That is, all of the people except the Jews, or the three Jewish young men. Prior to this incident, Daniel is grouped with the young men, but at this event, Daniel is not mentioned.
When the music was played the Hebrew young men remained standing, and some of Nebuchadnezzar’s people made sure that he was aware of their rebellious stand!
Of course, the king was angry. Every king knows that his word is the law. If it is disobeyed, there is a price to be paid. Since they publicly disobeyed, his anger was heightened. The king had the young men brought before him. Because the king liked the young men, he decided to give them another chance and asked them if they were ready to show their loyalty to him.
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king.But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.”
Daniel 3:16-18 NKJV
As you may recall, this didn’t bode well for the young men. The king ordered that the fiery furnace be heated up seven times hotter than its usual heat. Also, he commanded that the young men be dressed in many clothes, and then tossed in the furnace. The fire was so hot, that the men who tossed the young Hebrews into the flames were consumed by the fire. That’s hot!
Such was the case with the Little Rock Nine. Nine Black teenagers were thrown into the fiery furnace of hatred, bigotry, and racial discord.
Following the Supreme Court’s decision to declare that segregation in public schools was unconstitutional, the NAACP challenged Little Rock Central High School to allow Black students to attend the all-white school located in a prominent white neighborhood. When the decision was made in 1954, plans to integrate the school went into action. After three years of stalling, Little Rock came up with a plan to desegregate. Only they didn’t really want or plan to do so.
With much push from the NAACP president, Daisy Bates, and many talks at the negotiation table with the school board, a determination was made that Minnijean Brown, Elizabeth Eckford, Ernest Green, Thelma Mothershed, Melba Patillo, Gloria Ray, Terrence Roberts, Jefferson Thomas, and Carlotta Walls would integrate the high school. The criteria that they wouldn’t join any clubs, participate in any sports, or respond to anything said or done to them was stressed repeatedly.
On the first day of school, the school grounds were surrounded with the National Guard to keep the Black students from entering. The governor said it was for their own protection, but it was really for his constituents who were against integration. The governor insisted that there would be violence and blood shed if the students were allowed to enter. Eight of the students arrived together, but Elizabeth Eckford arrived alone, not knowing plans had been made to arrive together because she had no phone. Their entrance was blocked and they were turned back, but Elizabeth, all alone, walked to the front steps of the school. Surrounded by a mob of angry white people who verbally attacked and threatened her life, she held her head high, even though she was frightened. Finally, someone intervened and got her safely to a bus stop where the angry mob continued to verbally assault her but did not physically harm her.
The president of the United States, Dwight Eisenhower, tried to negotiate with the governor, asking him to remove the National Guard, but the governor refused. For three weeks the students remained at home for their safety.
On the 23rd of September, the police escorted them to their first day of school, but when they received word that the students would be attacked, they rushed them out of the building. Finally, on the 24th, the president sent in 1200 of the U. S. Army’s 101st Airborne Division to escort the Little Rock Nine to and from the school building.
The only problem with that was that the soldiers were forbidden to engage with the white students. Once the Little Rock Nine were inside the building they were under attack from those within the building. Whether they were spit on, slapped, tripped, verbally assaulted, or knocked down the stairs, the soldiers could not step in except to assist them in getting up and to their next class. When the Black students reported incidents to the school personnel, they were called whiners, and were told that no harm was done, or they had no witnesses. Day in and day out for the entire school year they were attacked. Their lives were threatened, they were chased, they faced humiliation, and hatred, but they were not to retaliate in any shape or form. They had been tossed into the furnace and it was hot!
As God was with the Hebrew young men, He was clearly with the Little Rock Nine. When the young men were thrown in the furnace, He walked amongst them. They were not consumed by the fire.
…they saw these men on whose bodies the fire had no power; the hair of their head was not singed nor were their garments affected, and the smell of fire was not on them.
Daniel 3:27 NKJV
When I read Melba’s autobiography she spoke of the faith of her grandmother which was a constant support to her. She spoke of God in the midst of trying times. She spoke of wanting to quit, but finding strength in Him and from her family.
Like Melba, those who participated in the integration of Little Rock Central High, went through the fire. (I have not the space to do their story justice.) But they were not burned, and the fire did not scorch them.
As we cheer and applaud the three Hebrew boys who held firm in their belief that God would deliver them from the hand of the king, so should we cheer for these young people. In the midst of much hatred and unyielding attacks, they stood firm in their belief that God would deliver them from the horrors within Little Rock Central High and they would be successful in integrating schools in the South! And He was, and they did! See my article Overcoming Evil for more of their story. Wonderful Jesus!
Isaiah 30:21- Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it.” Whenever you turn to the right hand or whenever you turn to the left. NKJV
Are there some narratives in the Bible that no matter how many times you read it you love it? While there may be many, one of my favorites is an account of Elisha the prophet!
The king of Syria had decided to go to war with Israel. As he made his plans to attack Israel, God revealed those plans to Elisha, the prophet. Elisha would then send a messenger to the king of Israel and let him know what the king of Syria was up to.
Now the king of Syria was making war against Israel; and he consulted with his servants, saying, “My camp will be in such and such a place.”And the man of God sent to the king of Israel, saying, “Beware that you do not pass this place, for the Syrians are coming down there.” Then the king of Israel sent someone to the place of which the man of God had told him. Thus he warned him, and he was watchful there, not just once or twice.
2 Kings 6: 8-10 NKJV
I like that last part of verse 10. God revealed the king’s plans to Elisha on several different occasions. It appears that in the beginning, the king of Israel had to test Elisha, to see if God was really telling him the Syrians plans, but without fail, Elisha was on target! So much so, that the king of Syria wanted to know if he had a spy in his midsts!
Therefore the heart of the king of Syria was greatly troubled by this thing; and he called his servants and said to them, “Will you not show me which of us is for the king of Israel?”
2 Kings 6:11 NKJV
Isn’t this hilarious? I certainly think so! God was frustrating this king and his plans so frequently, and with such accuracy, that the king asked his people to tell him which of them was for the king of Israel?
And one of his servants said, “None, my lord, O king; but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedroom.”
2 Kings 6:12 NKJV
I’ve often wondered how the servants knew that Elisha was the culprit? What cued them on to him? How did they know it was him, but had not warned the king? How long had they known? These are all questions for Jesus when we see Him, but I find it to be an interesting part of the happenings.
This brings us to our lady in the spotlight for this blog: Harriet Tubman. Harriet Tubman’s name at birth was Araminta Ross. When she was 12 years old, she sustained a head injury when she tried to keep a runaway slave from being hit with a heavy object that was thrown at him. Minty, as she was called in those days, was carried to the big house, bleeding and in and out of consciousness, where she laid for the rest of that day and into the next. As a result of this injury, she lived with severe headaches and narcolepsy for the rest of her life. Narcolepsy is a chronic sleep disorder causing the individual to fall asleep at the strangest times. She also began having vivid dreams that she attributed to God.
Harriet’s father was set free by their owner. In his will, he set Harriet’s mother and children free. But the new owner refused to honor those wishes, keeping them all in bondage. A few years later, she married John Tubman, a free man, but it is said that the marriage was not a happy marriage. Finding out that two of her brothers were about to be sold, she decided that it was time to run to freedom. Her brothers did not persevere and she ended up running to freedom alone.
But that wasn’t good enough for her. She wanted her family to live in freedom. Nineteen times she went back to get them, and she was never caught. How is that possible? Remember those dreams that she began to have?
Harriet stated that these dreams were from God. In the dreams, she would see things like places to go, places to steer away from, where to cross a river, where to hide. She had an Elisha experience as she led slaves from bondage to freedom. I’m sure those slavers wanted to know who was on her side!
When the Civil War started, she again was protected from danger and had an uncanny ability to find food, shelter, and other supplies for the Union army. She provided the Union with intelligence with the routes of the Confederate army and supplies. Yes! She was a woman whom God gave valuable information, in order to thwart the plans of the enemy!
Have you ever needed information that would thwart the devil’s plans? Maybe even information about your natural enemies being used by him? I know that He stills yet whispers to our spirits and says “go this way” or “don’t do that” or “leave early today”.
I have had many such incidents happen over the years. Sometimes He has warned me in a dream not to participate in a thing. Other times He has whispered to my heart to change my plans. He has even warned me about others, like friends and family members.
Once, our daughter wanted to go and hang out with her friends. They had a spot where they liked to gather whenever they could get together. On this particular occasion, I told her no! I absolutely refused to allow her to go although she pleaded that they had gone to this place on numerous occasions with no incidents. But on this particular day, I sensed that the Holy Spirit was telling me there would be a shooting, told her so, and would not yield. She even tried to get her dad to speak to me, but when we spoke, and I told him what I sensed in my spirit, he became as adamant as I was that she remain at home that night.
None of her friends went that night either, by the way. And the next day she received news that there had been a shooting in the exact spot they liked to hang out. God is so good! He still whispers in the ear and says go, or don’t go!
On a lighter note, it doesn’t always have to be dangers that God tells us about. It could be things as simple as Him telling us not to eat something, or not to wear a certain outfit. Yes, He can! He might tell you not to go to an event, or to go to an event. That’s how intimate the Holy Spirit desires to be with us. That’s how involved He wants to be in our lives.
The key is learning to listen to that voice! Elisha knew the voice of God, so no matter how God spoke to him (vision, dream, inward witness), he knew it was God. Harriet learned to trust the dreams, whispers, and impressions, as the voice of God. And that is what we need to do, learn to identify the voice of God as He speaks to us. You may be surprised how often He will whisper to you, “Go this way!” Wonderful Jesus!
James 1:5- If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. NKJV
I was listening to a sermon one day when I learned some interesting things about George Washington Carver. That day, I decided that I wanted to share him with all of my readers. A man who learned to trust the wisdom of God, more than the wisdom of man, is someone we can all emulate and strive to be like.
George Washington Carver is best known as the Peanut Man because he personally invented over 300 uses for the peanut.
He was born right after the Civil War and displayed at a young age a thirst for knowledge and a keen interest in plant life. At the age of 10, he went out on his own looking for an education. Carver learned to read and write, mostly on his own. Eventually he was able to get a more formal education, later attending high school. When he was refused entrance to college in Kansas because he was Black, he later enrolled at Iowa State Agricultural College, now known as Iowa State University. Earning both his Bachelor’s degree in agricultural science and then his master’s degree in science, he went on to become the university’s first Black professor.
When Booker T. Washington asked Carver to join his efforts at Tuskegee Institute, Carver moved to Alabama and remained at Tuskegee for the rest of his life. Offered money and jobs that would have added to his wealth and status, he refused them focusing his time and efforts to better the living conditions of Blacks in the South.
After years of planting cotton, the soil in the South was depleted of nutrients and its production of cotton was hurting, as was the price of cotton, causing poverty and starvation amongst Blacks. Carver studied the soil and came up with the idea of plant rotation, which involved planting sweet potatoes and peanuts to replace the nutrients that cotton removed. Soon the production of peanuts, pecans, and sweet potatoes was so great that people didn’t have a lot of use for them.
This led Carver to begin research into products he could make using peanuts and sweet potatoes. The interesting thing is that although he was a scientist with the skills to develop products, he didn’t trust in that alone.
Carver was a man of faith in God. He spent his early morning time in prayer with his heavenly Father. He said that he would then go into his laboratory, and his ideas would take form into the many products he is known for today.
James encouraged believers who need wisdom, to spend time in prayer, asking God for it. He said that if we ask God for wisdom, He would give us wisdom. I know this to be true. At times, when I am in the passion of a situation, I might not wait to listen, and I can’t hear because I am too busy making my own plans. But that does not negate the truth of the word that God will give us wisdom if we ask for it!
Solomon gives this advice:
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.
Proverbs 3:5-6 NKJV
This is Christianity 101, yet I still find myself needing the reminder to trust God and to allow Him to direct me.
Carver learned to trust the voice of God in his spirit. As a result of that trust in God, he developed over 300 products from peanuts, including milk, soap, cosmetics, ink, plastics, and dyes. From the sweet potato, he found over 118 uses that include ink, molasses, vinegar, flour, and the glue used on postage stamps.
Even with all of my praying, I’ve not had this kind of creativity. But that’s because God gives us what we need to do what needs to be done. I’m not an inventor, so I have no need for Him to inspire me as He did Carver. I’m a teacher, and His inspiration during my daily time with my students continues to amaze me.
For example, I was teaching a math concept. After a week of using every strategy in our textbook and a couple of strategies of my own, nothing was clicking for my students. Not any of them! So I understood in my heart that I needed a new strategy, while I felt that I had exhausted them all. Then suddenly I had an idea and began working on it. Sure enough, the next time that I met with my students, light bulbs went on. They began to understand the concept that I was teaching. We were able to move forward. Praise the Lord! This has happened time again.
I think of the many gifted and talented people I have come across, even those in my family. It’s rarely in other fields of expertise that God gives them wisdom. He tends to give us the wisdom we need for the life that we live. I am probably helping somebody right now.
We don’t have to spend our lives wishing we were like anybody else. As a matter of fact, Paul wrote that when we compare ourselves to one another, we are not being wise (2 Corinthians 10:12). Neither do we have to covet what God is doing in their lives. What we need to do is to trust that God knows what He is doing in our lives and will provide the wisdom that we need to live our lives.
James continued this text by stating that when we ask for wisdom, God gives it liberally and doesn’t get mad at us for asking! Have you ever asked someone to help you and they looked at you like you were crazy? Or you asked someone for advice on how to do something, and they acted like you wanted to steal from them? Well, that’s not how God acts! He has absolutely no problem sharing His wisdom with you. As a matter of fact, He wants to share it with you!
For the Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding; He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk uprightly
Proverbs 2:7-8 NKJV
There it is! A witness from the proverbs that God is willing to share His wisdom. But there is a catch!
But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.
James 1:6 NKJV
When you ask God for wisdom, you have to ask in faith! That’s it! The same requirement for getting anything from God, so that shouldn’t surprise you or worry you! You have to believe that when you ask for wisdom, God will give it! If you do not believe that He will grant it, you will miss it even if He shares it!
George Washington Carver was a brilliant scientist, and a man of faith. He trusted God to use him, his gifts, and his knowledge to help farmers in the South. He was more interested in being a blessing, a solution to someone’s need, than he was interested in lining his pockets. He died a poor man, yet his wealth is still be shared by the world today!
I leave you with these words from George Washington Carver:
I love to think of nature as an unlimited broadcasting station, through which God speaks to us every hour, if we will only tune in.
Matthew 6:16 – Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. NKJV
Jesus spoke these words in the sermon on the mount:
Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
Matthew 5:16 NKJV
As believers, we understand that works do not gain us access to the kingdom of God. But here we have the words of the Savior saying that our good works are seen before men, and they glorify our Father in heaven. This verse reminds me of Tabitha.
Luke tells us Tabitha’s testimony.
At Joppa there was a certain disciple named Tabitha, which is translated Dorcas. This woman was full of good works and charitable deeds which she did.
Acts 9:36 NKJV
Tabitha was a believer in Jesus. Her life spoke for itself. She served others willingly and was known as being full of good works. We are not given a lot of details about what her service looked like, but we know that she was obviously a seamstress. When the apostle Peter showed up, the tunics and robes were what the women showed him after she passed away.
We know that she was well-loved in her church because the whole church was upset at her passing.
Since Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples, hearing that Peter was there, sent two men to him, urging him, “Come to us without delay.”
Acts 9:38 AMP
Peter was visiting the saints in Lydda, a town not far from Joppa. Luke tells us that Peter found a man named Aeneas, who had been bedridden for eight years due to paralysis. When Peter saw him, he said to Aeneas that Jesus had healed him and to get up! Aeneas was miraculously healed, and people started giving their lives to Jesus. The disciples in Joppa heard about what happened in Lydda and sent two men to see if Peter would come and pray for Dorcas.
It’s one thing for them to ask Peter to come and heal her; it’s another thing for them to dare to believe that he could raise her from the dead. When the brethren found Peter in Lydda, they explained what had happened; their beloved sister had died, and they wanted her back.
Peter returned with them to Joppa and found her laid out in preparation for burial.
When he arrived, they brought him into the upstairs room; and all the widows stood beside him, weeping and showing [him] all the tunics and robes that Dorcas used to make while she was with them.
Acts 9:39 AMP
Dorcas’ friends wanted Peter to know the value they placed on their sister in Christ. They wanted him to understand that their church would be at a great loss without her. They valued her because her good works were about glorifying the Father and not gaining glory for herself. She used her talents to bless others when she could have been making garments to sell for her personal gain.
Peter prayed for Dorcas, and God raised her from the dead! What a powerful reason for someone to pray to God on another’s behalf! Her friends definitely felt that her death would be a loss to them, but more importantly, they felt her death would be a loss to the kingdom of God!
In honor of Black History month, I would like to introduce you to another woman who served God’s kingdom with selfless love, Susan Angelina Collins. Collins was born to parents who had been freed after the Civil War in America. After the war, Collins began working for Reverend Jason Paine of the Methodist Church in Iowa. He encouraged her to go to college for Normal Training. Normal Training was a program designed to teach young women who were graduates of high school to become elementary teachers in public school.
Collins was the first Black student to attend Upper Iowa University for Normal Training. After graduating from the university, she moved to the Dakota Territory, where she owned and operated a laundry business. Laundry was often wrapped in newspaper in those days, and one day Collins saw an ad for a school that trained missionaries in Chicago. She sold her business and moved to Chicago to enroll in the missionary school and answer God’s call for missions.
At the age of 36, Collins joined another Methodist pastor in his missionary work in the Congo as the first Black female missionary of the Methodist Church in 1887. Missionaries went out in a self-supporting role at that time, meaning she had to support herself. Collins left her business of making money to serve in Africa with no pay. After two years, she moved to Angola, where she eventually started a boarding school for girls that housed over 50 students at a time.
At the age of 50, she returned home to Iowa. She was told that she was too old to go back on the mission field but raised money to return to Angola. Finding financial help from the Pacific branch of the Methodist Woman’s Foreign Missionary Society, she returned to Angola until she was 68 years old. At that time, she returned to Iowa, where she lived and served in her church until she passed away at 88 years old. A life of service to the kingdom that others were able to see.
Susan Collins was a blessing to the kingdom of God and a Black woman worth mentioning during Black History Month. As the first Black woman to serve as a missionary from America, she is someone worth knowing in the kingdom of God. Collins’ life of sacrifice and service was a blessing to the church, the kingdom, and the people of Angola. And she is someone we should know!
Today, we find it difficult to give ourselves in service to the kingdom. Everything has to fit within our schedule and be convenient for us to accomplish. Too much time given to the church is less time for ourselves, and a few faithful people end up being responsible for the majority of the work of the church.
I understand that our good works are not limited to the church building or the church programs. Many of us are a part of the faithful 20%. But some of us are the 80% who can’t be put out.
Jesus encouraged us to do good deeds. Some people have taken it to another level, like Tabitha and Susan Collins. We won’t all be called to give up everything to serve the kingdom and others, but we are all called to do good works!
So whether you are cooking a meal for a family in need, buying shoes for the kids across the street, or taking a child to church from the neighborhood, all of these things are good works. And while you may not be doing any of it to be seen, others see those good works and know that the Father is using you. He is being glorified by your works!
So let your light shine before men, keep those good works going, and don’t grow weary in your well-doing. Wonderful Jesus!
2 Kings 7:2 – The officer on whose arm the king was leaning said to the man of God, “Look, even if the Lord should open the floodgates of the heavens, could this happen?” “You will see it with your own eyes,” answered Elisha, “but you will not eat any of it!” NIV
Have you ever been in a situation that looked impossible no matter how you looked at it? Well, I can assure you that you are not the only one. It happened again and again in the Bible! I want to look at a situation that was absolutely impossible in the natural, then God!!!
In chapter 6, of 2 Kings, there is a famine in Samaria. The king of Syria, Ben-hadad, had encamped around the city to lay siege against it. The purpose of the siege was to cut off trade and communication in order to bring the city into captivity. The Syrians surrounded the city of Samaria, not allowing anyone to enter it and prohibiting anyone from leaving it. The siege lasted so long that a great famine was in the land.
Things got pretty bad and people began to pay outrageous prices for whatever they could find to eat. At one point, two women agreed to kill their children and eat them; however, after they ate the first child, the second woman hid her child! Things were awful!
Well, when the king heard about the women boiling that child, he got angry and promised that he would have Elisha’s head on a platter. So he sends an executioner to Elisha and follows him to the door!
The king said, “This disaster is from the Lord. Why should I wait for the Lord any longer?”
2 Kings 6:33 NIV
The king is angry! He tells Elisha that he has been waiting on God for assistance but God isn’t coming through for him because he realizes that God is the one who sent the trouble to his city! In his anger, he yells that he’s tired of waiting on God and doesn’t know why he should be waiting!
Have you been there? Have you felt like you didn’t know why you should be waiting on God when you believe He is the One responsible for your situation anyway? Have you ever felt like it is His fault that you are struggling with your finances? Or it’s His fault that you are single? Maybe you are stuck in a situation that you hate, but you decided to trust Him in it, but things are getting worst? It’s really tough to trust God when things are going from bad to worst and you think He is responsible for your situation.
Then Elisha has a word for the king from the Lord!
“Hear the word of the Lord. This is what the Lord says: About this time tomorrow, a seah of the finest flour will sell for a shekel and two seahs of barley for a shekel at the gate of Samaria.”
2 Kings 7:1 NIV
Imagine this scene! The king was angry with God, and by proxy, he was angry with Elisha! Elisha wasn’t moved by the king’s anger! He was not afraid of losing his head! He simply shared that things were about to change! Before the king could respond, his officer responded!
The officer on whose arm the king was leaning said to the man of God, “Look, even if the Lord should open the floodgates of the heavens, could this happen?” “You will see it with your own eyes,” answered Elisha, “but you will not eat any of it!”
2 Kings 7:2 NIV
In his arrogance, he mocked what Elisha prophesied. He said that even if God opened the windows of heaven, it couldn’t happen! He held God in contempt, and dismissed Him as being incapable of turning things around so quickly!
Although the king was tired of waiting, God’s answer was around the corner! When we are at the point of not being able to take it anymore, God isn’t at that point! When things look unbelievably out of control, He is still in control! When things look utterly impossible, with Him they are still very much possible! That’s why the king shouldn’t have given up on God! That’s why we can’t afford to give up on God! He is able to do just what He said He would do!
The very next day, outside the city walls, four lepers were starving.
Now there were four men with leprosy at the entrance of the city gate. They said to each other, “Why stay here until we die? If we say, ‘We’ll go into the city’—the famine is there, and we will die. And if we stay here, we will die. So let’s go over to the camp of the Arameans and surrender. If they spare us, we live; if they kill us, then we die.”
2 Kings 7:3-4
These men didn’t hear the word of the Lord spoken to the king by Elisha. But as they were sitting around contemplating their fate, they came to the conclusion that if they were going to die, at least they would die trying to save themselves. When they got to the camp, no one was there! Everything had been abandoned and there was plenty of food and other things just waiting to be taken. Here’s what happened:
For the Lord had caused the Arameans to hear the sound of chariots and horses and a great army, so that they said to one another, “Look, the king of Israel has hired the Hittite and Egyptian kings to attack us!” So they got up and fled in the dusk and abandoned their tents and their horses and donkeys. They left the camp as it was and ran for their lives.
2 Kings 7:6-7 NIV
Isn’t that crazy? It makes no sense at all! If you’re going to run away wouldn’t you at least take your horses to get away faster? How in the world did they hear so much ruckus that they ran away without taking anything with them? Well, when God starts to move, He can cause people to do things that make absolutely no sense! And you can get the benefit of seeing Him move on your behalf! Just like that! He can cause a bad situation to change into a blessing! He can move people out of your way! He can make the impossible in your situation, possible! He can do it!
At first, the lepers were having a great time eating, drinking, and being merry. They even started taking some of the goods and burying them for safekeeping. But finally, they realized that they had to tell the king so that the people could also benefit from what God had done.
But the king didn’t believe it. He thought it was a trick. Fortunately for the people of Samaria, someone was able to convince the king to send out a group to investigate the situation. When they came back and reported the good news, the people went wild!
Now the king had put the officer on whose arm he leaned in charge of the gate, and the people trampled him in the gateway, and he died, just as the man of God had foretold when the king came down to his house.
2 Kings 7:17 NIV
Trampled at the gateway by the people who were rushing to gain access to all of that cheap food. The food he said God couldn’t provide if He opened the windows of heavens! He never got to experience any of it! Just as Elisha had said!
God understands that things from our point of view can look impossible. He understands that we struggle with trusting Him. However, arrogance and derision will not endear you to Him or cause Him to move on your behalf! Faith moves God! Elisha absolutely believed that God would do what He said that He would do! And God did it! “Why should you wait on God?” You should wait on Him because He is faithful! Wonderful Jesus!
Wonderful Jesus! 