"Weeping may stay the night, but joy comes in the morning."
(Psalm 30:5)
I have been through the valley of weeping,
The valley of sorrow and pain;
But the God of all comfort was with me,
At hand to uphold and sustain.
As the earth needs the clouds and the sunshine,
Our souls need both sorrow and joy;
So He places us oft in the furnace,
The dross from the gold to destroy.
When He leads through some valley of trouble,
His omnipotent hand we trace;
For the trials and sorrows, He sends us,
Are part of His lessons in grace.
Oft we shrink from the purging and pruning,
Forgetting the Husbandman knows;
That the deeper the cutting and paring,
The richer the cluster that grows.
Well, He knows that affliction is needed;
He has a wise gracious purpose in view,
And in the dark valley, He whispers,
"Hereafter you will know what I do."
As we travel through life's shadowed valley,
Fresh springs of His love ever rise;
And we learn that our sorrows and losses,
Are blessings just sent in disguise.
So we'll follow wherever He leadeth,
Let the path be dreary or bright;
For we've proved that our God can give comfort,
Our God can give songs in the night!
A poem written by
Lettie Burd Cowman
(1870-1960)
American Christian writer and missionary.
A Match "Made In Heaven"
A Christian Love Story
In his book, "God Is A Matchmaker" Bible teacher and author Derek Prince
relates how God led him into two successful marriages, his first to Lydia,
and after her death, to his second wife, Ruth.
As Derek explains it:"The first time I really did not understand what God
had done. Then, when the process was repeated in my second marriage,
I came to realize that God had followed the very same pattern He Himself
has established at the dawn of human history-a pattern He has ordained
to stand unchanged until human history reaches it's consummation."
God's divine hand at matchmaking was certainly in the details
of the blessed union between Charles and Lettie Cowman too.
Lettie met her future husband when she was just a baby, and again
when they were teenagers. Lettie was thirteen at the time. Six years
later, on June 8, 1889 they were married. They later trained together
at Martin Wells Knapp's Bible School in Ohio before leaving the
United States in 1901 to become missionaries in Japan.
The couple had a deep burden on their hearts for the people of Japan. They and the
other members of the Oriental Missionary Society (later called the One Mission Society)
sought to reach many people there with the soul-saving message of the Gospel.
Although the Society was successful in their goals, Charles Cowman felt that their
efforts were not enough. This led to the launching of the Great Village Campaign
in 1913. It became Charles' goal that every person in Japan would hear
the Gospel message within the next five years.
Teams of missionaries traveled to every town and village throughout Japan,
preaching the Word and distributing Bibles to the people. In January, 1918 Charles
and Lettie received news through the O.M.S. Standard, a monthly publication,
that the Great Village Campaign was a great success. The couple had
since returned to America the year before due to Charles' declining health.
Seeing her husband suffering in pain, Lettie also suffered. As his health continued
to deteriorate, she began writing what would become an inspirational best-selling
book, "Streams In The Desert"-a series of daily devotionals. The title of the book
is based on Isaiah 35:6, "Then will the lame leap like a deer and the mute tongue
shout for joy. Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert."
Although she did not know it at the time, writing "Streams" was God's way of
comforting and strengthening Lettie Cowman as she walked through her own
valley of weeping, facing the grim reality of her husband's impending death.
"So He places us oft in the furnace,
The dross from the gold to destroy."
When the book was being printed, her publisher felt certain that
they would never publish more than 3,000 copies of the original.
However, many readers of "Streams In The Desert" could relate
to Lettie's pain with their own set of problems in life.
We don't always understand the will and purposes of God in our lives.
People often ask, "If God loves me than why do I have to suffer?
But we are never without Him. And we are never without hope.
As believers, we are reminded that, "all things work together for the
good of those who love God, who are called according to His purpose."
(Romans 8:28)
After Charles Cowman died in 1924, Lettie found a note in his Bible asking
her, "Go on with my unfinished task." Despite her grief, Lettie Cowman
devoted the rest of her life to carrying on the work and legacy of
her beloved husband, for God's glory, "according to His purpose."
In 1925, she wrote the book, "Missionary Warrior" a biography
of her husband's life and work. Her hope in writing the book
was, "that a worldwide crusade would be launched to reach
every living member of this generation with the Gospel."
Lettie also continued her husband's work through serving with the OMS. She later
became the organization's third President. Although she now had an active
writing career, Lettie's first priority was in her role as the President of the Society.
She was determine to carry out the Every Creature Crusade (now known
as Every Community For Christ) which Charles began in Japan as
the Great Village Campaign. Just as he felt a strong call on his life to
proclaim the Good News to every individual in that nation, Lettie believed
that the Lord was now calling her to advance the Gospel worldwide.
In Europe, the OMS brought the message of the Gospel to many
countries, including Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Poland, and
Czechoslovakia. Their evangelical mission would be one of
the last efforts to preach the Gospel across the Continent
before the Nazis rose to power in Germany.
Lettie's crusade continued onward to Egypt, a country she
specifically felt a great burden for in her heart, and later, the island
of Cuba. In December 1941, the OMS began a crusade in Mexico. They
eventually reached South America, something Lettie never dreamed
would happen. However, God's timing is always perfect. In 1943,
a Bible Training Institute was started in Medellin, Columbia.
"Well done, good and faithful servant."
(Matthew 25:23)
Several years later, Lettie stepped down from her role as President of the OMS.
She continued with her writing career and public speaking engagements
until her death on Easter Sunday April 17th, 1960.
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