"Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, 'Abraham!' 'Here I am,' he
replied." - Genesis 22:1
George Shultz was sworn in on July 16, 1982, as the sixtieth U.S. Secretary of
State and served until January 20, 1989. During this time in the Reagan
administration, Shultz kept a large globe in his office. When newly appointed
ambassadors had an interview with him and when ambassadors returning from their
posts for their first visit with him were leaving his office, Shultz would test
them. He would say, "You have to go over the globe and prove to me that you can
identify your country." They would go over, spin the globe, and each time they
would put their finger on the country to which they were being sent. When
Shultz's old friend and former Senate majority leader Mike Mansfield was
appointed ambassador to Japan, even he was put to the test. However, this time
Ambassador Mansfield spun the globe and put his hand on the United States. He
said: "That's my country." Shultz said: "I've told that story, subsequently, to
all the ambassadors going out. 'Never forget you're over there in that country,
but your country is the United States. You're there to represent us. Take care
of our interests and never forget it, and you're representing the best country
in the world.' "
In the same way, the Lord tests us to make sure we are His ambassadors and that
we have His interests in our heart. Today in prayer, thank the Lord that He does
regularly test you and that you His representative.
"There is nothing-no circumstance, no trouble, no testing-that can ever touch me
until, first of all, it has gone past God and past Christ, right through to me.
If it has come that far, it has come with a great purpose, which I may not
understand at the moment, but as I refuse to become panicky, as I lift up my
eyes to him and accept it as coming from the throne of God for some great
purpose of blessing to my own heart, no sorrow will ever disturb me, no trial
will ever disarm me, no circumstance will cause me to fret, for I shall rest in
the joy of what my Lord is." - Alan Redpath
God's Word: "For you, O God, tested us;byou refined us like silver." - Psalm
66:10
By Peter Kennedy, Copyright 2003, Devotional E-Mail DEVOTIONS IN GENESIS
pkennedy@devotional.com
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