Healing Rays of Righteousness

The story of George and Sarah Clarke continues to challenge and inspire me every time I read it.  In 1880, this Christian couple purchased the lease for the Pacific Beer Garden.  Promptly dropping the word Beer, the couple added the word Mission, and launched a ministry to homeless alcoholics and downtrodden men and women.  Thus was born the Pacific Garden Mission of Chicago – the second oldest rescue mission in the United States.

Colonial and Mrs. Clarke bore the cost of the mission themselves, but as expenses grew and the ministry expanded, their funds ran low.  Eventually the day came when they could not pay the rent.  Attempts to secure the needed funds failed, and Colonel Clarke was told he had only 24 hours to make the payment.  Otherwise, he would lose his lease, and the Pacific Garden Mission would be closed.

Throughout the night, Colonel and Mrs. Clarke prayed, asking God to guide and to provide in his own way and time.  They reminded the Lord of the souls being saved each night, of the men and women whose lives were being salvaged.  They asked him why they should find themselves in such straits while trying to do his work.  But, determining to trust and not question, they remained before the throne of grace in simple faith and in earnest pleading until the breaking of dawn.

When they emerged from their Morgan Park house that morning, they gasped.  What had happened to their front yard?  It was covered with something white, something that instantly reminded them of the manna of the Old Testament.  Looking closer, they discovered their lawn was filled with mushrooms of the very best quality, which was quite mysterious because it wasn’t the season for mushrooms.

Gathering the crop, the Clarkes carted the mushrooms down the street and sold them to the chefs at the Palmer House, the famed hotel just off of Michigan Avenue, for a large price.  The money they received was enough to pay the rent, with enough left over to meet other ministry expenses.  So the Pacific Garden Mission carried on with its ministry undeterred.

There are those who choose to discredit such stories of answered prayer, but I choose to believe them because I hear and am challenged by Apostle Paul’s prayer for us in Ephesians 1:18-19. “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe.”

Paul knew that knowledge of God is something more than simply knowledge of the facts about God.  So Paul prayed that “the Spirit of wisdom and revelation” would provide that intimate, relational knowing which is ours only as the Spirit of Christ becomes a living presence in us – a knowing of God that we long for and desperately need.

He speaks of this “knowing” that comes by the Spirit even more graphically in verses 19-21.  “That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.”

I’m with Paul in believing that prayer is God’s gift to us – a gift of privilege – a gift of power – a gift of tremendous value in today’s demanding world.  To be privileged to come into the presence of the Almighty God as his children and to speak with him as “Our Father” is a privilege of amazing grace and of unimaginable worth.

Our praying opens the gates for God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven.  Our praying brings God into our life and work, and makes us more conscious of his awesome presence and power.  Our praying connects us to the power-filled energy and will of God, to redeem our sins, energize our wills, renew our spirits, reconcile our relationships, heal the sick, drive out demons, and bring peace.

Life in today’s world is very draining.  Demands for our time and talents seem to come from every direction.  Where are you going for replenishment of strength and courage?  Where are you looking for wisdom and discernment?  Where are you finding healing and hope?

The call here is to bring the working power of God from out of the past and into the present.  To be sure, we are to celebrate “the mighty acts of God in history,” but that should make us even more aware and eager to be linked with Jesus Christ as present power.  Amen!

“Healing Rays of Righteousness” – September 18, 2019

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Ray M. Geigley