A life of immeasurable joy

I recently read a book that captivated, inspired and encouraged me. The message resonated deep and true.

The book is the partial memoir of Lydia Prince, as told by her husband Derek Prince. It is the story of three years in the life of a most remarkable woman. Her journey in the quest to find something more that ultimately alters the course of her life in ways she never imagined.

Lydia was a beautiful blue-eyed Danish woman with a picture perfect life. She was comfortable and well established in every way imaginable: education, finances, social position; a fulfilling professional life as head of a department at her school, a luxurious apartment with a devoted maid; a busy social life, a proposal of marriage. However, there was something missing.

Her quest for something more took her to the pages of the black leather Bible that sat on the top shelf of her library. She had once mandatorily read it as a component of a unit of study in her degree. What she discovered ultimately led her to abandon everything and everyone she held dear and journey alone and penniless to an alien land that for centuries had been fraught with violence and danger. There she discovered what all of humanity seek and yet so few find: true joy, peace and perfect security – regardless of the external condition of our lives.

The season of Christmas had recently passed. A traditional Danish Christmas carol had deeply moved her soul.

 My Saviour and my Substitute, all hail!

A crown of thorns the world to Thee assigned;
But, Lord, Thou seest that I have in mind
A crown of roses round Thy cross to bind-
Let me the needed grace and courage find!

She scanned all the books on the shelves of her extensive personal library, noting all the authors on each spine. Years of studying, teaching, quoting left her without the answer she was seeking. She came across the plain volume bound in black on the top shelf, and wondered if the answer could be found inside its pages. She hesitated, then pulled it down and opened at the beginning of the New Testament and came to chapter seven, with red print that indicated Jesus was speaking (p. 31).

‘Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened’ ~Matthew 7:7-8.

'Enter through the narrow gate…Because small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it’ ~Matthew 7:13, 14.

She realised that somewhere ahead in the path that she was following there was a gate. Inside, there was a way that led to peace and fulfillment. Before she could walk in the way, she had to first find and enter the gate. Lydia knew that she had been seeking for many months, but had never asked (p. 33).

As a child, she was trained to say the Lord’s Prayer each night before she went to sleep. By 12 years of age it became meaningless and monotonous; one night she recalled repeating the Lord’s Prayer in succession ten times so as to be free from the burden of praying it for the next nine nights (p. 33).

She didn’t know what to say, but spoke aloud from the depths of her heart: “Oh God – I do not understand – I do not understand – who God is, who Jesus is, who is the Holy Spirit…but if you show me Jesus as a living reality, I will follow Him!” (p. 33)

The Christmas carol ran through her mind over and over. A river of peace flowed out of her soul as she sang it. It had a new and special significance. She was experiencing indescribable peace, insurmountable joy that she had never known before. The void that was missing that she had been searching to fill had been filled (p. 35).

She continued to read through the New Testament: the passage from the book of John captivated her attention in a way no other literature piece had ever done before – their combination of grandeur and simplicity was powerful (p. 37).

‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…

In him was life, and that life was the light of men…
And the word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth’ ~John 1:1, 4, 14.

In the days and weeks that passed Lydia experienced real happiness. She was finding purpose in life, something more than a career and an apartment, and nice furniture and a pension at the end of it all (p. 23).

She was developing a passion and compassion for the people of Jerusalem – she did not know why; but she believed God was speaking to her heart. He was preparing her to soon embark on a life-changing journey of serving others, not just herself.

She was challenged with the thought that she had sought for the truth, believed she had found it, but was faced with the challenge of obeying it (p. 58)!

For years, Lydia had ‘built (her) life on (her) own planning and reasoning, but (she) found there is another dimension to living’ (p. 75) … that is living by faith, serving in faith.

She attended an evening service whereby the message spoken by a missionary resonated deep. He opened his address with the verse:

‘For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do’ ~Ephesians 2:10

This verse spoke loud and clear to Lydia – God has already assigned to each one of us a special task in life. We do not have to plan the work that we do in life; we need to seek the work that God has already planned for us to do; that which is especially appointed for us to complete, no-one else (p. 64).

Lydia sat down with the missionary speaker afterwards, and he encouraged her to “pray earnestly that you may find and do God’s will for your life. That is the purpose for which we were created from eternity, and in the long run nothing else can truly satisfy us.” (p.65)

Lydia had become content to place her hand in that of God and allow Him to lead her, day by day and step by step (p.87); and provide for her every need. Peaceably accepting and willing this to the Lord many a times challenged her. But she was convicted over and over what she knew to be true. He ‘knows what you need before you ask Him’ ~Matthew 6:8b. The Lord tests us; He tested Lydia in awaiting for her approach, her acknowledgement of her true reliance on Him; her requests for her needs that she acknowledges that can only be met by Him.

 

This is the life Lydia sought – to be guided and provided by her one true King – the one who made Her, the one who sent his only Son to die for her – the one who changed her heart, opened her eyes to a new life, gave her purpose, and gave her eternal life.

 I firmly believe Lydia today is now in His glorious presence, reaping the rewards of living a fully satisfying life for Him and sharing his love, his sacrifice and his daily mercies with those around her – serving Him.

 

Lydia established herself in the city of Jerusalem, Israel, and founded a children's home, becoming the cherished "mother" to dozens of Jewish and Arab orphans, mainly girls, eight of whom became her own children.

 There is a lesson to be learnt by all who read of the life and the miracles of Lydia – she exchanged materialistic prosperity for soul contentment. To me this speaks volumes – when your time has come to leave this earth, material possessions mean nothing; what matters is how you lived your life, what you did with it, and the legacy you leave behind (Ecclesiastes 9:1-12).

Death is certain, life is uncertain – do not allow your life to go to waste and have time, ‘chance’ and death catch you unexpectedly. Live your life for Christ – there is more joy for you to enjoy in living for Him than living for yourself, now and forevermore in Heaven.