Daily Devotion
Terry Meeuwsen: The Source of My Strength
Terry Meeuwsen
The 700 Club
The book Hiding Place chronicles the life of Corrie ten Boom. Corrie and her family were Dutch believers who hid Jews in their home during the Nazi reign of terror. They were finally arrested and imprisoned for hiding and smuggling Jews to safety. Corrie was the only survivor.
When I consider the condition of the world today – the loss of high moral standards, the increasing instances of violence and drug use, and the basic disregard for human life – I am frightened for us as a nation and am deeply concerned for my children. In a world where rules are scorned and personal rights take precedence over all else, how do I teach my children that some things are worth dying for? Stories like Corrie’s help me to keep on keeping on in my own faith walk and to encourage my children in theirs.
Years ago, at the age of twenty-two, a friend encouraged me to enter the Miss America Pageant. I wanted to study professionally in New York City, and the pageant scholarship was substantial enough to make that dream a reality.
But there was a process to it. You had to enter a local pageant first. If you won that, you went on to a state competition. If you won that you competed in Atlantic City, New Jersey, for the Miss America title. Oh, the effort I put into that endeavor! It took hours, days, months of discipline and perseverance. There were mock interviews, rehearsals, and workouts. There were sessions on walking, wardrobe, cosmetics, and speech. And singing, singing, singing.
Ultimately I won, and I was given many opportunities and blessings as a result of being Miss America. But I did all that for a crown that will perish. How much more should I be willing to do for a crown that is imperishable?
The Bible is filled with stores of men and women who, in the face of impossible circumstances, persevered and were mightily used of God. I want to be the kind for woman God can count on. Yet sometimes I look at my own weaknesses or the circumstances around me and am discouraged. I looked at my children and the challenges that could face them and am afraid. But then I lift my eyes to my heavenly Father and am reminded that He is strong.
In The Hiding Place, Corrie expresses her fear to her father and asks how she can be sure she’ll have the courage to walk out her faith if they are caught. Her father says, “Corrie, when we take a train ride, when do you get the ticket to get on the train?” Corrie answered, “When the train is ready to leave.” So it is with our God. We need to keep our heart’s attitude right, but the ability and strength to persevere come from Him.
Lord, make me a woman of conviction, willing to pay the price and finish the race. When I am weary, remind me that You are the source of my strength.
Excerpted with permission from Near to the Heart of God, by Terry Meeuwsen ©1998
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Terry Meeuwsen co-hosts The 700 Club with Pat Robertson, a daily broadcast from the CBN studios in Virginia Beach, VA. A native of Wisconsin, she attended St. Norbert College; and sang and traveled with the New Christy Minstrels for two years. In 1973 Terry was crowned Miss America. She began her broadcast career co-hosting a daily talk show in Milwaukee called A New Day at NBC affiliate WTMJ-TV. Meeuwsen has also authored four books.
Terry and her husband, Andy, have seven children. Five of their children are adopted. The adoption of their three daughters from Ukraine opened her eyes to the plight of millions of children around the world who are alone and in desperate situations. Out of that concern, a ministry called Orphan’s Promise was birthed and now is at work in over 40 countries around the world. The passion and purpose of Orphan’s Promise is to touch as many of these children’s lives as possible, both physically and spiritually.
To find out more about Orphan’s Promise, visit OrphansPromise.org
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