Morning,
April 29
“Thou art my hope in the day of
evil.”
Jeremiah 17:17
Charles
Spurgeon
The path
of the Christian is not always bright with sunshine; he has his seasons of
darkness and of storm. True, it is written in God’s Word, “Her ways are
ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace;” and it is a great truth,
that religion is calculated to give a man happiness below as well as bliss
above; but experience tells us that if the course of the just be “As the
shining light that shineth more and more unto the perfect day,” yet sometimes that
light is eclipsed. At certain periods clouds cover the believer’s sun, and he
walks in darkness and sees no light. There are many who have rejoiced in the presence
of God for a season; they have basked in the sunshine in the earlier stages of
their Christian career; they have walked along the “green pastures” by the side
of the “still waters,” but suddenly they find the glorious sky is clouded;
instead of the Land of Goshen they have to tread the sandy desert; in the place
of sweet waters, they find troubled streams, bitter to their taste, and they
say, “Surely, if I were a child of God, this would not happen.” Oh! say not so,
thou who art walking in darkness. The best of God’s saints must drink the
wormwood; the dearest of his children must bear the cross. No Christian has
enjoyed perpetual prosperity; no believer can always keep his harp from the
willows. Perhaps the Lord allotted you at first a smooth and unclouded path,
because you were weak and timid. He tempered the wind to the shorn lamb, but
now that you are stronger in the spiritual life, you must enter upon the riper
and rougher experience of God’s full-grown children. We need winds and tempests
to exercise our faith, to tear off the rotten bough of self-dependence, and to
root us more firmly in Christ. The day of evil reveals to us the value of our
glorious hope.
My Utmost
for His Highest
April 29th
The graciousness of uncertainty
It doth not yet appear what we shall be. 1 John 3:2
Oswald
Chambers
Naturally, we are inclined to be so mathematical and calculating that we
look upon uncertainty as a bad thing. We imagine that we have to reach some
end, but that is not the nature of spiritual life. The nature of spiritual life
is that we are certain in our uncertainty, consequently we do not make our
nests anywhere. Common sense says—‘Well, supposing I were in that condition …’
We cannot suppose ourselves in any condition we have never been in.
Certainty is the mark of the commonsense life: gracious uncertainty is
the mark of the spiritual life. To be certain of God means that we are
uncertain in all our ways, we do not know what a day may bring forth. This is
generally said with a sigh of sadness; it should be rather an expression of
breathless expectation. We are uncertain of the next step, but we are certain
of God. Immediately we abandon to God, and do the duty that lies nearest,
He packs our life with surprises all the time. When we become advocates of a
creed, something dies; we do not believe God, we only believe our belief about
Him. Jesus said “Except ye … become as little children.” Spiritual life is the
life of a child. We are not uncertain of God, but uncertain of what He is going
to do next. If we are only certain in our beliefs, we get dignified and severe
and have the ban of finality about our views; but when we are rightly related
to God, life is full of spontaneous, joyful uncertainty and expectancy.
“Believe also in Me,” said Jesus, not—‘Believe certain things about Me.’
Leave the whole thing to Him, it is gloriously uncertain how He will come in,
but He will come. Remain loyal to Him.
Evening,
April 29
“The Lord taketh pleasure in his people.”
Psalm 149:4
Charles
Spurgeon
How
comprehensive is the love of Jesus! There is no part of his people’s interests
which he does not consider, and there is nothing which concerns their welfare
which is not important to him. Not merely does he think of you, believer, as an
immortal being, but as a mortal being too. Do not deny it or doubt it: “The
very hairs of your head are all numbered.” “The steps of a good man are ordered
by the Lord: and he delighteth in his way.” It were a sad thing for us if this
mantle of love did not cover all our concerns, for what mischief might be
wrought to us in that part of our business which did not come under our
gracious Lord’s inspection! Believer, rest assured that the heart of Jesus
cares about your meaner affairs. The breadth of his tender love is such that
you may resort to him in all matters; for in all your afflictions he is
afflicted, and like as a father pitieth his children, so doth he pity you. The
meanest interests of all his saints are all borne upon the broad bosom of the
Son of God. Oh, what a heart is his, that doth not merely comprehend the
persons of his people, but comprehends also the diverse and innumerable
concerns of all those persons! Dost thou think, O Christian, that thou canst
measure the love of Christ? Think of what his love has brought thee—justification,
adoption, sanctification, eternal life! The riches of his goodness are
unsearchable; thou shalt never be able to tell them out or even conceive them.
Oh, the breadth of the love of Christ! Shall such a love as this have half our
hearts? Shall it have a cold love in return? Shall Jesus’ marvellous
lovingkindness and tender care meet with but faint response and tardy
acknowledgment? O my soul, tune thy harp to a glad song of thanksgiving! Go to
thy rest rejoicing, for thou art no desolate wanderer, but a beloved child,
watched over, cared for, supplied, and defended by thy Lord.
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