OCTOBER 8

OUR PERSONAL PROMISES

“I walked a mile with Pleasure;

She chatted all the way;

But left me none the wiser

For all she had to say.

I walked a mile with Sorrow;

And ne’er a word said she;

But, oh! The things I learned from her,

When Sorrow walked with me.”

― Robert Browning Hamilton

“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”

—Psalm 46:1

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort.”

—2 Corinthians 1:3

“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

—John 16:33

“If I say, ‘Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,’ even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you.”

—Psalm 139:11-12

“Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved.”

—Psalm 55:22

“No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

—Romans 8:37-39

This month we will read choices from Charles Spurgeon’s (known affectionately as the “prince of preachers”)  devotional, “Beside Still Waters.”   It’s no secret that this world system is getting more evil by the day.  We have to stand strong in the Lord and look to Him more than ever to get through, and to be guided through, what is in the future……..known and allowed  by Him alone…..as well as whatever personal things we are experiencing in our lives.

PASTOR SPURGEON:

The way to a stronger faith usually lies along the rough path of sorrow.  Only as faith is contested will faith be confirmed.  I do not know if my experience is similar to all of God’s people, but all the grace  I have received in comfortable and easy times could lie on a penny.,

The good that I have received from sorrow, grief, and pain is incalculable.  What do I not owe to the hammer and the anvil, the fire and the file?  What do I not owe to the crucible and the furnace, the bellows that flamed the coals and the hand that thrust me into the heat?  Affliction is the best bit of  furniture in my house.  It is the best book in a minister’s library.  We may wisely rejoice in  various trials, knowing that the testing of our faith produces patience (James 1:2-3).  And through this we are exceedingly enriched and our faith grows strong.

An old Puritan said that  if you go into the woods and are very quiet, you will not know whether there is a partridge, or a pheasant, or a rabbit in it.  But when you move or make a noise, you soon see the living creatures.  They rise or they run.  When affliction comes into your soul and makes a disturbance and breaks your peace, your graces rise.  Faith comes out of hiding and love leaps from its secret place.

I remember Mr. William Jay saying that birds’ nests are hard to find in the summer, but that anyone can find a bird’s nest in the winter.  When all the leaves are off the trees the nests are highly visible.  Often in prosperity, we fail to find our faith.  Yet when adversity comes, the winter of our trial bares the branches, and we immediately see our faith.

“before I was afflicted I went astray,” said David, “but now I keep Your Word.”( Ps 119:67)  He found that his faith was really there by keeping God’s Word in the time of affliction.

There is no teaching or ministry even by the best taught servant of God that can do as much good as a sanctified experience.  You must learn under that blessed schoolmaster, Mr. Affliction.  It is good to go to his school, for the lessons are beneficial. 

We receive our sweetest comforts in the time of trouble.  I know that there are kisses from Jesus’ lips for His tested children.   “He will feed His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom.” (Isaiah 40:11).  I would love to be a lamb and ride close to His heart!  He will “gently lead those who are with young.”  (Isaiah 40:11).  Sometimes it is well for us to feel pain and weakness, that we may have more gentle leading form the tender Shepherd.

Christ is superlatively sweet!  The next sweetest thing is His dear cross.  Without it, and without us embracing it with a full repentant heart, everything in this life is a waste, and our afflictions will be worthless. But when we are His, we see that  He is most precious.  The love-pats of His pierced hands are the proof.

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