Gems from September 2017

Work and Rest

“I have filled him with the Spirit . . . to work.”

(Exodus 31:3-4)

"The sabbath of rest.”

(Exodus 31:15)

O may Thy Spirit teach my hands to toil, lest I be idle, or, unskilled, should spoil

With witless haste the task ordained to me.  O teach me how to work, and work with Thee.

O may Thy Spirit teach my heart to rest; tranquil to share with Thee Thy sabbath blest;

Resting from all my work and want and care, resting in Christ, for Thou art resting there.

(Bells & Pomegranates - James M. S. Tait)

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August 30

“He stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing.”

(Job 26:7)

“What is man, that Thou art 
mindful of him . . .?" (Psalms 8:4)

How rich I am!

God is the Creator of the whole universe, yet is holding my life in His hands.

He ever guides the constellations of stars, and at the same time remembers man.

Wind and water also obey Him.  And this is my God, my Father.  I am His child.

Nobody is like this Lord, and He loves me.

How rich I am! 

(This Day is the Lord’s - Corrie Ten Boom) 

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September 1

“And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when Thou comest into Thy kingdom.  And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with Me in paradise.”

(Luke 23:42-43)

When a prominent man dies, we are anxious to get

his last words and acts.

The last act of the Son of God was to save a sinner.

That was a part of the glory of His death.

He commenced His ministry by saving sinners,

and ended it by saving this poor thief.

(D. L. Moody)

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September 2

“If this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nought: but if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it.”

(Acts 5:38-39)

“He is like a man which built a house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently  upon that house,

and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock."

(Luke 6:48)

I know upon this lighthouse tower the winds and waves shall beat in vain;

I know that my Redeemer lives and in His death all death was slain;

I know my life is hid with Him beyond the reach of change or harm,

And life and death to me are one within the shelter of His arm.

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September 3

“Christ also loved the church, and gave Himself for it . . . that He might present it to Himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.”

(Ephesians 5:25,27)

Must I carry the world in my heart because I am down here in a body of sin and death?

No; blessed be His name! I have got the river of life flowing down from Christ 

above, and filling my heart, helping my soul to bear fruit unto Him from whom it flows.

The old Christian can say to a young Christian, "You may try, but you cannot satisfy your heart

with the world, for I have never found a thing in it to satisfy mine.”

But he could not say, “I have walked so far down the hill of life, and I cannot fail.”

Yet we can say, "Let all that can be brought against me, yet God will be faithful to His word,

and Christ will present me faultless and without spot or blemish before Him at His appearing."

If I could say I am a better man than when I began life in Christ, it would be only because I see more of my own vileness now than I did years ago. 

(Gleanings from the Teaching of G. V. Wigram)

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September 4

DO YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TIME?

“Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for MANY YEARS; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.”

"But God said unto him, Thou fool, THIS NIGHT thy soul shall be required of thee: 

then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?"

  (Luke 12:19-20)

The foolish farmer would fill his barns and then say to his soul, “Take it easy—you are well fixed for many years.”

But God said, “You fool, not many years but this night is the correct time!”

It is well to set our timepiece with God’s clock.

There is a lot of difference between many years and this night.

We have Daylight Saving Time,

but there is another far more important Soul Saving Time:

"Behold, NOW is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.”

(2 Corinthians 6:2) 

TODAY is God’s time.

TONIGHT your soul may be required.

Set your watch with heaven and not the faulty timepieces of earth.

Do you have the correct time?

(Vance Havner)

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September 5

RETREAT MEANS DEFEAT

“Without Me ye can do nothing."

(John 15:5)

"I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”

(Philippians 4:13)

We had such a nice little quiet, shady corner in the vineyard, down among the tender grapes,

with such easy little weedings and waterings to attend to.

And then the Master comes and draws us out into the thick of the work, and puts

us into a part of the field where we never should have thought of going,

and puts larger tools in our hands, that we may do more at a stroke.

And we know we are not sufficient for these things, and the very tools seem too heavy for us,

and the glare too dazzling, and the vines too tall.

Ah! but would we really go back?

He would not be in the old shady corner with us now; for when He put

us forth He went before us, and it is only by close following that we can abide with Him.

Without Him we could do nothing if we perversely and fearfully ran back to our old 

work.  With Him, "through Christ which strengtheneth" us, we “can do all things” 

in the new work.  Not our power, but His presence will carry us through.  

I could not do without Thee!  No other friend can read

The Spirit’s deepest longings, interpreting its need.

No human heart could enter each dim recess of mine.

And soothe and hush and calm it, O blessed Lord, but Thine!

 (Opened Treasures -Frances Ridley Havergal)

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September 6

“. . . love covereth . . .”

(Proverbs 10:12)

“Have fervent [love] among yourselves:

for [love] shall cover. . .”

(1 Peter 4:8) 

If we have not been able to discover the good thing in our brother fellow servant;

if our eye has detected only the crooked thing;

if we have not succeeded in finding the

vital spark amid the ashes,

the precious gem among the surrounding rubbish;

if we have seen only what was of one’s nature,

then let us with a loving and delicate hand draw the curtain of silence 

around our brother or speak of him only at the throne of grace.

(C. H. Macintosh)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Let us all resolve: first, to attain the grace of silence;

second, to deem all fault-finding 

that does no good;

third, to practice the grace and virtue of praise.”

(Harriet Beecher Stowe) 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You said your say: Mine answer was my deed.

(Tennyson)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

(Mountain Trailways for Youth)

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September 7

“Great & marvellous are Thy works, Lord God Almighty. . .”

(Revelation 15:3

"The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth His handiwork.” 
(Psalms 19:1) 

"I will praise Thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are Thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.” (Psalms 139:14)

God is great in great things, but very great in little things. A party stood on the Matterhorn admiring the sublimity of the scene, when a gentleman produced a pocket microscope, and having caught a fly, placed it under the glass.

He reminded us that the legs of the household fly in England were naked, then called attention to the legs of this little fly, which were thickly covered with hair,  thus showing that the same God who had made the lofty Swiss mountains had also attended to the comfort of His tiniest creatures, even producing socks and mittens for the little fly whose home these mountains were.  This God is our God!”

For the love of God is broader than the measure of man’s mind;

And the heart of the Eternal is most wonderfully kind.

(Frederick W. Faber)

All through the Bible there is a wonderful care of little things, God noticing them and bringing them to perfectness of meaning.

"He putteth my tears in His bottle” (Psalms 37:31); that is condescension.

"None of His steps shall slide,” (Psalms 37:31) as He numbered step by step all the going of His 

people. One of those people said, "Thou knowest my down sitting and mine uprising,”

and "Thou hast beset me behind and before” (Psalms 139:2.5).

(Joseph Parker)

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September 8

“No man hath seen God at any time.

If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and His love is perfected in us.”

(1 John 4:12)

"Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment:

because as He is, so are we in this world.”

(1 John 4:17)  

They told us in band class that practice makes perfect.

It didn’t.

In fact, imperfect practice only made the mistakes routine. Rather, it should be said that perfect 

practice makes perfect.

If we want our love to be made perfect we must start with perfect love,

His love, and practice showing it and 

sharing it with one another.

His perfect love casts out fear and that makes 

practicing a lot more enjoyable. 

(Rex Trogdon)

Oh, love of God, how rich and pure!  How measureless and strong!

It shall forevermore endure, the saints’ eternal song.

(F. M. Lehman)

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September 9

“None of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.” (Acts 20:24)

How far have your souls found steady rest in Christ?

Or how far are thy satisfied with Christ?

Forsaken of friends, are you still satisfied with Him? Or how far are there things that you crave and have to resist?

Have you done with the world, not as tired of its vanities, and weary of its pleasures, but because your souls have found something in Christ that satisfies for all?

Is He found such a manifestaion of God to your souls that you rest in Him?

Have you found such a ripeness in Christ that the soul is satisfied, so as not to want other things?

Then, if you have, you can say, “None of these things move me.”

(J. N. Darby)  

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September 10

“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28)

Anna Steele, whose hymns have helped so very many people,

encountered much pain and sorrow as she journeyed through life.

On the eve of her bridal morn, while she awaited the arrival of her betrothed,

a message came with the news that he had been drowned.

She retired to her chamber; and when the first violent shock had passed away and her

soul had somewhat recovered strength, she wrote a hymn which

has brought healing to many a wounded spirit.

“Father, what’er of earthly bliss Thy sovereign will denies,

Accepted at Thy throne of grace let this petition rise:

Give me a calm and thankful heart, from every murmur free;

The blessing of Thy grace impart, and let me live to Thee.”

(Heaven’s Care for Earth’s Joy)

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September 11

“We will flee upon horses.”

(Isaiah 30:16)

God is never slow from His standpoint, but He is from ours, 

because impetuosity and doing things prematurely are universal weaknesses.

God lives and moves in eternity, and every little detail in His working must be like Himself, and have in it the majesty and measured movement, as well as the accuracy and promptness of infinite wisdom.

We are to let God do the swiftness and we do the slowness.

The Holy Spirit tells us to “be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath.” That is, swift to take in from God, but slow to give out the opinions, the emotions of the creature.  

We miss a great many things from God by not going slow enough with Him. Who would have God change His perfections to accommodate our whims?

Have we not had glimpses into God’s perfections, insight into wonderful truths, quiet unfoldings of daily opportunities, gentle checks of the Holy Spirit upon our decisions or words, sweet and secret 

promptings to do certain things?  

There is a time for everything in the universe to get ripe—and to go slow with God is 

the heavenly pace that gathers up all things at the time they are ripe.

What they win, who wait for God, is worth waiting for!

Going slow with God is our greatest safety!  

(Springs in the Valley)

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September 12

ONE DAY AT A TIME

One of the most common causes of nervous exhaustion and breakdown is the attempt on the part of men and women to live three days in one.

When a person lives in a state of constant remorse because of past sins of omission and commission; and at the same time perpetually worries about the trials and responsibilities that may come tomorrow; and then finds that the tasks and obligations of today must be discharged, the natural

result is a mind overwrought.

But when that one, with a heart willing to be taught God’s way of life,

opens the Bible, relief is sure and speedy. 

We live in a three dimensioned world.

If we think of it in relation to space we have length, width, and depth;

but we are to think of it now in relation to time, which includes past, present and future.

YESTERDAY

“This one thing I do; forgetting those things which are behind . . . I press toward the

mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”

(Philippians 3:13-14).

TOMORROW

"Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take 

thought for the things of itself.  Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof” (Matthew 6:34). 

"Leave tomorrow’s troubles for tomorrow’s strength; tomorrow’s work for tomorrow’s time;

tomorrow’s trial for tomorrow’s grace—and tomorrow’s God." 

(David Livingston) 

TODAY

“As thy days so shall thy strength be” (Deuteronomy33:25).  It is not too much to say

that if we accept these words at their true value, all worry will be banished from

our lives. "The days of our years are three-score years and ten”- Psalm 90:10;

but remember that they come to us one at a time, and that  our

whole life is but a day repeated. 

(In Pastures Green)

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September 13

“Hold up my goings in Thy paths, that my footsteps slip not. I have called upon Thee, for Thou wilt hear me, O God: incline Thine ear unto me, and hear my speech.”

(Psalms 17:5-6)

He guides my halting footsteps 

Along the weary way,

For well He knows the pathway 

Will lead to endless day.

I sing through shade and sunshine,

And trust what’er befall;

His way is best—it leads to rest; 

My Father planned it all.

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September 14

“Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

(Matthew 11:28)

Perfect submission, all is at rest,

 I in my Saviour am happy and blessed.

Watching and waiting, looking above,

Filled  with  His goodness,

lost in His love.

(Treasures from Fanny Crosby)

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September 15

“When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee:  when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.”

(Isaiah 43:2) 

God sometimes shuts the door and shuts us in, that He may speak, perchance through grief or pain; And softly, heart to heart, above the din may teach some precious truth to us again. In old testament worship, the mercy seat was the cover of the Ark of the Covenant, which housed the Mosaic tables of stone, a pot of manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded.

The mercy seat was a most sacred, holy place.  It symbolized the place of God’s eternal presence with His people. 

When the storms of life blow our way, we can either cringe in despair or flee to the heavenly Mercy Seat-the God of all comfort (2 Corinthians 1:3-4).  There we can find the help and strength to be over-comers.

Trials can sometimes embitter and harden our spirits.  However, if we use the trial to lean more fully on Christ and to learn the lesson He desires to teach us, we become stronger in our faith.

From every stormy wind that blows, from every swelling tide of woes, there is a calm, a sweet retreat; ’Tis found before the mercy-seat.

There is a place where mercy sheds the oil of gladness on our heads; a place than all beside more sweet—It is the heavenly mercy-seat.

There is a spot where souls unite, and saint meets saint in heavenly light; though sundered far, by faith they meet before the common mercy-seat.

Ah! whither could we flee for aid when tempted, desolate, dismayed? or how the hosts of hell defeat, had suffering saints no mercy-seat?  

Thither by faith we upward soar, and time and sense seem all no more,

For freely God our souls can greet where glory crowns the Mercy-seat.   

(Hugh Stowell)

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September 16

The Worldling's Bible!

"Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works,

 and glorify your Father which is in Heaven.” 

Matthew 5:16 

The worldling's Bible is the Christian. 

He never reads the Book--but he reads the disciple of Christ,

 and he judges the Christian religion by the lives of its professors! 

The world does not read the Bible--the world reads Christians!

"For it is the will of God, that with well doing ye put to silence the ignorance of foolish men!” 

1 Peter 2:15 

“I therefore the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love.”  

 Ephesians 4:1-2

(Charles Spurgeon)

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September 17

“See that ye refuse not Him that speaketh.  For if they escaped not who refused Him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from Him that speaketh from heaven:

Whose voice then shook the earth . . . yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven.  And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.”

Hebrews 12:25-27

That which does not result from the Divine nature itself will be removed:

no testing or shaking afterwards.

How important for the soul not to be following the opinion of men,

or leaning upon men, but upon that which 

“cannot be shaken.”

That which has its foundation in the Word of God only 

will abide, and not “be shaken.”

“Receiving a kingdom.” 

That which we have in Christianity is final—not to be moved.

(Hunt’s Sayings)

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September 18

“Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, 

let your requests be made known unto God.”

(Philippians 4:6)

The word “nothing” covers the whole range of wilderness anxieties without omitting one.

It does not include sin, far from it, for the simple reason that sin is 

in no wise contemplated in this epistle.

It is not proper to the experience of the Christian, though, alas! every true believer realizes

 its presence, and needs to be on constant guard against its subtile workings.

Sin is abnormal to Christian experience—not impossible, but not normal.

It is confessed and judged just on that very account.

The child of God should be most careful about sin, 

but apart from that he should be careful about nothing—no thing!

(Comforted of God - A.J. Pollock) 

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September 19

"Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made know unto God . . .”  

Solution - This is exercise, deep, earnest and precious.  It is not careless nor indifference.

There is prayer; there is supplication; there is making requests known to God;

and there is the blending of thanksgiving with every prayer.

This signifies close personal dealing with God.   

“In everything,” no matter how small, nor how great or complex, 

let each request of the burdened heart be laid before Him.

The Bible teems with instances of prayerful men, who spread all kinds of requests before God,

from kings on their thrones to prisoners in chains, and never was a deaf ear 

turned to the lowly and believing suppliant.

(Comforted of God - A. J. Pollock)

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September 20

“Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving,

let your requests be made know unto God.  And the peace of God, which passeth all 

understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

(Philippians 4:6-7)

Supplication is prayer intensified; it is importunity; its root idea is the sense of want; 

it is illustrated in the Prodigal Son.

The word is often used by the Apostle Paul; but it must carry no legal, or

cringing, or selfish element; it must be sustained by thanksgiving; 

for remember that the Christian has received infinitely more 

than he can ever request.  

His blessings far exceed his greatest wants.

God loves a thankful suppliant, and in this happy spirit the requests are made know to One who

assuredly knows all about them, but who waits for the cries of the wearied child,

so that He may pour in the flood of His own incomprehensible peace.

As God’s peace enters care departs; the soul is tranquilized.  No direct answer may have been gathered— the thorn may remain in the flesh—but the heart and mind are garrisoned by the deep, 

eternal calm that marks the throne on high.

See the reflection of that calm as it shone in the face of Stephen; see it in the words of Paul:

“I am ready to be offered”; recall it in the bold language of the three men who had  

to face the fiery furnace of Nebuchadnezzar, when they said:

“We are not careful to answer thee in this matter . . . We will not serve thy gods, 

nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.”

And witness the Son of God as their companion in that fiery ordeal.

(Comforted of God - A. J. Pollock)

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September 21

"Slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep; And an idle soul shall suffer hunger.”

(Proverbs 19:15)

Many of us fail to realize that idleness is sin.

Time wasted is time to be accounted for at the judgment-seat of Christ.

Needed rest is, of course, very right and proper.

Jesus Himself had to say to His disciples,

“Come ye yourselves apart . . . and rest awhile” (Mark  6:31).

But idleness is quite different.

Slothfulness is trifling away opportunities that will never return.

It is failing to appreciate the value of time.

In a natural sense, the sluggard is made to feel the pinch of want; 

and spiritually, the same is also true.

He who, for lack of godly energy, does not bestir himself to procure suited sustenance  

for his soul, will come to want, and know the pangs of famine. 

“Redeeming the time, because the days are evil” (Ephesians 5:16).     

(Proverbs - H. A. Ironside)

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September 22

“Today if ye will hear His voice, harden not your hearts.”

(Hebrews 4:7)

Once a man wrote in a book the experiences he had had with the Lord, and the blessings received.  When he was downhearted, he read it.

But the rats, fond of eating paper, found it.

One day he sent his servant for the book, and his servant returned and said: “O Master, the rats have eaten up all your experiences!” 

It would be a good thing if some kind rat would eat up all our experiences if we are in the least living on them. The word is always TODAY if ye will hear His voice, harden not your hearts.   

What about today?  Is all well today?

Is there anything today about which my Lord wants to speak to me?

Let us not harden our hearts, but listen and obey.

(Whispers of His Power - Amy Carmichael)

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September 23

“And even to your old age I am He; and even to hoar hairs will I carry you: I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you."

(Isaiah 46:4)

This priceless passage was originally given to the children of Israel.

But by the grace of God we who are also redeemed by the precious blood of the

 Lamb can appropriate the comforting message to ourselves.

Dear child of God are you nearing the end of the journey;

too tired to walk any further?

Take courage!  

Your heavenly Father will 

carry you the rest of the way home.

(E. MacLelland)

“ ’Tis Jesus the first and the last, whose Spirit shall guide us safe home,

We’ll praise Him for all that is past, and trust Him for all that’s to come.”

(Joseph Hart)

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September 24

"Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself: handle Me, and see;

for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see Me have."

(Luke 24:39)

Is there not a lesson here?

We are afraid often to look at our troubles, 

and they hover like spectres around and over us.

If we would only grasp them and look at them intently, not only might they appear less 

ominous, but we should see another form behind them, and we 

should hear a voice speaking out of the cloud,

“Handle Me and see.” 

As those disciples did so, their trouble ceased, and their joy knew no bounds—

it was CHRIST!  They had recovered all.

Why has God allowed your grief, your loneliness, your loss?  That you may find Christ.

That out of the gloomy shadow He may arise as a bright reality.

If you are afraid of your grief, you will be its slave, and live in fear of it all your days.

Grasp it, look at it, hold it in your hand, and you will find God in it, and

it will yield you a blessing of which you had never dreamed.

(Russell Elliott)

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September 25

“Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear My voice,

and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me.”

(Revelation 3:20) 

Behold the Saviour at the door!

He gently knocks, has knocked before;

Has waited long, is waiting still;

You use no other friend so ill.

Admit Him, for the human breast

N’er entertained so kind a guest;

No mortal tongue their joys can tell,

With whom He condescends to dwell.

(Joseph Grigg)

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September 26

“For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass.  The grass withereth, and the flower thereof fadeth away:  But the word of the Lord endureth for ever.  And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.”

(1 Peter 1:24-25) 

This quotation from Isaiah 40 is very remarkable. 

Do you think you have a better nature than your neighbour, or your neighbour than you?

God says all flesh is grass, and He says this when  comforting His people.

It is not the way you and I would comfort each other, to tell each other that we are utterly worthless.

That is the way, however, that That God takes to comfort a repentant people.

It is an immense comfort to discover that God knows I am worthless, 

and that He expects no good out of me. 

Nature is like grass, God says, but His Word is abiding and enduring for ever,

and God has put in your soul a principle of blessing that is immutable, 

and unchanging and eternal, for if it is from Himself, 

and like Himself. 

I have told you what you are, Peter says; now I will tell you what God is.

You are grass, whereas God is everlasting, and His Word endures for ever, 

and He has put His Word in your heart, and now you have a nature like Himself. 

(W. T. P. Wolston) 

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September 27

"IF ANY MAN SIN”

If any man sin . . .  1 John 2:1. 

If we confess our sins . . . 1 John 1:9.

If we walk in the light . . . 1 John 1:7.

We should not sin, but if we do sin we have an Advocate with the Father.

We have a prosecutor, and an accuser, the devil (Revelation 12:10); but we also have a lawyer to plead our case, Jesus Christ the righteous (1 John 2:1).

If we confess our sins the Father will forgive and cleanse. (1 John 1:9). There must be genuine repentance and confession, but we need not wallow in remorse.

God is our Father, if we believe and we are His children.

And "like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear Him.”   

(Psalm 103:13) 

"If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another; and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:7).

Provision has been made for victory over sin.  God’s plan is to keep us from sin, not to keep us in sin. There is no ground for complacent living in iniquity just because we are “under the blood.”

It is not that we are not able to sin but that we are able not to sin. But He also has made provision if we do sin, forgiveness and cleansing if we confess.

(Day by Day - Vance Havner)

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September 28

“My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”

(Philippians 4:19)

Every man has a soul, a need, and a future;

and every believer in Christ has the Saviour, the Supplier, and the Security.

Think what opportunities we who know Christ have to minister to needy souls every day.

Opportunity is not measured  by obstacles, but by resources.

And our resources are infinite.

(Food for Thought - John Kaiser)

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September 29

“. . . Their strength is to sit still.”

(Isaiah 30:7)

Be still, my soul; the Lord is on thy side; bear patiently the cross of grief or pain;

Leave to thy God to order and provide; in ev’ry change He faithful will remain.

Be still, my soul: thy best, thy heavenly, Friend thro’ thorny ways leads to a joyful end.

Be still, my soul: thy God doth undertake to guide the future as He has the past.

Thy hope, thy confidence, let nothing shake; all now mysterious shall be bright at last.

Be still, my soul: the waves and winds still know His voice, who ruled them while He dwelt below.

(Katharina von Schlegel)

Quiet minds cannot be perplexed or frightened, but go on in fortune or misfortune at their own private pace, like a clock during a thunderstorm.

(Traveling Toward Sunrise)

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September 30

“And Joseph was brought down to Egypt; and Potiphar . . . bought him. . . . Joseph found grace in his sight, and he served him: . . .”

(Genesis 39:1,4) 

Cut off from his (Joseph's) own people in a strange land he becomes a slave in the house of the Egyptian; falsely accused by a wicked woman, and under the stigma of a great sin, he is cast into prison.

There treated with base ingratitude, he is left to languish, a forgotten man.  Suffering dishonour upon dishonour, his path is ever downward. The clouds gather round him and his way grows darker, until apparently his sun has set in hopeless gloom.

But behind all that is apparent to nature, faith can discern the purpose of God to exalt Joseph to a position of supremacy and glory.  If God is set upon the fulfilment of His purpose, Satan will put forth every effort to thwart God’s purpose.

Satan uses the wickedness of the brethren to banish Joseph from house and home; he uses Potiphar’s wicked wife to bring Joseph into prison; and he uses Pharaoh’s ungrateful butler to keep him there.

Every step in the downward path is an apparent triumph for Satan, and would seem to make the fulfillment of God’s purpose more remote.

To the natural view Satan’s plans appear to prosper, and God’s purposes suffer apparent defeat.  Faith, however, can discern the hand of God behind the wiles of Satan.  If Satan is using man to hinder God’s purposes, God is using Satan to carry them out.  Every kind of agent is at God’s disposal.

Angels and archangels, saints and sinners, the devil and his demons, all serve to carry out God’s plans.  The very elements—fire and hail, snow and vapours, and stormy wind—are "fulfilling His word”  (Psalm 148:8).

Nor is it otherwise with the circumstances of life, as we see in the story of Joseph.  

(Hamilton Smith)

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