The hand of the Lord has done this....

The hand of the Lord has done this.

Job 12:9

Once again, Streams in the Desert has been a blessing to me.  Here is yesterday's reading......

"Several years ago there was found in an African mine the most magnificent diamond in the world's history. It was presented to the King of England to blaze in his crown of state. The King sent it to Amsterdam to be cut. It was put into the hands of an expert lapidary. And what do you suppose he did with it?

 

He took the gem of priceless value, and cut a notch in it. Then he struck it a hard blow with his instrument, and lo! the superb jewel lay in his hand cleft in twain. What recklessness I what wastefulness! what criminal carelessness!

 

Not so. For days and weeks that blow had been studied and planned. Drawings and models had been made of the gem. Its quality, its defects, its lines of cleavage had all been studied with minutest care. The man to whom it was committed was one of the most skillful lapidaries in the world.

 

Do you say that blow was a mistake? Nay. It was the climax of the lapidary's skill. When he struck that blow, he did the one thing which would bring that gem to its most perfect shapeliness, radiance, and jewelled splendor. That blow which seemed to ruin the superb precious stone was, in fact, its perfect redemption. For, from those two halves were wrought the two magnificent gems which the skilled eye of the lapidary saw hidden in the rough, uncut stone as it came from the mine.

 

So, sometimes, God lets a stinging blow fall upon your life. The blood spurts. The nerves wince. The soul cries out in agony. The blow seems to you an apalling mistake. But it is not, for you are the most priceless jewel in the world to God. And He is the most skilled lapidary in the universe.

 

Some day you are to blaze in the diadem of the King. As you lie in His hand now He knows just how to deal with you. Not a blow will be permitted to fall upon your shrinking soul but that the love of God permits it, and works out from its depths, blessing and spiritual enrichment unseen, and unthought of by you.
--J.H. McC.

 

In one of George MacDonald's books occurs this fragment of conversation: "I wonder why God made me," said Mrs. Faber bitterly. "I'm sure I don't know what was the use of making me!"

 

"Perhaps not much yet," said Dorothy, "but then He hasn't done with you yet. He is making you now, and you are quarrelling with the process."

 

If men would but believe that they are in process of creation, and consent to be made--let the Maker handle them as the potter the clay, yielding themselves in resplendent motion and submissive, hopeful action with the turning of His wheel--they would ere long find themselves able to welcome every pressure of that hand on them, even when it was felt in pain; and sometimes not only to believe but to recognize the Divine end in view, the bringing of a son unto glory."

 

"Not a single shaft can hit,

Till the God of love sees fit."

Let me know why You contend with me....

"I will say to God, 'Do not condemn me;

Let me know why You contend with me."

Job 10:2

 

Perhaps, O tried soul, the Lord is doing this to develop your gifts. There are some of your gifts which would never have been discovered if it were not for the trials. Do you not know that your faith never looks so grand in summer weather as it does in winter? Love is too often like a glowworm, showing but little light except it be in the midst of surrounding darkness. Hope itself is like a star--not to be seen in the sunshine of prosperity, and only to be discovered in the night of adversity. Afflictions are often the black folds in which God sets the jewels of His children's gifts, to make them shine the better.

 

It was but a little while ago that, on your knees, you were saying, "Lord, I fear I have no faith: let me know that I have faith."

 

Was not this really, though perhaps unconsciously, praying for trials?--for how can you know that you have faith until your faith is exercised? Depend upon it. God often sends us trials that our gifts may be discovered, and that we may be certain of their existence. Besides, it is not merely discovery; real growth in grace is the result of sanctified trials.

 

God trains His soldiers, not in tents of ease and luxury, but by turning them out and using them to forced marches and hard service. He makes them ford through streams, and swim through rivers and climb mountains, and walk many a weary mile with heavy knapsacks on their backs. Well, Christian, may not this account for the troubles through which you are passing? Is not this the reason why He is contending with you?
--C. H. Spurgeon

 

To be left unmolested by Satan is no evidence of blessing.

Amen!!!  I guess this is "Spurgeon Week!"  So much wonderful truth here.  I am blessed that God continues to remind me that being tethered to Him is far more important than my circumstances.  Praise Him.

Habakkuk 2:1

I will stand on my guard post

And station myself on the rampart;

And I will keep watch to see what He will speak to me,

And how I may reply when I am reproved.

In my devotional reading yesterday in Streams in the Desert, this entry was a real gem.  As I read through it, I thought, "This is so good.  So good."  And then I got to the end and saw that it was written by Charles Spurgeon, one of my favorite writers/preachers, and said, "Oh, of course!"  And I reread it this morning.  I don't want to be a trifler.  

"I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what he will say unto me (Hab. 2: 1).

There is no waiting on God for help, and there is no help from God, without watchful expectation on our part. If we ever fail to receive strength and defense from Him, it is because we are not on the outlook for it. Many a proffered succour from heaven goes past us, because we are not standing on our watch-tower to catch the far-off indications of its approach, and to fling open the gates of our heart for its entrance. He whose expectation does not lead him to be on the alert for its coming will get but little. Watch for God in the events of your life.

 

The old homely proverb says: "They that watch for Providence will never want a providence to watch for," and you may turn it the other way and say, "They that do not watch for providences will never have a providence to watch for." Unless you put out your water-jars when it rains you will catch no water.

 

We want to be more business-like and use common sense with God in pleading promises. If you were to go to one of the banks, and see a man go in and out and lay a piece of paper on the table, and take it up again and nothing more--if he did that several times a day, I think there would soon be orders to keep the man out.

 

Those men who come to the bank in earnest present their checks, they wait until they receive their gold, and then they go; but not without having transacted real business.

 

They do not put the paper down, speak about the excellent signature, and discuss the excellent document; but they want their money for it, and they are not content without it. These are the people who are always welcome at the bank, and not triflers. Alas, a great many people play at praying. They do not expect God to give them an answer, and thus they are mere triflers. Our Heavenly Father would have us do real business with Him in our praying.
--C. H. Spurgeon

 

"Thine expectation shall not be cut off." "

A Diary of Private Prayer

A Diary of Private Prayer ~ A Devotional Classic ~ by John Baillie

This is an absolute gem of a book.  A friend from high school recommended it to me, and I have loved every day I've read in it.  Unlike most devotionals, it is prayer alone for the beginning and end of each day.  Thirty one entries for each, plus a morning and evening for Sundays.  There are no stories, no commentary on Scripture, life and relationships, etc. except as applies to praying for guidance and forgiveness according to the the Word.  It directs my heart and mind to the essentials of a day before I start it, and ends with true examination of what the day past has held.  Wonderful, wonderful book.  It's one I'll be keeping with my Bible and Journal for a long time.