by M. Priestley
May I tell you a secret I have often tried to tell myself? God has a number of secrets. You know, I expect, that it is a law of nature that we can physically stand an immense pressure exerted on us externally by the atmosphere, namely 14 lbs. to the square inch. This totals up to about 14 tons on the total area of an average man. Remarkable, yet a fact.
This pressure could not be endured unless there was a counter power within exerting pressure outward, through the air that is within the physical body.
God's natural laws are set in relation to His spiritual laws. I would say that at the present time pressures are mounting on you in business, and they will increase, no doubt. There will be much to contend with in the way of planning, finance, decisions, not without anxieties and hard, time-absorbing work. In fact, as you already find, there is not enough time.
How do we cope with this situation? Just as God gives us strength as we come into His secret. Here it is: "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty." Psa. 91:1. Notice it says "Almighty." All the power is for us as we learn the secret. In this case it is a dwelling place. We may say that time is too pressing to have daily prayer. Yet it is good if we can, even if limited to personal prayer.
This secret, however, is not exactly a set time and place. It is what we carry with us continually. "Your life is hid with Christ in God." Col. 3:3. This statement is true of every Christian. Nobody can see this life. It is hidden, an unalterable fact, and not dependent on our state. If this is true of us, then we must make it true in experience. This side of it is given to us in Psa. 91:1, where we are viewed as putting ourselves in the good of the secret place. Nobody can see this either, for it is dwelling in the nearness of inward communion. Even in our busiest moments, we may just yield ourselves up to a secret consciousness of God's presence. It may not even be in words.
Other scriptures help here as well. "Trust in the Lord." "Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in Him." "Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him" (Psa. 37). As we cultivate this inwardly, it will work outwardly. The Lord can control and guide as He takes over. Grace is supplied to relieve us of pressure, and we can organize our time and affairs more effectively. I would seek it more myself. I suggest this will lead to personal and family devotion. This is a great bulwark in the home.
Often Christians forget the real secret, and outward things swamp the inward life and decline sets in. God may have to discipline to bring us back (Heb. 12:5-11). There is protection under the shadow of His wings, and rest and peace. He who dwells there learns the way of true wisdom as a portion the unbeliever can never have. Listen to the words of Job as he says of the ungodly, "Will he delight himself in the Almighty? will he always call upon God?" Job 27:10. No, but the godly do. Now hear his words as to wisdom in Job 28:12,13. "But where shall wisdom be found? and where is the place of understanding? Man knoweth not the price thereof; neither is it found in the land of the living.”
He concludes with the secret to all matters of this life: "And unto man He said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding." v. 28.
God has given us our natural abilities to use and promote. His seal of approval was on His creation as well as His Word. The whole vast field of spiritual and earthly things lies before us to explore, with the accent on the spiritual. Wisdom comes down from above, where we dwell with God, to order our affairs with men and the world of material things (James 3:17).
As to Heb. 12:5-11, chastening is an act of love. God does it for our profit, not always for correction.
He did not disclose His tender feelings to Job when He put him through the purifying fires of affliction, but He disclosed them to James in the New Testament in James 5:11. "Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy."