“Thou shalt be above only and thou shalt not be beneath” (Deut. 28:13).
By Jennie B. Logan (Egypt General Mission).
THIS verse came to me first as a very real message from God in a time of great pressure. We had fourteen guests in the Mission House and were almost without domestic help. I had perforce to lay aside correspondence and other duties, and give my time and attention to cooking and housework, and I was feeling the strain.
Then God’s word spoke to me with power: “Thou shalt be above only and thou shalt not be beneath,” and in a moment I saw there was no need to go under, no need to be overwhelmed by my circumstances. No need to trouble because it seemed as if I could not get through and my ordinary work was getting in arrears—somehow, I could be above it all. “Above only and not beneath.” How often I used to say as I went about my kitchen, “I refuse to go down,” and how the lesson I learned in those difficult days has been an inspiration ever since. Do you wonder that Deuteronomy 28:13 is one of my favorite verses in the Bible?
I see in it the possibility of a life of constant victory—not up today in heights of blessedness and down in the depths tomorrow. This is a steady life. It is the life that has been stabilized and settled by the God of all grace (1 Peter 5:10).
I do not for a moment see how this life is possible, but: “Thou shalt be above only and thou shalt not be beneath,” is the Father’s promise to His blood-bought child—and all the promises are yea and amen in Christ. Though heaven and earth pass away His word shall not pass away. When the billows roll and the stormy winds rage we can stand on the promise and refuse to be beneath.
“Above only” is a position of victory too. It is that position which is ours in Christ Jesus “crucified with Christ” (Gal. 2:20). “Quickened together with Christ... raised up together, made to sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:5, 6). “Your life is hid with Christ in God” (Col. 3:3). The lowliest, the weakest member of Christ’s body has in Him a position “far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion.” (Eph. 1:21.) If we could but realize our position what an asset it would be to us in the spiritual conflict portrayed in Eph. 6:10-20.
When we lived in Alexandria we used to see some fierce squalls of wind and rain, which lashed the sea into fury. The great buoys in the harbor would be covered with spray and foam, but when the wind died down again they were still there in their places unmoved and steady. “Above only,” for they had that within them which kept them on the top. And have we not power within us too, which should ensure our triumph? “That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith” (Eph. 3:17). “That ye might be filled with all the fullness of God” (Eph. 3:19). “Strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man” (Eph. 3:16). “We will come unto Him and make our abode with him” (John 14:23). “Be filled with the Spirit” (Eph. 5:18).
Possibility, promise, position and power—God grant we may experience to the full the blessings that are ours for the taking in Deuteronomy 28:13, and where our Heavenly Father says to us “Above only,” let us absolutely refuse to come down and live and work on a lower level.
“He took me from a fearful pit,
And from the miry clay,
And on a rock He set my feet,
Establishing my way.”