Are you in any difficulty? Is there any pressure upon you? Are you anticipating with nervous apprehension some formidable evil? Is your heart trembling at the very thought of it? It may be that you are like one who has come to the far end, like the Apostle Paul in Asia, "Pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life." If so, beloved friend, accept a word of encouragement. It is our deep and earnest desire to strengthen your hands in God, and to encourage your heart to trust Him for all that is before you. "Fear not"; only believe. He never fails a trusting heart- no, never. Make use of the resources which are treasured up for you in Him. Just put yourself, your surroundings, your fears, your anxieties, all into His hands, and leave them there.
Yes; leave them there. It is of little use your putting your difficulties, your necessities, into His hands, and then, almost immediately, taking them into your own. We often do this. When in pressure, in need, in deep trial of some kind or other, we go to God in prayer; we cast our burden upon Him, and seem to get relief. But alas! no sooner have we risen from our knees, than we begin again to look at the difficulty, ponder the trial, dwell upon all the sorrowful circumstances, until we are again at our very wits' end.
Now this will never do. It sadly dishonors God, and, of course, leaves us unrelieved and unhappy. He would have our minds as free from care as the conscience is free from guilt. His word to us is, "Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God." And what then? "The peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep [or garrison] your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."
Thus it was that Moses, that beloved man of God and honored servant of Christ, sought to encourage his fellow laborer and successor, Joshua, in reference to all that was before him. "Ye shall not fear them: for the LORD your. God He shall fight for you." Deut. 3:2222Ye shall not fear them: for the Lord your God he shall fight for you. (Deuteronomy 3:22). Thus too did the blessed
Apostle Paul encourage his beloved son and fellow servant Timothy to trust in the living God; to be strong in the grace which is in Christ Jesus; to lean with unshaken confidence on God's sure foundation; to commit himself with unquestioning assurance to the authority, teaching, and guidance of the Holy Scriptures; and thus armed and furnished, to give himself with holy diligence and true spiritual courage to that work to which he was called. And thus too, the writer and the reader can encourage one another, in these days of increasing difficulty, to cling in simple faith to that Word which is settled forever in heaven- to have it hidden in the heart as a living power and authority in the soul, something which will sustain us, though heart and flesh shall fail, and though we had not the countenance or support of a human being. "All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: but the word of the Lord endureth forever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you." 1 Pet. 1:24, 2524For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: 25But 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).
How precious is this! What comfort and consolation! What stability and rest! What real strength, victory, and moral elevation! It is not within the compass of human language to set forth the preciousness of the Word of God, or to define in adequate terms the comfort of knowing that the selfsame Word is settled forever in heaven, and which shall endure throughout the countless ages of eternity, is that which has reached our hearts in the glad tidings of the gospel, imparting to us eternal life, and giving us peace and rest in the finished work of Christ, and a perfectly satisfying Object in His adorable Person. Truly, as we think of all this, we cannot but own that every breath should be a hallelujah. Thus it shall be by-and-by, and that forever, all homage to His peerless name!