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Our Refuge and Strength, November 16
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.... The
Lord of hosts is with us.
Psalm 46:1-11
.
Faith is not the ground of our salvation, but it is the great blessing—the
eye that sees, the ear that hears, the feet that run, the hand that grasps. It is
the means, not the end....
We have every encouragement that, if we daily surrender our wills to God,
the promise will be fulfilled, “And of his fulness have we all received, and
grace for grace” (
John 1:16
). Every revealing of the grace of Christ in our
behalf is for us. We are to reveal His grace in our lives, in thought, word, and
deed. Let us not lose our opportunity to speak and act Christ Jesus. We are
to represent the mercy, the love, and the power of Christ—the power that He
has given us....
Were it not for the power received through Christ, we would have no
strength. But Christ has all power. “Jesus came and spake unto them, saying,
All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach
all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and
of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have
commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the
world” (
Matthew 28:18-20
).
Here is our power, our comfort. Of ourselves, we have no strength. But
He says, “I am with you alway,” helping you to perform your duty, guiding,
comforting, sanctifying, and sustaining you, giving you success in speaking
words that will draw the attention of others to Christ, and awaken in their
minds the desire to understand the hope and meaning of the truth, turning
them from darkness to light and from the power of sin to God.
It is a wonderful thought that human beings can speak the Word of God,
in simple words of comfort and encouragement. The humblest instruments
will be used of God to sow the seeds of truth, which may spring up and bear
fruit, because the one in whose heart they were sown needed help—a kind
thought, a kind word, made effective by the One who has said, “Lo, I am
with you alway, even unto the end of the world.”—
Letter 329a, November
16, 1905
, to her 19-year-old granddaughter Mabel.
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