The Almighty has afflicted me!
(Charles Spurgeon)
"The Almighty has afflicted me!" Ruth 1:21
It is a sweet thing to be able to trace the hand of God in our afflictions, for nothing can come from that hand towards one of His children, but that which is good and right.
If you will think of those hands of which the Lord says, "I have engraved you upon the palms of My hands"--you may rest assured that nothing can come from those hands but what infinite wisdom directs, and infinite love has ordained!
"For the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and chastises every son whom He receives." Hebrews 12:6
"God disciplines us for our good, that we may share His holiness." Hebrews 12:10
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That hair's-breadth has sufficed to direct the current of our life!
(Charles Spurgeon)
"Now the donkeys belonging to Saul's father Kish were lost, and Kish said to his son Saul: Take one of the servants with you and go and look for the donkeys." 1 Samuel 9:3 , 20
Saul went out to seek his father's donkeys. He failed in the search, but he found a crown. He met with the Prophet Samuel, who anointed him king over God's people, Israel--and this was far better than finding the obstinate donkeys. Let us consider this amazing incident. Perhaps, though it treats of donkeys, it may yield us some royal thoughts.
Observe how the hand of God's providence causes little things to lead on to great matters.
This man Saul must be placed in the way of the Prophet Samuel. How shall a meeting be brought about? Poor beasts of burden shall be the intermediate means! The donkeys go astray and Saul's father bids him take a servant and go seek them. In the course of their wanderings, the animals might have gone North, South, East or West--for who shall account for the wild will of runaway donkeys? But so it happened, as men say, that they strayed in such a direction that, by-and-by, Saul found himself near to Ramah, where Samuel, the Prophet, was ready to anoint him king.
On how small an incident the greatest results may hinge!
The pivots of history are microscopic!
Hence, it is most important for us to learn that the smallest trifles are as much arranged by the God of Providence, as the most grandiose events. He who counts the stars, has also numbered the hairs of our heads! Our lives and deaths are predestined--but so, also, are our sitting down and our rising up.
Had we but sufficiently powerful perceptive faculties, we would see God's hand as clearly in each stone of our pathway, as in the revolution of the planets.
In watching our own lives, we may plainly see that on many occasions the merest trifle has turned the scale. Whereas there seemed to be but a hair's-breadth between one course of action and another--yet that hair's-breadth has sufficed to direct the current of our life!
Providence may be seen as the finger of God, not merely in those events which shake nations and are duly emblazoned on the pages of history, but also in little incidents of common life--yes, in the motion of a grain of dust, the trembling of a dewdrop, the flight of a swallow, or the leaping of a fish!
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Head, hand, heart, lip, and life
(Thomas Brooks, "The Crown and Glory of Christianity, or, HOLINESS, the Only Way to Happiness")
True holiness is diffusive. It extends, diffuses, and spreads itself all over the whole person . . .
the head and the heart;
the lip and the life;
the inside and the outside.
The understanding is nourished on holiness,
the mind is adorned with holiness,
the will is bowed to holiness, and
all the affections are sprinkled, yes, clothed with holiness . . .
love is holy love,
grief is holy grief,
joy is holy joy,
sorrow is holy sorrow,
fear is holy fear,
care is holy care,
zeal is holy zeal.
Real holiness spreads itself over head, hand, heart, lip, and life.
"May God Himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." 1 Thessalonians 5:23
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