Classic Christian Quotes from Classic Ministers 1

Classic Christian Quotes from Classic Ministers 1

The Power of Zero

Perhaps you are in a very stressful time in your life right now, and you feel you can't go on.  I want you to know that you are not alone.  In fact, some of the greatest men and women of God have gone through what you are going through right now.

One of those individuals is the prophet Elijah whom I mentioned in yesterday's devotional.  After a great spiritual victory over the priests of Baal, we find him on the run, wondering whether life is even worth it.

We catch the story in 1 Kings 19:4-6,

But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a broom tree.  And he prayed that he might die, and said, "It is enough!  Now, LORD, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers!"  Then as he lay and slept under a broom tree, suddenly an angel touched him, and said to him, "Arise and eat."  Then he looked, and there by his head was a cake baked on coals, and a jar of water.  So he ate and drank, and lay down again.

Elijah had reached that "zero" place in his life.  There was nothing left.  He had given it all and the tank was empty.

Maybe that describes you right now, you are on the verge of quitting.  You figure, "I've had enough.  I'm done.  Enough pressures, enough hassles, I cannot ride this thing out anymore.  My strength is gone!" 

Well, did you notice that when Elijah was at the end of his strength, that was when God intervened?  Being out of strength, being at zero, is not a bad place to be. If you will look to God, He is prepared to meet you in your moment of need.

~Bayless Conley~

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I will be still, and I will behold in my dwelling place (Isaiah 18:4, RV).

Assyria was marching against Ethiopia, the people of which are described as tall and smooth. And as the armies advance, God makes no effort to arrest them; it seems as though they will be allowed to work their will. He is still watching them from His dwelling place, the sun still shines on them; but before the harvest, the whole of the proud army of Assyria is smitten as easily as when sprigs are cut off by the pruning hook of the husbandman.

Is not this a marvelous conception of God--being still and watching? His stillness is not acquiescence. His silence is not consent. He is only biding His time, and will arise, in the most opportune moment, and when the designs of the wicked seem on the point of success, to overwhelm them with disaster. As we look out on the evil of the world; as we think of the apparent success of wrong-doing; as we wince beneath the oppression of those that hate us, let us remember these marvelous words about God being still and beholding.

There is another side to this. Jesus beheld His disciples toiling at the oars through the stormy night; and watched though unseen, the successive steps of the anguish of Bethany, when Lazarus slowly passed through the stages of mortal sickness, until he succumbed and was borne to the rocky tomb. But He was only waiting the moment when He could interpose most effectually.

Is He still to thee? He is not unobservant; He is beholding all things; He has His finger on thy pulse, keenly sensitive to all its fluctuations. He will come to save thee when the precise moment has arrived.
--Daily Devotional Commentary

Whatever His questions or His reticences, we may be absolutely sure of an unperplexed and undismayed Saviour.

O troubled soul, beneath the rod,
Thy Father speaks, be still, be still;
Learn to be silent unto God,
And let Him mould thee to His will.
O praying soul, be still, be still,
He cannot break His plighted Word;
Sink down into His blessed will,
And wait in patience on the Lord.
O waiting soul, be still, be strong,
And though He tarry, trust and wait;
Doubt not, He will not wait too long,
Fear not, He will not come too late.

~L. B. Cowman~

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Word to Him Who Halts

"I will save her that halteth"   (Zephaniah 3:19).
There are plenty of these lame ones, both male and female. You may meet "her that halteth" twenty times in an hour. They are in the right road and exceedingly anxious to run in it with diligence, but they are lame and make a sorry walk of it. On the heavenly road there are many cripples. It may be that they say in their hearts -- What will become of us? Sin will overtake us; Satan will throw us down. Ready-to-halt is our name and our nature; the LORD can never make good soldiers of us, nor even nimble messengers to go on His errands. Well, well! He will save us, and that is no small thing. He says, "I will save her that halteth." In saving us He will greatly glorify Himself. Everybody will ask -- How came this lame woman to run the race and win the crown? And then the praise will all be given to almighty grace.

LORD, though I halt in faith, in prayer, in praise, in service, and in patience, save me, I beseech Thee! Only Thou canst save such a cripple as I am. LORD, let me not perish because I am among the hindmost, but gather up by Thy grace the slowest of Thy pilgrims -- even me. Behold He hath said it shall be so, and therefore, like Jacob, prevailing in prayer, I go forward though my sinew be shrunk.

~Charles Spurgeon~