Our Rock of Ages

I've always been a big reader, but since becoming a mama to our sweet Emma, I'm almost exclusively a bathroom reader.  That makes it kind of difficult to have any sort of a quiet time.  Until I took this book down from our shelves.

I can't tell you how wonderful it's been!  I've marked so many pages, knowing that there will come days in the future when they'll be needed again.  Today, I'd like to share one devotion with you.  It's one that was timed perfectly (of course), as I had just gone through an intense desire to turn to friends for advice.  The Holy Spirit had convicted me that all I needed was God & so helped me overcome that desire.  On the heels of that, I came to this exhortation.  May you find it as timely as I.

It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man.

- Psalm 118:8

No doubt the reader has been tempted to rely upon the things that are seen instead of resting alone upon the invisible God.  Christians often look to man for help & advice & so spoil the noble simplicity of their reliance upon God.  Does this evening's passage meet the eye of a child of God who is filled with anxiety?  Then let us reason with you.  You trust in Jesus, & only in Jesus, for your salvation; then why are you troubled?  "Because of my great care."  Is it not written, "Cast your burden upon the Lord"?  "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer & supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God."  (Phil. 4:6)  Can you trust God for your physical needs?  "Ah!  I wish I could."  If you cannot trust God with the physical, how dare you trust Him with the spiritual?  Can you trust Him for your soul's redemption, & yet not rely upon Him for a few lesser mercies?  Is God not enough for your need, or is His all-sufficiency too narrow for your wants?  Do you need another to watch for you when you have Him who sees every secret thing?  Is His heart faint?  Is His arm weary?  If so, seek another God; but if He is infinite, omnipotent, faithful, true, & all-wise, why do you run around seeking another confidence?  Why do you scour the earth to find another foundation when this is strong enough to bear all the weight that you can ever build on it?  Christian, do not mix your wine with water; do not tarnish the gold of faith with the dross of human confidence.  Wait only upon God, & let your expectation be from Him.  Do not covet Jonah's gourd but rest in Jonah's God.  Let the sandy, shaky foundations be the choice of fools; but you, like one who sees the approaching storm, build for yourself an abiding place upon the Rock of Ages.

Morning and Evening, C.H. Spurgeon, March 7 evening