"Tell him your story; unfold to him your case; expect deliverance through him alone; — be satisfied to receive it as it shall please him to give it and in the time that seems best to him.
By prayer and faith on your part and promise on his, there is an alliance signed, sealed, and ratified.
Your enemies see you alone, and dream not that the Almighty is your ally, and that they are rushing upon the thick bosses of his shield. See him that is to them invisible, and be of good courage."
— George Bowen (1816–1888) · The White Sadhu of Bombay✦ Tell Him Your Story
Bowen begins with the simplest instruction: talk to God. Not with formal prayers or theological precision. Tell Him your story. Unfold your case the way you would lay papers on a table before someone you trust completely. Here is where I am. Here is what I face. Here is what I cannot see.
Three conditions for the waiting: expect deliverance through Him alone — not through plans alone, not through favorable circumstances. Be satisfied to receive it as He gives it — not as you imagined. And in the time that seems best to Him — the hardest of the three.
"By prayer and faith on your part and promise on his, there is an alliance signed, sealed, and ratified."
— George Bowen · Not a wish. Not a hope. A ratified covenant.✦ The Thick Bosses of His Shield
An alliance — signed by prayer, sealed by faith, ratified by promise. Three parties to the contract and none of them can break it. And those who would discourage or press or whisper fear? They look at the situation and see one soul alone. They see the surface. They do not see the alliance. They do not see what stands behind.
They are rushing upon the thick bosses of His shield. The bosses — the raised iron studs on the face of a shield, the hardest point, where the blow lands and breaks. Whatever comes against the soul that waits on the Lord does not reach her. It reaches His shield first.
See Him that is to them invisible, and be of good courage. Hebrews 11:27 — Moses endured as seeing Him who is invisible. The same faith that couched the moral vision, widened the channel, turned toward the sun — that faith now sees what the enemies cannot see. And the seeing produces courage.
✦ Five Ways to Wait
An Explicit Statement
Not vague hoping. Telling God clearly what the case is. The rough draft laid on the table. This is what I need. This is where I am.
Continuous Prayer
Not one prayer and then silence. 1 Thessalonians 5:17 — pray without ceasing. The ongoing conversation that does not close when the morning ends.
The Study of His Word
The morning devotion. The eye kept open, the channel kept clean, the soul turned toward the sun — daily.
Trust, Penitence, and Obedience
Three in one because they cannot be separated. Trust without obedience is presumption. Obedience without penitence is self-righteousness. Penitence without trust is despair.
The Society of His People
Not alone. The waiting is done among those who also wait — the community of believers, the cloud of witnesses, the faithful across centuries who held the same shield.
"He only has properly anything to do with courage, who waits on the Lord. To be bold without the favor of God, to be brave where we have no warrant for intrepidity, to be fearless where there is nothing but our own prowess, wisdom or luck to aid us, is simply to play the fool.
A man must either have Omnipotence with him or against him. What matters it if he is able to cut his way through an army, if he wait not on God? A tile from a roof may crush him. The wrath of God abides on him. His deeds are done on the border of a precipice which he sees not. His foot shall slide in due time."
— George Bowen (1816–1888)✦ Courage That Is Not Foolishness
Bowen draws the sharpest line of the morning. Courage without God is not courage — it is foolishness wearing courage's clothes. The man who cuts his way through an army without God can be crushed by a tile from a roof. The strength was never the point. The alliance was.
True courage belongs only to the one who waits on the Lord — because only that soul has Omnipotence as an ally. Every other form of bravery, however impressive, is done on the border of a precipice the brave man cannot see.
The Alliance
Signed by prayer, sealed by faith, ratified by promise. The enemies see you alone and dream not that the Almighty stands behind you. They rush upon the thick bosses of His shield and break.
See the Invisible
Hebrews 11:27 — enduring as seeing Him who is invisible. The faith that has been couched and widened and turned now sees what the enemies cannot. The seeing produces the courage.
True Courage
He only has anything to do with courage who waits on the Lord. Boldness without God is foolishness. A man must have Omnipotence with him or against him. There is no middle ground.
"Be of good courage. I need to grow in good courage and trust in the grace of God at this time of transition."
The soul that says I need to grow is already growing. The soul that admits the courage is not yet full is the soul whose channel is open for it to be filled. The need spoken honestly, not hidden — and the God who catches every trembling desire in His own vessel has caught this one too.
Eleven days of Bowen. From Normandy through southwest France to Caldas da Rainha — the place where this journal began on February 19 with Nahum 1:12. Full circle. And the word that meets the pilgrim here, in the apartment she is packing to leave, is exactly the word the moment requires: wait on the Lord, be of good courage.