The way that God keeps His people secure is not by shutting out their enemies from attacking them, but by sustaining them while they are engaged in the conflict.
To stand where arrows are flying thick as hail, where spears are being thrust with fury, where sword blows are falling on every side — and in the middle of it all to prove invulnerable, unconquerable, immortal — this is to wear a divine life that cannot be overcome by human power. Such is the calling of the Christian.
God will put us where we must be tested and tempted. If we are not tested, there is no honour to Him who preserves us. The Lord does not put His plants into a greenhouse. No — He sets them out in the open air, and if the frost is coming, He says, "No frost can kill them, and they will be all the sturdier in the summer for the cold in the winter."
✦ Not a Greenhouse — The Open Air
Not a greenhouse. The open air. The frost comes. The heat comes. The arrows fly. And the Christian stands — not because the arrows miss, but because the life inside is divine and cannot be overcome. Spurgeon says the testing is not an accident. It is a design: if we are not tested, there is no honour to Him who preserves us.
The honour is not in the protection. The honour is in the preservation. Anyone can survive behind walls. But to stand in the open — in the conflict, in the testing season, surrounded by packing boxes and deadlines and stress — and to be sustained? That is the calling. 🙏
You are like a stream from Lebanon — to be dashed down many a waterfall, to be broken over many a rough rock, to be blocked by many a huge stone, to be impeded by many a fallen tree. But you are to rush forward with the unstoppable force of God, sweeping everything away, until you find at last the place of your perfect rest.
✦ The Stream — Not Gentle
Guyon's stream from day twenty-five — lost in the river, flowing to the ocean. And now Spurgeon adds what Guyon left unsaid: the stream is not a gentle brook. It crashes over waterfalls. It breaks on rocks. It is blocked and impeded. And it rushes forward anyway — not by its own force, but by the unstoppable force of God.
The place of perfect rest is at the end — not in the middle. The middle is waterfalls and rocks and fallen trees. The middle is Caldas da Rainha in a testing season. And the stream does not stop. 🙏
What God does for His people is this: He keeps them in tribulation, preserves them in temptation, and brings them joyfully out of all their trials. We need to rejoice in our security — and we must not think we are immune to attacks. 🙏
✦ Both at the Same Time
Rejoice in security — and do not think you are immune to attacks. Both at the same time. That is the balance the mature soul holds. Not security without testing — that is the greenhouse. Not testing without security — that is despair. Security in the middle of the attack. The arrows flying and the life invulnerable. The stream crashing over rocks and the force unstoppable.
Guyon said it on day thirteen: do no violence to your own sacred feelings. Endure — but do not be destroyed. Spurgeon says it today: you will be attacked — but rejoice in your security. The attack is certain. The security is more certain. 🙏
"Rejoice in your security — and do not think you are immune to attacks."
Le · Both at the same time · The balance of the mature soulWe may say of our tomorrows: "I do not boast about them, but I am not frightened of them. I would not glory in them, but I will not tremble over them."
We may look at our tomorrows — still in the rough form of unminted time, about to be coined into each day's experience — and we may say of them all: "They will all be gold. They will all be stamped with the King's image — and therefore, let them come."
A Christian may rightly look forward to tomorrow not simply with resignation, but also with joy. Tomorrow to a Christian is a happy thing — one stage nearer glory, one step nearer heaven, one more mile sailed across the dangerous sea of life.
He may say of today: "Oh day, you may be dark, but I shall bid you goodbye, for look — I see tomorrow coming, and I shall rise on its wings and fly away, leaving you and your sorrows far behind me."
✦ Unminted Time — Coined into Gold
Tomorrows in the rough form of unminted time — about to be coined into each day's experience. What an image. The raw material of the future, waiting to be stamped. And Spurgeon says every coin will bear the King's image. Every tomorrow will be gold. Not because every day will be easy — but because every day is one stage nearer glory.
Not resignation. Joy. Consuelo's voice from day thirty-one: I'm not afraid of anything. And Spurgeon: I do not boast about tomorrow, but I am not frightened of it. The same fearlessness. The same trust. Le's mother and Spurgeon — saying the same thing from different centuries. Let them come. They will all be gold.
September is coming. France is coming. The tomorrow of a new country, a new home, a new chapter — still unminted time. And every coin will be stamped with the King's image. 🙏
Safety in Conflict
Not the greenhouse — the open air. Sustained while engaged. The honour is in the preservation, not the protection. The divine life cannot be overcome.
The Stream from Lebanon
Dashed over waterfalls, broken on rocks, blocked by stones — rushing forward with the unstoppable force of God until the place of perfect rest.
Tomorrow Is Gold
Unminted time coined into experience. Every tomorrow stamped with the King's image. Not resignation but joy. One stage nearer glory. Let them come.
Spurgeon's second day. And today he gives the testing season both its reality and its hope — the conflict is real, the security is real, and every tomorrow is gold.
Guyon's day thirteen — the sacred boundary: "Do no violence to your own sacred feelings." And Spurgeon today: rejoice in your security, but do not think you are immune. The same balance. Endure without being destroyed. Be attacked without losing the interior. The sacred boundary holds inside the conflict.
Guyon's stream — Spurgeon's stream: Day twenty-five: a stream lost in the river, flowing to the ocean. Day twenty-three: water flowing in its channel. And today: a stream from Lebanon — dashed, broken, blocked — rushing forward with the unstoppable force of God. Guyon saw the stream's destination. Spurgeon sees the stream's journey. Both are true. The destination is the ocean. The journey is the waterfalls.
Consuelo and Spurgeon — the same fearlessness: Day thirty-one: "I'm not afraid of anything." Today: "I do not boast about tomorrow, but I am not frightened of it." A mother's voice from heaven and a preacher's voice from London — saying the same thing to the same pilgrim in the same testing season.
September — unminted time: The move to France. The end of the Caldas chapter. The beginning of the Brittany chapter. Still in the rough form — about to be coined. And Le can look at it and say: it will be gold. It will be stamped with the King's image. Let it come. One stage nearer glory. One step nearer home. 🙏