Let truth rule my day today: "Conflicts bring experience, and experience brings that growth in grace which cannot be gained by any other means."
I thought I had enough grace in my life, but I was wrong. God declares that I have to grow some more. 🙏
✦ The Sea at the Door
Five days at the foot of Mont-Saint-Michel — where the tide comes and goes across the bay, the same tide, never the same twice. And today Spurgeon asks: who ever called the sea monotonous?
Yesterday he said the "monotony" of Christ is sweet variety. Today he proves it — with the sea, the sun, and the daily bread. Then he turns to the storm: the same Christ who never grows old is the One we meet most deeply in deep waters. 🙏
"Who ever called the sea monotonous? Even to the sailor, traveling over it sometimes for a year at a stretch, there is always a freshness in the roll of the waves, the whiteness of the foam, the curl of the crested surge... Which of us has ever complained that the sun gave us too little variety?... Or who among us would complain of the bread we eat, that it has grown tiresome? We have eaten it for years — and still the one unchanging food is set upon the table, and bread remains the staff of life.
Translate these earthly experiences into heavenly realities. If Christ is your food, your spiritual bread; if Christ is your sun, your heavenly light; if Christ is the sea of love in which your passions swim and all your joys are found — it is not possible that you, as a Christian, should complain of monotony in Him."
"'He is the same yesterday, today, and forever' (Hebrews 13:8), and yet He has the 'dew of His youth.' He is like the manna in the golden pot, which was always the same; but He is also like the manna that came down from heaven, every morning new. He is like the rod of Moses, which was dry and did not change its shape; but He is also to us like the rod of Aaron, which budded, and blossomed, and brought forth almonds."
"It is of the LORD's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness."
✦ The Same — and Every Morning New
Spurgeon holds two truths in one hand. Christ never changes — the manna in the golden pot, the rod of Moses. And Christ is never stale — the manna fresh each morning, the rod of Aaron bursting into almonds. Unchanging and ever-new at once. That is not a contradiction. That is Life.
The journal's own footer has said it on every page since March: His mercies are new every morning. Seven months of daily reading — Guyon, Smith, Jowett, Taylor, Spurgeon — and never once the same bread twice. The same Christ, every morning new. The sea outside the motorhome window has proved Spurgeon right for five days running. 🙏
"In the depths of trouble we learn the sufficiency of grace. Well may they 'glory in tribulations also' (Romans 5:3), who have learned in them the most profitable lessons of grace — proved in them how ample the provision of grace is, and realized in them the certainty of the triumph of grace."
"We must have trials if we are to grow. Young sailors do not become experienced just by training on dry land; they must go out to sea. We must do business in deep waters. We must actually be on the deck in a storm if we would see the works of the Lord and His wonders in the deep... Conflicts bring experience, and experience brings that growth in grace which cannot be gained by any other means."
"They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters; these see the works of the LORD, and his wonders in the deep."
"And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope."
✦ On Deck in the Storm
Spurgeon will not let us romanticize the shore. Sailors are made at sea. David knew God's saving strength because he went down into the pit with the lion. The lessons of grace are learned where grace is needed — in the depths of trouble.
September 18 — Taylor: for every spiritual gift, a fight. Paul was in the fight too. October 1 — the crosses are gifts. And now Spurgeon names the fruit: tribulation, patience, experience, hope. Paul's ladder. Le's season of transition — the sold apartment, the roads of France, the house not yet found — is not a delay of growth. It is the deep water where the wonders are seen. 🙏
"Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus."
"But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen."
✦ Let Truth Rule My Day
Le does not just read Spurgeon's sentence — she enthrones it. Let truth rule my day today. Not a thought to admire, but a rule to live under from morning to night.
And then the honest confession: I thought I had enough grace in my life, but I was wrong. That is the most graceful sentence in the entry. Only grace can show a soul it needs more grace. The proud heart says enough. The humble heart hears God say grow — and agrees.
Paul said it too: not as though I had already attained. The apostle who wrote half the New Testament still followed after. And Peter's last word in Scripture is Le's word today: grow in grace. Grace is not a tank to be filled once. It is a life to be grown — and God declares the growing is not finished. 🙏
"I thought I had enough grace in my life, but I was wrong. God declares that I have to grow some more."
Le · Beauvoir · Mont-Saint-Michel · Let truth rule my day · Grow in graceUntiring Delight
No one tires of the sea, the sun, or daily bread. Christ is our bread, our sun, our sea of love — and no Christian can call Him monotonous.
Manna and Almonds
The same yesterday, today, and forever — yet every morning new. The golden pot and the fresh manna. Moses' rod and Aaron's rod in blossom.
Sailors Are Made at Sea
In the depths of trouble we learn the sufficiency of grace. Conflicts bring experience; experience brings growth that cannot come any other way.
Not Yet Enough
"I thought I had enough grace, but I was wrong." Only grace shows us we need more. God declares: grow some more.
Yesterday's line, today's proof: Spurgeon said Sunday that the "monotony" of Christ is sweet variety. Today he opens the window and points: the sea, the sun, the bread. Nothing we need daily ever becomes dull. Neither does He.
Five days by the same bay: Le has looked at the same tide for five days, and it has never been the same. That is the picture of this whole journal. The same Christ, every morning new — the footer's promise kept page after page.
Le's confession: I thought I had enough grace in my life, but I was wrong. Seven months of daily reading, and the Spirit's newest lesson is humility about the lesson itself. The pilgrim who knows she has not arrived is the one still walking. And Le chose to let one sentence rule the whole day — that is how truth becomes life.
Deep waters: Spurgeon does not wish trouble on anyone — he thanks God the days of Trafalgar are over. But he will not pretend growth comes on dry land. The season of not-yet is the sea where grace is proved ample. Tribulation, patience, experience, hope — and the hope does not make ashamed. 🙏