Daily Strength by John McDuff
As your days, so shall your strength be. Deuteronomy chapter 33, verse
25. The Christian is frequently compared
to a pilgrim, traveling onwards through a dreary wilderness to
the promised land of Canaan. His experience is varied and
checkered. The path before him may be steep
and arduous. He may have to pass through rough
and stony places, dark, thick forests, rapid streams, and raging
hurricanes. His days may be such as to require
great strength, and great energy, and great perseverance. Oftentimes,
when he strives to anticipate the future, his heart sinks within
him, his courage fails, and he is apt to give way to despondency
and doubt. But such a promise, as your days,
so shall your strength be, may well suffice to calm the believer's
fears and reanimate his fainting spirit. It is true that changes
and vicissitudes will come, It is true, that the heart which
to-day is cheerful and happy, may to-morrow be wounded and
bleeding. It is true, that the full cup which is now held with
gladness, may be dashed in pieces, before the lips have tasted the
refreshing draught. It is true, that the bright hope
which, like a guiding star, allures the traveller onwards, may speedily
be enwrapped in pitch-black gloom. But to the child of God, there
is a supply of strength to meet the hour of trial. He is not
permitted to escape from the burden, or the cross, or the
difficulty. But he is enabled to make his
way through them all, to struggle with, and finally to overcome
them. Many a time, when the believer
has been well near crushed under the oppressive weight, when,
conscious that ordinary strength would not avail, he has cried
unto the Lord and a fresh supply of grace has been given to meet
the emergency. So that he could say with David,
I waited patiently for the Lord to help me, and he turned to
me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the pit of
despair, out of the mud and the mire. He set my feet on solid
ground and steadied me as I walked along. Psalm 40, verses 1 and
2. It would be easy for God to make
the path heavenward, plain and unobstructed to His children.
It would be easy for Him to remove all care, anxiety, and sorrow,
but such is not His purpose. Earth is the training school
for Heaven. God wills that His children should be tried. He
desires that their spiritual natures should be refined and
purified in the furnace of affliction, and that thus, by the very struggles
and pains of their earthly pilgrimage, they should become more and more
fit for serving Him in this world, and more and more fit for the
inheritance of the saints in light. The Christian, by each
difficulty he is called on to encounter, by each trial he is
summoned to bear, by each virtue he is required to call into exercise,
becomes more vigorous, earnest, faithful, and Christlike. His
soul is gradually training and strengthening by duty, trial,
and endurance here, for glory, honor, and immortality hereafter. Every fresh victory, over pride,
over the world, over avarice, over selfishness, over fretfulness,
makes us stronger for the time to come and ensures the fulfillment
of the promise, As your days, so shall your strength be. Christian,
mark again these words. They do not pledge that we shall
not feel the burden and heat of the day. All they promise
is that we shall get safely through. They do not say that we shall
not feel the weight of our duties, trials, temptations, or conflicts. All they say is that we shall
have strength to bear their weight and journey on with our load.
grace imparted, will then be sufficient for us, sufficient
for our actual necessities, sufficient strength equal to our day. Strength
to encounter the tempest will be given, when the tempest rages. Strength to surmount the foaming
surges will be given, when the hurricane has actually come.
Strength to grapple with the last enemy will be given, when
he comes forth to meet you. Yes, Christian, be assured that
grace and strength will be imparted when you need them, as certainly
as they will be withheld before you need them. He who guides
you knows your necessities. In the day of trouble, he will
not leave you comfortless. Journey on then with firmness
relying on his promise for needed grace and strength. You will,
before long, enter into your final rest, and bid an eternal
adieu to all your labors, and trials, and temptations. You
will take possession of the promised glorious inheritance, and will
then acknowledge with a grateful heart, as my days, so has my
strength been.