I can take my Elim with me through
the great wilderness by Alexander Smiley from The Secret Place
1907 After leaving Marah, the Israelites
traveled on to the coast of Elim where they found 12 springs of
water and 70 palm trees. They camped there beside the
water. Exodus chapter 15 verse 27 If I were not a pilgrim journeying
through the wilderness, I could not know the refreshment of Elim. If I did not taste the bitterness
of Marah, the pleasanter waters of Elim would lose half of their
delightfulness. Therefore, I should thank God
for the difficult wilderness journey and the keen afflictions
along the way. Elim brings supply. The oasis
has its twelve springs of water, one for each of the tribes in
Israel. And if I am journeying under
God's leadership in fellowship with His people towards His promised
land, how many are the aids, and how varied is the provision
with which the King of the Way furnishes me. Sunday worship
comes week after week. The word of life and peace is
in my hands. I have the throne of grace to
which I can resort in all my times of need. There are golden
days of peculiar privileges and sweet fellowship with Christian
friends. Never should I be without the
living water. Elim brings shade. Above the
twelve springs of water rise straight and stately palm trees,
seventy of them, as many as the seventy years of man's life on
earth. They come between me and the
remorseless blaze of the sun. They secure for me a welcome
coolness and refreshment. Jesus, our adorable Redeemer,
is a shade from the blazing heat of divine justice. He is shelter
from the just condemnation of my sin, shelter from the cruel
onslaught of temptation, shelter from the hardening effects of
sorrow, mercy to pardon and grace to help. Elim also brings rest. They camped there beside the
water, and I should do likewise. It may be that the wilderness
stretches on every hand, that tomorrow I shall be in the desert
sun once more, and the end of my pilgrim's journey is far off,
yet I have the cheering memory of God's supply and God's shadow
to solace me. In my pilgrim journey through
the wilderness, hardship cannot be avoided. Yet I can take my
Elim with me through the great wilderness, and I need never
lack the twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees. There
is something much amiss if ever my heart ceases to be quiet and
confident and if I ever forget to raise the song that tells
of rest beneath the palm trees and joy beside the springs of
water. you