Whispers of His Power – JANUARY 28

2 Sam. 23.20: And Benaiah … went down also and slew a lion in the midst of a pit in time of snow.

A lion fell into a pit.  A man plunged in after him and slew him.  And it was in the time of snow.  I have always felt sorry for that lion.  Lions detest snow, and that lion did not have a sporting chance.  But his troubles are over now, and the man has something to teach us.

Benaiah must have been one who had trained himself by many small and private disciplines to be ready for anything, even a lion in a pit in time of snow.  The snow of course made it harder for him too, but he did not hesitate.  He went down and slew the lion.

Quite suddenly in the midst of our ordinary occupations any of us may be face to face with a lion in a pit.  It may be in time of snow – in circumstances which make it harder than usual to withstand.  But we can.  The moment we are conscious of the lion (Peter speaks of the devil as a roaring lion, 1 Pet. 5.8), the Spirit of God will put a sword into our hands.  Some strong word of Scripture will be flashed across our minds.  If we grasp that word, and thrust with all our might, there can only be one end to the fight.  More than conquerors through Him that loved us, will tell the end of that lion fight – even in time of snow,

oooOOOooo

These words are from ’Whispers of His Power’ a collection of writings that Amy Carmichael wrote for her ‘children’ and others associated with the Dohnavur Fellowship and are Copyright © The Dohnavur Fellowship 1982

Unless otherwise stated, biblical quotations are from the Authorized King James Version of the Bible.

The following abbreviations are used to refer to other versions and sources:

BCP:               Book of Common Prayer, the Great Bible of Coverdale

Conybeare:       W. J. Conybeare, The Epistles of Paul (a translation)

Delitzsch:        F. Delitzsch, Notes on Job and the Psalms

Kay:                W. Kay, The Psalms (a translation)

LXX:              The Septuagint

Moffatt:           J. Moffatt, The New Testament: a new translation

Rotherham:      J. B. Rotherham, The Emphasized Bible Revised Version

RV:                 Revised Version

Way:              A. Way, The Letters of St Paul (a translation)

Westcott:        F. Westcott, Notes on the Gospel of St John

Weymouth:      R. F. Weymouth, The New Testament in Modern Speech

Young:            R. Young, A Literal Translation of the Bible

Verses of poetry without quotation marks were written by Amy Carmichael.