Whispers of His Power – MAY 12

Heb. 12.1:  Let us run with patience the race that is set before us.

Heb. 13.5-6:  He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.  So that we may boldly say,  The Lord is my Helper, and I will not fear.

Watching an obstacle race made me think of the race we are called to run.  While we are in the middle of loops and tyres and ladders and sacks we may be tempted to forget that they did not put themselves there.  They are there on purpose.

What would be the point of an obstacle race if there were no obstacles?  It would be foolish to say, ‘Couldn’t you clear these obstacles off the field, and make the race nice and easy?’

And yet that is exactly what we often ask God to do for us.  ‘Please make it a bit easier, it’s too hard for me’.  That is a poor sort of prayer, and there is not a single promise in the Bible which we can take and spread before our Father and say, ‘See, my Father, You promised to make the race easy’.  So it cannot be the kind of prayer He likes His runners to bring to Him.

There are many promises that we can bring.  Here is one.  It was written in a letter to people who were running in an obstacle race, and the obstacles were simply tremendous.  The author wrote about being properly prepared for the race, and about running with patience. He wanted to give them a strong word of comfort too, so he wrote!  ‘God has said, I will never leave you nor forsake you.  So you may boldly say, The Lord is my Helper, I will not fear.’

Next time we feel like giving up as we jump our bars, or scramble up our ladders, or dive through our rings, or struggle through our old tyres, or stagger along in our sacks, let us listen and we shall hear that word, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you’

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.