Be thou my strong habitation, whereunto I may continually resort: thou hast given commandment to save me; for thou art my rock and my fortress. Psalm 71:3
The Israelites in the wilderness were continually exposed to change. Whenever the pillar stayed its motion, the tents were pitched; but tomorrow, ere the morning sun had risen, the trumpet sounded, the ark was in motion, and the fiery, cloudy pillar was leading the way through the narrow defiles of the mountain, up the hill side, or along the arid waste of the wilderness. They had scarcely time to rest a little before they heard the sound of “Away! this is not your rest; you must still be onward journeying towards Canaan!” They were never long in one place.
Even wells and palm trees could not detain them. Yet they had an abiding home in their God, his cloudy pillar was their roof-tree, and its flame by night their household fire. They must go onward from place to place, continually changing, never having time to settle, and to say, “Now we are secure; in this place we shall dwell.” “Yet,” says Moses, “though we are always changing, Lord, thou hast been our dwelling-place throughout all generations.”
The Christian knows no change with regard to God. He may be rich today and poor tomorrow; he may be sickly today and well tomorrow; he may be in happiness today, tomorrow he may be distressed — but there is no change with regard to his relationship to God. If He loved me yesterday, He loves me today. My unmoving mansion of rest is my blessed Lord. Let prospects be blighted; let hopes be blasted; let joy be withered; let mildews destroy everything; I have lost nothing of what I have in God. He is “my strong habitation whereunto I can continually resort.” I am a pilgrim in the world, but at home in my God. In the earth I wander, but in God I dwell in a quiet habitation.”
Charles Haddon Spurgeon in Morning and Evening: Daily Readings (Grand Rapids: CCEL) morning reading for for 27 February.
Special thanks to my friend Pat Knapp for locating this post and sharing it with me as I spend so much time on the road.
I love it. I read it three times.
And this post was fitting because we traveled yesterday to Karachi and had two great meetings but everything took longer than expected. The day started at 7am and ended at 11pm and in between, it was a big adventure. The flight was late. Traffic was terrible. The hotel rooms were not ready. Of course people said, “Welcome to Pakistan.”
As I turn back to the post I celebrate this idea: “My unmoving mansion of rest is my blessed Lord. Let prospects be blighted; let hopes be blasted; let joy be withered; let mildews destroy everything; I have lost nothing of what I have in God.”
This shouts of God’s generosity and I pray that it fills us with hope, joy, and strength for service on a new day.
Pray for today’s event in Karachi. What a huge city! With nearly 19 million people, it’s the 12th largest city in the world. Praise God the top Christian workers are convening for a GTP teaching event, “Stewardship and Standards,” with the aim of forming a task force to form a peer accountability (like ECFA in USA) in Pakistan.
We did the same meeting in Islamabad/Rawalpindi and in Lahore and had and overwhelmingly positive response. People expressed honesty and humility about challenges and desire to take steps in together to strengthen churches and ministries for sustainability with standards.
Keep praying. The trip is far from over. But “my unmoving mansion of rest is my blessed Lord!”