Part 6 (1/2)

FEBRUARY The Fifth

_EVERYWHERE THE GATE OF HEAVEN_

”_Surely the Lord is in this place, and I knew it not._”

--GENESIS xxviii. 10-22.

That is the first time for many a day that Jacob had named the name of G.o.d. In all the dark story of his wicked intrigue the name of G.o.d is never mentioned. Jacob wanted to forget G.o.d! G.o.d would be a disturbing presence!

But here he encounters Him in a dream, and in the most unlikely place.

”And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place!”

Jacob had yet to learn that there is everywhere ”a ladder set up on the earth and the top of it reaches to heaven.” There was a ladder from the very tent in which he wore his deceptive skin. There was a ladder from the secret place where he and his mother wove their mischievous plot. There is no corner of earth which is cut away from the Divine vigilance. G.o.d gets at us everywhere.

But there is a merciful side to all this. If the ladder be everywhere, and G.o.d can get at us, then also everywhere we can get at G.o.d. There are ”ascending angels” who will carry our confessions, our prayers, our sighs and mournings, to the very heart of the eternally gracious G.o.d.

FEBRUARY The Sixth

_THE HOME-BIRD_

PSALM xci. 1-12.

I read a sentence the other day in which a very powerful modern writer describes a certain woman as ”having G.o.d on her visiting list.” We may recoil from the phrase, but it very vitally describes a very awful commonplace. Countless thousands have G.o.d on their visiting lists. They pay Him courtesy-calls, and between the calls He is forgotten. Perhaps the call is paid once a week in the social function of wors.h.i.+p. Perhaps it is paid more rarely, like calls between comparative strangers. How great the contrast between a caller and one who dwells in the secret place! It is the difference between a flirt and a ”home-bird,” between one who flits about on a score of fancies, and one who settles down in the solid satisfaction of a supreme affection.

”_Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty._” Such is the reward of the ”home-bird,” the settled friend of the Lord. The shadow of the Lord shall rest upon him continually. I sometimes read of our monarchs being ”shadowed” by protective police. In an infinitely more real and intimate sense the soul that dwells in ”the secret place” is shadowed by the sleepless grace and love of G.o.d.

FEBRUARY The Seventh

_LEAVING ITS MARK_

”_Fear not, thou worm Jacob, I will make thee a thres.h.i.+ng instrument with teeth._”

--ISAIAH xli. 8-14.

Could any two things be in greater contrast than a worm and an instrument with teeth? The worm is delicate, bruised by a stone, crushed beneath a pa.s.sing wheel; an instrument with teeth can break and not be broken, it can grave its mark upon the rock. And the mighty G.o.d can convert the one into the other. He can take a man or a nation, who has all the impotence of the worm, and by the invigoration of His own Spirit He can endow them with strength by which they will leave a n.o.ble mark upon the history of their time.

And so the ”worm” may take heart. The mighty G.o.d can make us stronger than our circ.u.mstances. We can bend them all to our good. In G.o.d's strength we can make them all pay tribute to our souls. We can even take hold of a black disappointment, break it open, and extract some jewel of grace. When G.o.d gives us wills like iron we can drive through difficulties as the iron share cuts through the toughest soil. ”I will make thee,” saith the Lord, ”and shall He not do it?”

FEBRUARY The Eighth