Day: November 7, 2013

The Undetected Sacredness of Circumstances

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Oswald Chambers Imageby Oswald Chambers

We know that all things work together for good to those who love God . . . —Romans 8:28

The circumstances of a saint’s life are ordained of God. In the life of a saint there is no such thing as chance. God by His providence brings you into circumstances that you can’t understand at all, but the Spirit of God understands. God brings you to places, among people, and into certain conditions to accomplish a definite purpose through the intercession of the Spirit in you. Never put yourself in front of your circumstances and say, “I’m going to be my own providence here; I will watch this closely, or protect myself from that.” All your circumstances are in the hand of God, and therefore you don’t ever have to think they are unnatural or unique. Your part in intercessory prayer is not to agonize over how to intercede, but to use the everyday circumstances and people God puts around you by His providence to bring them before His throne, and to allow the Spirit in you the opportunity to intercede for them. In this way God is going to touch the whole world with His saints.

Am I making the Holy Spirit’s work difficult by being vague and unsure, or by trying to do His work for Him? I must do the human side of intercession— utilizing the circumstances in which I find myself and the people who surround me. I must keep my conscious life as a sacred place for the Holy Spirit. Then as I lift different ones to God through prayer, the Holy Spirit intercedes for them.

Your intercessions can never be mine, and my intercessions can never be yours, “. . . but the Spirit Himself makes intercession” in each of our lives (Romans 8:26). And without that intercession, the lives of others would be left in poverty and in ruin.

by Oswald Chambers

Side Trip To Egypt

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Vance Havner Imageby Vance Havner

Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help. Isaiah 31:1

Abram did it and got into an embarrassing predicament, denied his wife, and was sent out of the land. What a testimony for the Father of the Faithful! But he was not the only good man who visited Egypt in time of famine. We forget so easily that God can furnish tables in the wilderness. When times are hard we turn to the world for help. And sometimes Egypt offers a bigger salary!

We never need to leave Canaan and go back over Jordan for any reason whatsoever. We commonly think of the Promised Land as flowing with milk and honey, flourishing with figs and pomegranates. But sometimes God sends a drought and the pickings are slim and the garlic and onions and fleshpots tantalize us, tempt us to Egypt.

Are you passing through a dry spell and a lean season? Christians and churches are apt to turn to Pharaoh in spiritual famine. But it always means denial and embarrassment and humiliation and loss of testimony. All that we need we have in Canaan. No side trips are necessary. Settle down in Beulah Land and enjoy the country!

by Vance Havner