February 3

“Spiritual forces cannot work while earthly forces are active....To keep hands off in spiritual matters is as hard for us as it is for the drowning man to keep hands off the one who is trying to rescue him.”  Hannah Whitall Smith, “The God of All Comfort”, p. 83

The reason Hannah’s writing speaks so personally to me is l) she speaks the Truth and 2) she uses illustrations I can identify with.  I was feeling overwhelmed by my emotions.  I was struggling to keep from drowning.  My rescuer, knowing I would struggle too greatly with Him, threw me a life preserver--a clear command to pick up Hannah’s book and start reading.  I soon found myself afloat as I was reminded once again I cannot fight my emotions with any kind of force.  Instead it is the “good fight of faith.”  It is not the fight of effort, but of trusting---to reach out for the life preserver when it is thrown to me.  This life preserver--the armor of God that will protect me--is the shield of faith.  Hannah also pointed out to me that it was God who had wrestled with Jacob--not the other way around.   God was only able to prevail against Jacob after He had made Jacob weak by putting his thigh out of joint.  It was at this point He was able to bless Jacob and through this blessing Jacob prevailed.

“For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life is preserved.”  Genesis 32:30b