August 27

“But faith laughed at all such prudential considerations, and, confidently resting on God’s word, gave a shout of victory, while yet to the eye of sense that victory seemed impossible.  Long centuries afterwards the Holy Spirit thus records this triumph of faith in Hebrews:  ‘By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they had been encircled for seven days.’”  Hannah Whitall Smith, Daily Secrets, 8/27

As I read Hannah’s account of the Hebrews’ faith I thought about my porch swing.  When we moved into this house 22 years ago it had a front porch slab, but no roof covering it.  Because the house faced west the porch was too hot to sit on in the afternoon.  It was my hope to one day cover the porch, but because it was shaped like a trapezoid we wondered if that would ever be possible.  I knew, however, if we were successful I’d have to have a porch swing just like my grandmother’s house had.  So after a few years of struggling to make house payments and no hope of ever being able to pay for a porch roof I gave up on the idea until I saw a porch swing drastically marked down.  I immediately bought it and brought it home.  Within the year my husband’s sales job produced an unexpected windfall.  We found a builder who figured out how to attach a roof to that odd-shaped porch, and we not only built that porch roof but also enlarged a bedroom to accommodate our growing family.  As I am reminded this morning of the faith that built that porch roof I realize there are several more “porch swings” waiting for me to go out and “purchase” so that the Lord can fulfill the desires of my heart.

“Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.”  Psalm 37:4