HE Gives MORE than this world can take away
Spurgeon — even his name feels strong doesn’t it. Charles Spurgeon was a powerhouse of a man, serving the Kingdom was his focus.
Pictures of Spurgeon remind us, he was no small man. He was a force to be reckoned with in the pulpit, in the church, and I’d guess most anywhere he put his foot. The ground under him knew full well when he had arrived.
Sometimes when I read Spurgeon’s writings, it takes 3 or 4 readings for it to finally come in for a good solid landing. He was brilliant of mind and generous with it. He loved the Father, the Son, the Spirit; he loved helping others know them more.
But as strong and serious and intelligent as he was — he still got weary. He even felt depression. He got tired in the work. I’m so thankful he was confident enough to be vulnerable enough to write for us — “I felt weary and depressed…”
Are you like me in that — we can work and serve, press forward and accomplish — sleep and rise — and do it again — but sometimes the wind gets knocked out of us and we can become t-i-r-e-d?
If so — then enjoy this fact — in this one way at least — we are like the Spurgeon’s who have gone before us.
We still care deeply for those around us and want much for the souls who struggle without a Savior. Some days we ache most for those who have Christ in their heart, but they stumble through this broken world as if they’re adrift in a raft on an ocean of trouble. The battle is relentless... the battlefield is so messy. We cheer for a scrimmage won. We know another is on the horizon.
Spurgeon, Chambers, Lewis, Tozer, Elliot, Ten Boom, Née, Graham, Luther, Carmichael … oh the list of skin covered warriors that have felt the fullness of emotions on the field of souls is long and drips of bravery. Each and everyone was kind enough to be honest about how very hard it was on their hearts. They became tired. They felt depressed. They ate and slept and woke again to hold Holy words in their heart and move the line forward on the field. Amazing grace mixed with unending devotion and a sureness that where they were headed was much better than what they saw in front of them — the words they left behind compel us to eat, sleep, wake again and put our feet where other brave souls have walked.
And if you feel like you just don’t fit here in this world — it’s ok, ‘cause you don’t. Jesus was clear about that. We are only working here, for the Heavenlies, we are much loved by the King, but we must never forget — we are servants here.
What we own we will lay down.
What we love we will hold up.
What we want we will give up.
What we hope for will be ours when we finally get home.
Oh but we are not home yet.
When we get home we will have and hold and know MORE than we’ve ever had or held or known here — if we keep pressing on towards the goal, in Christ Jesus. Our Father God is the ONE where the MORE is found. He’s preparing it for our eternity — but he also wants to give us glimpses of it here and now. He didn’t have to give us breezes on hot days or cool water on dry lips. He did not have to create colors or flavors or music or purring kittens. He could have left the world void — and without form — and placed us in a sphere of grey. Oh how kind our Father is to give us mothers and daddies and puppies and flowers, laughter and sunshine and starry night skies. He already wraps us in robes of His More — with the whispered promise that “…no eye has seen, no ear has heard, neither has it entered into the heart of man what God has prepared for those who love Him.” (1 Cor. 2:9) Oh if we can’t smell the aroma of Heaven’s MORE in those words, then we’ve lost our ability to hope. We need to know there is MORE to come than anything we can ever receive here. And the brokenness of this wounded world should not be allowed to drain our hope of the more that comes from hands that felt spikes driven through them into wood — but were redeemed by resurrection, ascension, and new life.
Hear Spurgeon’s words as he wrote of the heaviness he too waded through in this world. And let yourself breathe in deeply at Spurgeon’s choice to hear truth, feel hope, and reach for the more that’s already been given.
“The other evening I was riding home after a heavy day’s work. I felt very wearied, and sore depressed, when swiftly, and suddenly as a lightning flash, the words came to me, “My grace is sufficient for thee.”
I reached home and looked it up in the original, and at last it came to me in this way,
“MY grace is sufficient for thee”; and I said, “I should think it is, Lord,” and burst out laughing.
I never fully understood what the holy laughter of Abraham was until then. It seemed to make unbelief so absurd. It was as though some little fish, being very thirsty, was troubled about drinking the river dry, and Father Thames said, “Drink away, little fish, my stream is sufficient for thee.” Or, it seemed after the seven years of plenty, a mouse feared it might die of famine; and Joseph might say, “Cheer up, little mouse, my granaries are sufficient for thee.” Again, I imagined a man away up yonder, in a lofty mountain, saying to himself, “I breathe so many cubic feet of air every year, I fear I shall exhaust the oxygen in the atmosphere,” but the earth might say, “Breathe away, O man, and fill the lungs ever, my atmosphere is sufficient for thee.”
“Oh brethren, be great believers! Little faith will bring your souls to Heaven, but great faith will bring Heaven to your souls.”
- C.H. Spurgeon
