”Faith conceives
all its ideas of God by the Word, solves all cases of conscience, and
interprets mysteries by this Word.
People who slander
the names of others do it behind their backs. And sin seldom blasphemes God to
His face; that is the language of hell....
But faith sees God
eyeing the soul to preserve it.... Faith warns, "Do not blaspheme the God
of heaven; you cannot even whisper softly enough for Him not to hear. For He is
closer to you than you are to yourself," Thus faith breaks the devil's
snare. When God came to Job in His majesty, all Job's long speeches suddenly
vanished and he covered his face with humility before the Lord: "Now my
eyes see you. Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes" Job
42:5-6.
Faith accepts no
report of God except from God's own mouth.... Faith conceives all its ideas of
God by the Word, solves all cases of conscience, and interprets mysteries by
this Word.... [Satan] drives the person who is in a hard situation to entertain
wrong thoughts of God. Thus he criticizes God's justice when blatant sinners
have not been judged quickly; or he says he will not serve a God who permits
His servants to wear ragged clothing. These are the broken glasses that Satan
mirrors God in, so that he may distort His goodness to the doubting eye. And if
we judge God to be what He appears in Satan's jagged pieces of deception, we
might condemn the Holy One and be caught in a dangerous tornado of temptation.
Faith praises God
in sad conditions. Blessing and blasphemy are contrasting tunes. They cannot be
played on the same instrument without changing all the strings. It is beyond
Satan's skill to strike such a harsh stroke as blasphemy on a soul tuned for
praise. "My heart is fixed," says David-- there was his faith. And
then he says, "I will sing and give praise" Psalm 57:7.” It was faith
that tuned his spirit and prepared his affections to praise.
Faith can praise
God because it sees mercy even in the greatest affliction. Thus Job quenched
this dart, which Satan shot at him from his wife's tongue. "Shall we receive
good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?" Job 2:10. Will we
let a few present troubles become a grave to bury the memory of all His past
mercies? What God takes from us is less than we owe Him, but what He leaves us
is more than He owes.”
Quoted material from, ”The Christian in Complete
Armour Daily Readings in Spiritual Warfare” by Gurnall and James S Bell. http://www.moodypublishers.com/pub_productDetail.aspx?id=41823&pid=53617
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