By faith Moses. . . . chose.” Faith rests on promise; to faith, the promise is equivalent to fulfillment; and if only we have the one, we may dare to count on the other as already ours. It matters comparatively little that the thing promised is not given; it is sure and certain because God has pledged His word for it, and in anticipation we may enter on its enjoyment. Had Moses simply acted on what he saw, he would never have left Pharaoh’s palace.

But his faith told him of things hidden from his contemporaries, and these led him to act in a way which to them was perfectly incomprehensible.

One blow struck when the time is fulfilled is worth a thousand struck in premature eagerness. It is not for thee, O my soul, to know the times and seasons which the Father hath put in His own power; wait thou only upon God; let thy expectation be from Him.

It was a rude surprise when he assayed to adjust a difference between two Hebrews to find himself repulsed from them by the challenge, “Who made you ruler and judge over us?” (Exodus 2:14). “Moses thought that his own people would realize that God was using him to rescue them” (Acts 7:25). Evidently, then, God’s time had not arrived; nor could it come until the heat of his spirit had slowly evaporated in the desert air, and he had learned the hardest of all lessons, that “it is not by strength that one prevails” (1 Samuel 2:9).

Faith is only possible when we are on God’s plan and stand on God’s promise. It is useless to pray for increased faith until we have fulfilled the conditions of faith. It is useless to waste time in regrets and tears over the failures which are due to our unbelief. “What are you doing down on your face?” (Joshua 7:10). Faith is as natural to the right conditions of a soul as a flower is to a plant.

Ascertain your place in God’s plan, and get on to it. Feed on God’s promises. When each of these conditions is realized, faith comes of itself; and there is absolutely nothing which is impossible. The believing soul will then be as the metal track along which God travels to men in love, grace, and truth.

Oh, for grace to wait and watch with God! F. B. MEYER

Faith is not a magic drug, a spiritual anesthetic: it is the victory that overcometh the world by doing battle with it. E. HERMAN

At this very hour you may have to come face to face with a most tremendous need, and Christ stands beside you looking at it and questioning you about it. He says, in effect, “How are you going to meet it?”

He is scrutinizing you . . . watching you with a gentle, tender sympathy .

How many of us have failed in the test! We have taken out our pencil and our paper and commenced to figure out the two hundred pennyworth of bread; or we have run off hither and thither to strong and wealthy friends to extricate us; or we have sat down in utter despondency; or we have murmured against Him for bringing us into such a position. Should we not have turned a sunny face to Christ saying: Thou hast a plan! Thine is the responsibility , and Thou must tell me what to do. I have come so far in the path of obedience to Thy Guiding Spirit: and now, what art Thou going to do?

They understood not how that God by His hand would deliver them (Acts 7:25). It is so today .

Leave the how with Jesus, Secret things He knows; Infinite in wisdom, Time will all disclose.

Leave the how with Jesus, He will comfort bring; Thro’ the storm He’ll hide thee Underneath His wing.

“God does not explain to us His technique.”

“My times are in your hands” (Psalm 31:15). If you quote this verse to the native of Congo, he will translate it in the gorgeous words: “All my life’s whys and whens and wheres and wherefores are in God’s Hand!” DAN CRAWFORD

We want to know more than the silent God deems it good to tell; to understand the “why” which He bids us wait to ask; to see the path which He has spread on purpose in the dark. The Infinite Father does not stand by us to be catechized and to explain Himself to our vain minds; He is here for our trust.