“Am I only a God nearby,” declares the Lord,
“and not a God far away?”
— Jeremiah 23:23

“When the Israelites cried out to the Lord, He raised up for them a deliverer… Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother. The Spirit of the Lord came upon him…”
— Judges 3:9–10

Devotional Reflection

God is always preparing His servants in ways that are often unseen.
And when the right moment comes, He places them exactly where they are needed—so suddenly that the world wonders where they came from.

Like a sculptor shaping marble, the Holy Spirit uses the circumstances of life to form and refine us. Every trial, every quiet victory, and every hidden moment of obedience becomes part of His work.

When the final touch is complete, God can lift a person up and set them in their appointed place with ease.

A Call to Preparation

There is a day coming when, like Othniel, we will share in Christ’s reign and authority.
But before that day, there is preparation.

Othniel was prepared in obscurity—through challenges and small victories that may have seemed insignificant at the time. In the same way, God uses the ordinary seasons of our lives to prepare us for something greater.

If the Holy Spirit prepares a person, then God has already prepared a place for them.

Reflection Quote

— A. B. Simpson

Human strength and greatness
Do not grow from life’s easy paths.
Heroes are not driftwood,
Floating on a calm and waveless tide.

Final Thought

Every path of life dips into valleys.
Every person must pass through the tunnel of trial
before walking the elevated road of triumph.

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“God called the light ‘day,’ and the darkness He called ‘night.’ And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.”
— Genesis 1:5

“I am He that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore.”
— Revelation 1:18

Flowers—Easter lilies—speak to me this morning
the same dear and timeless lesson of immortality
that you have whispered to countless sorrowing souls.

O wise and ancient Book,
let me once more read within your pages
the firm assurance that to die is gain.

Poets, lift your voices—
recite again those verses
that echo the Gospel of eternal life in every line.

Singers, arise—
break forth into songs of joy;
let the resurrection psalms be heard once more.

Let creation itself proclaim it—
tree and blossom, bird and sea, sky and wind—
whisper it, sound it, echo it again and again.
Let it throb through every atom of existence
until the air itself is filled with this truth.

Let it be told and retold—
until hope rises into conviction,
and conviction into unshakable certainty.

So that we, like Paul,
even when facing death,
may walk forward with triumphant spirit,
with assured faith,
and with serene and radiant countenance.

O you who mourn with heavy hearts,
walking daily among graves of sorrow—
leave, for today, those silent places behind.

Lift up your eyes
to the eternal blue of heaven.

This is no hour for bitterness or despair.
Crown your hearts with Easter lilies, not sorrow’s pale flowers.
Let your soul be touched by gladness,
and respond to the gentle chime of resurrection joy.

For if Christ had remained in the grave—
a prisoner of death—
then your tears would be justified.

But He is not there.

He has risen.
He has conquered death forever.

Therefore, let sorrow be stilled—
if only for this day.
Let Easter grant your grief a moment of rest.

— May Riley Smith

A minister once sat preparing his Easter sermon,
when suddenly a powerful realization seized him:

“Christ is alive!”

He rose to his feet and began to pace, declaring:

“He is not the great ‘I was,’
He is the great ‘I AM.’”

Christ is not merely a historical truth—
He is a living reality.

We believe that from every grave, an Easter lily blooms,
and in every tomb, an angel sits.

We believe in a risen Lord.

Let us not turn only to the past,
as though to worship at a grave—
but lift our eyes above and within,
to worship the living Christ.

And because He lives,
we shall live also.

— Abbott

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“So the Jewish leaders began to say, ‘Perhaps he is going to kill himself because he says, “Where I am going you cannot come.”’”
— John 8:22

“Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the LORD of hosts.”
— Zechariah 4:6

Meditation

My path led up a hill, and at the foot of it I saw a boy on a bicycle. He was pedaling uphill against the wind, and it was clearly a tremendous struggle. With great effort, he pushed forward, straining with all his strength.

Just then, a trolley car came along, moving in the same direction—up the hill. It was not going too fast, so the boy reached out, caught hold of the bar at the back with one hand, and held on.

Then you can imagine what happened.

He went up the hill like a bird.

At that moment, a realization came to me:

“I am like that boy on the bicycle. In my weariness and weakness, I am struggling uphill against many forms of resistance, nearly exhausted by the effort. Yet right beside me is a great and available power—the strength of the Lord Jesus.

I need only to reach out to Him and maintain connection with Him—even with just a small ‘finger’ of faith—and that will be enough. His power will become mine for the task that now feels too great for me.”

And with that realization, my weariness was lifted, and I was strengthened by this truth.

— The Life of Fuller Purpose

Poem: Abandoned

Utterly abandoned to the Holy Spirit,
Seeking all His fullness at whatever cost;
Cutting all the shorelines, launching into the deep
Of His mighty power—strong to save and keep.

Utterly abandoned to the Holy Spirit!
Oh, the sinking, sinking, until self is lost;
Until the emptied vessel lies broken at His feet,
Waiting till His filling makes the work complete.

Utterly abandoned to the will of God,
Seeking no other path than my Master trod;
Leaving ease and pleasure, making Him my choice,
Waiting for His guidance, listening for His voice.

Utterly abandoned—no will of my own;
For time and eternity, His and His alone;
All my plans and purposes lost in His sweet will,
Having nothing, yet in Him possessing all things still.

Utterly abandoned! How sweet it is to be
Captive in His bonds of love, yet wondrously free;
Free from sin’s entanglements, free from doubt and fear,
Free from every worry, burden, grief, or care.

Utterly abandoned! Oh, the rest is sweet,
As I wait and linger at His blessed feet;
Waiting for the coming of the Guest divine,
Who will perfectly refine my inmost being.

Lo, He comes and fills me—Holy Spirit sweet!
In Him I am satisfied; in Him I am complete!
And the light within my soul shall never grow dim,
As I keep my covenant—abandoned unto Him.

–The Stream in the Desert

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“Who does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this?” — Job 12:9

Several years ago, there was found in an African mine the most magnificent diamond in the world’s history. It was presented to the King of England to blaze in his crown of state.

The King sent it to Amsterdam to be cut. It was placed in the hands of an expert lapidary. And what do you suppose he did with it?

He took the gem of priceless value and cut a notch in it. Then he struck it a hard blow with his instrument—and lo! the superb jewel lay in his hand, cleft in two.

What recklessness! What wastefulness! What criminal carelessness!

Not so.

For days and weeks, that blow had been studied and planned. Drawings and models had been made of the gem. Its quality, its defects, its lines of cleavage had all been examined with the utmost care. The man entrusted with it was one of the most skillful lapidaries in the world.

Do you say that blow was a mistake?

Nay. It was the climax of the lapidary’s skill. When he struck that blow, he did the one thing that would bring that gem to its most perfect shapeliness, radiance, and jeweled splendor.

That blow, which seemed to ruin the precious stone, was in fact its perfect redemption. For from those two halves were wrought the two magnificent gems which the skilled eye of the lapidary had seen hidden in the rough, uncut stone from the moment it came from the mine.

So sometimes, God lets a stinging blow fall upon your life.

The blood spurts. The nerves wince. The soul cries out in agony. The blow seems to you an appalling mistake.

But it is not.

For you are the most priceless jewel in the world to God. And He is the most skillful lapidary in the universe.

Someday, you are to blaze in the diadem of the King. As you lie in His hand now, He knows exactly how to deal with you. Not a blow will be permitted to fall upon your shrinking soul unless the love of God allows it—and works out from its depths blessings and spiritual enrichment unseen and unimagined by you.

—J.H.McC.

In one of George MacDonald’s books occurs this fragment of conversation:

“I wonder why God made me,” said Mrs. Faber bitterly.
“I’m sure I don’t know what was the use of making me!”

“Perhaps not much yet,” said Dorothy,
“but then He hasn’t done with you yet. He is making you now, and you are quarreling with the process.”

If people would but believe that they are in the process of creation, and consent to be made—letting the Maker handle them as the potter handles the clay, yielding themselves in submissive, hopeful trust to the turning of His wheel—they would, in time, learn to welcome every pressure of that hand, even when it brings pain.

Sometimes, they would not only believe, but recognize the Divine purpose: the bringing of a son unto glory.

Closing Reflection

Not a single shaft can hit
Till the God of love sees fit.

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“And the hand of the Lord was there upon me; and he said unto me, Arise, go forth unto the plain, and I will there talk with thee.”
— Ezekiel 3:22

1. The Pattern of Waiting Before Use

Have you ever known anyone who was greatly used for Christ who did not first experience a special time of waiting—often a complete overturning of all their plans?

From the Apostle Paul being sent into the wilderness of Arabia for three years, when he must have been overflowing with the good news, down to the present day, this pattern remains.

You may be looking forward to going to Syria to testify about trusting Jesus; but instead, He says:

“I want you to show what it means to trust Me without going to Syria.”

2. Personal Testimony: Delay as Divine Wisdom

My own experience was far less severe, yet the principle is the same:

I once thought the door was wide open for me to enter literary work at full speed. However, it was opposed. A doctor intervened and said simply:

“Never! She must choose between writing and living; she cannot do both.”

That was in 1860.

Then, in 1869, I came out with Ministry of Song, and I saw the evident wisdom of being kept waiting for nine years in the shade.

God’s love is unchangeable. He is just as loving when we do not see or feel His love. His love and His sovereignty are coequal and universal. Therefore, He withholds the sense of progress and enjoyment because He knows what will truly mature us and advance His work in us.

— Memorials of Frances Ridley Havergal

3. Poem: Rest in His Hand

I laid it down in silence,
This work of mine,
And took what had been sent me—
A resting time.

The Master’s voice had called me
To rest apart;
“Apart with Jesus only,”
Echoed my heart.

I took the rest and stillness
From His own hand,
And felt this present illness
Was what He planned.

How often we choose labor,
When He says “Rest”—
Our ways are blind and crooked;
His way is best.

4. The Purpose of Rest

The work Himself has given,
He will complete.
There may be other errands
For tired feet;

There may be other duties
For tired hands,
But the present duty is obedience
To His commands.

There is a blessed resting
In lying still,
In letting His hand mould us
Just as He will.

His work must be completed,
His lesson set;
He is the higher Workman—
Do not forget!

5. The Necessity of Training

It is not only “working”—we must be trained.

Even Jesus “learned” obedience through suffering.

For us, His yoke is easy and His burden is light.
His discipline is most needful, and all is right.

We are but under-workmen;
They never choose whether this tool or that tool shall be used in their hands.

Whether in working or in waiting, may we fulfill—not our own will, but only the Master’s will.

— Selected

6. Conclusion: Rest as God’s Provision

God provides resting places as well as working places.

So then, rest and be thankful when He brings you, weary, to a wayside well.

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Genesis 42:36
“All these things are against me.”

Romans 8:28
“All things work together for good to them that love God.”

Devotional Reflection

Many people desire power—but how is power truly produced?

Just as electricity is generated through motion and friction, spiritual power is often formed through pressure. When wheels turn and rub against one another, energy is released. In the same way, when God desires to bring greater strength into our lives, He allows pressure, resistance, and difficulty.

Yet many of us instinctively try to escape pressure, rather than remain and receive the power it produces. What we often see as hardship may actually be God’s way of generating spiritual force within us.

The Balance of Opposing Forces

In the natural world, balance is maintained through opposing forces. The earth remains in its orbit because of the tension between forces pulling inward and pushing outward. Without this tension, it would drift into chaos.

So it is in our spiritual lives.

God does not only give us forward momentum—He also allows resistance. Trials, temptations, and challenges may feel like obstacles, but in reality, they steady us, shape us, and keep us aligned with His purpose.

What seems to be “against us” may actually be what is establishing us.

Learning to Respond

Instead of resisting difficulty, we are invited to see it differently:

• Pressure can produce strength
• Resistance can establish direction
• Trials can deepen faith

Rather than asking for circumstances to change, we can begin to see them as opportunities to draw nearer to God and rely on His sufficiency.

As A. B. Simpson wrote:

“Let us take the weights as well as the wings… and press on with faith and patience in our high and heavenly calling.”

A Picture of God’s Work

Like a factory full of moving parts—wheels, gears, pulleys—life can appear chaotic and confusing. Some things move quickly, others slowly. Some push forward, others pull back. Some are smooth, others noisy and rough.

Yet behind it all, there is a design.

Every part, from the largest to the smallest, works together under the guidance of a wise and sovereign hand.

Even the things that seem:

• Delaying
• Opposing
• Confusing

are still working together for good.

Closing Encouragement

“All things work together for good”—not individually, but together.

Some experiences, if taken alone, may seem painful or meaningless. But in God’s hands, every contradiction, every delay, every disappointment is woven into His greater purpose.

The same hand that allows the pressure is the hand that guides, sustains, and brings all things to completion.

Prayer

Lord, teach us to trust You not only in moments of ease, but also in times of pressure. Help us to see that what feels against us may actually be working for us. Give us faith to endure, patience to wait, and eyes to recognize Your hand in all things. Amen.

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Isaiah 37:33
“So this is what the Lord says about the king of Assyria:
‘He will not enter this city,
nor will he shoot an arrow here.
He will not attack it with his shielded warriors,
nor will he build siege works against it.’”

2 Corinthians 12:10
“Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.”

A Deeper Meaning of Strength

A more literal rendering of 2 Corinthians 12:10 brings out a striking emphasis:

“Therefore I take pleasure in being without strength, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in being confined and pressed on every side for Christ’s sake; for when I am without strength, then I am strong.”

Here lies a powerful spiritual truth:
When we come to the end of our own strength, we begin to experience God’s strength.

The Secret of Divine All-Sufficiency

The secret of God’s sufficiency is this:
To reach the end of ourselves—both in our ability and in our circumstances.

When we arrive at this place:

• We no longer seek sympathy for our hardships
• We stop focusing on unfair treatment
• We begin to see difficulties as the very conditions through which God works

Instead of turning inward, we turn to God.
And in our weakness, we discover a deeper claim upon His grace.

— A.B. Simpson

The Testimony of George Matheson

George Matheson, the blind preacher from Scotland, once prayed:

“My God, I have never thanked Thee for my thorn.
I have thanked Thee a thousand times for my roses, but not once for my thorn.
I have been looking forward to a world where I shall receive compensation for my cross;
but I have never thought of my cross as itself a present glory.

Teach me the glory of my cross;
teach me the value of my thorn.
Show me that I have climbed to Thee by the path of pain.
Show me that my tears have made my rainbows.”

A Final Reflection

Alas for him who never sees
The stars shine through the cypress trees.

Sometimes, it is only in darkness that we see the stars.
Sometimes, it is only through suffering that we see God’s glory.

Conclusion

Weakness is not the end—it is the beginning of encountering God’s power.
Hardship is not merely something to escape—it is often the very place where God meets us most deeply.

When we are weak, then we are truly strong.

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“Glorify ye the Lord in the fires.”
(Isaiah 24:15)

Mark the little word “in”!

We are to honor Him in the trial—in that which is truly an affliction.
And though there have been cases where God did not let His saints feel the fire, yet ordinarily, fire hurts.

But just here we are to glorify Him by our perfect faith in His goodness and love that has permitted all this to come upon us.
And more than that, we are to believe that out of this is coming something more for His praise than could have come but for this fiery trial.

We can only go through some fires with a large faith; little faith will fail.
We must have the victory in the furnace.
— Margaret Bottome

A man has as much religion as he can show in times of trouble.

The men who were cast into the fiery furnace came out as they went in—
except their bonds.

How often in some furnace of affliction God strikes them off!

Their bodies were unhurt—their skin not even blistered.
Their hair was unsinged, their garments not scorched,
and even the smell of fire had not passed upon them.

And that is the way Christians should come out of furnace trials—
liberated from their bonds, but untouched by the flames.

“Triumphing over them in it.”
(Colossians 2:15)

That is the real triumph—
triumphing over sickness, in it;
triumphing over death, in dying;
triumphing over adverse circumstances, in them.

Oh, believe me, there is a power that can make us victors in the strife!

There are heights to be reached where we can look down over the way we have come
and sing our song of triumph on this side of Heaven.

We can make others regard us as rich, while we are poor,
and make many rich in our poverty.

Our triumph is to be in it.
Christ’s triumph was in His humiliation.
Possibly our triumph also is to be made manifest
in what seems to others humiliation.
— Margaret Bottome

Is there not something captivating in the sight of a man or woman burdened with many tribulations,
and yet carrying a heart as sound as a bell?

Is there not something contagiously valorous
in the vision of one who is greatly tempted, yet is more than a conqueror?

Is it not heartening to see some pilgrim
who is broken in body, yet retains the splendor of an unbroken patience?

What a witness all this offers to the enduement of His grace!
— J. H. Jowett

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“And it came to pass, as Aaron spoke unto the whole congregation of the children of Israel, that they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud.”
(Exodus 16:10)

Get into the habit of looking for the silver lining of the cloud,
and when you have found it, continue to look at it rather than at the leaden gray in the middle.

Do not yield to discouragement no matter how sorely pressed or beset you may be.
A discouraged soul is helpless. He can neither resist the wiles of the enemy himself, while in this state, nor can he prevail in prayer for others.

Flee from every symptom of this deadly foe as you would flee from a viper.
And be not slow in turning your back on it unless you want to bite the dust in bitter defeat.

Search out God’s promises and say aloud of each one:
“This promise is mine.”

If you still experience a feeling of doubt and discouragement,
pour out your heart to God and ask Him to rebuke the adversary who is so mercilessly nagging you.

The very instant you whole-heartedly turn away from every symptom of distrust and discouragement,
the blessed Holy Spirit will quicken your faith and inbreathe divine strength into your soul.

At first you may not be conscious of this,
but as you resolutely and uncompromisingly “snub” every tendency toward doubt and depression that assails you,
you will soon be made aware that the powers of darkness are falling back.

Oh, if our eyes could only behold the solid phalanx of strength and power
that is ever behind every turning away from the hosts of darkness—God-ward—
what scant heed would be given to the effort of the wily foe to distress, depress, and discourage us!

All the marvelous attributes of the Godhead are on the side of the weakest believer
who, in the name of Christ and in simple, childlike trust, yields himself to God
and turns to Him for help and guidance.
— Selected

On a day in the autumn, I saw a prairie eagle mortally wounded by a rifle shot.
His eyes still gleamed like a circle of fire.
Then he slowly turned his head and gave one more searching and longing look at the sky.

He had often swept those starry spaces with his wonderful wings.
The beautiful sky was the home of his heart. It was the eagle’s domain.
A thousand times he had displayed his splendid strength there.
In those faraway heights he had played with the lightnings and raced with the winds.

And now, far away from home, the eagle lay dying—
struck down because, for once, he forgot and flew too low.

The soul is that eagle.
This is not its home. It must not lose the skyward look.

We must keep faith.
We must keep hope.
We must keep courage.
We must keep Christ.

We would better creep away from the battlefield at once if we are not going to be brave.
There is no time for the soul to stampede.

Keep the skyward look, my soul; keep the skyward look!

Keep looking up—
The waves that roar around thy feet,
Jehovah-Jireh will defeat,
When looking up.

Keep looking up—
Though darkness seems to wrap thy soul,
The Light of Light shall fill thy soul,
When looking up.

Keep looking up—
When worn, distracted with the fight,
Your Captain gives you conquering might,
When you look up.

We can never see the sun rise by looking into the west.
— Japanese Proverb

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Matthew 14:24
“The wind was contrary.”

Rude and blustering the winds of March often are.
Do they not typify the tempestuous seasons of my life?

But, indeed, I ought to be glad that I make acquaintance with these seasons.
Better it is that the rains descend and the floods come than that I should stay perpetually in the Lotus Land where it seems always afternoon, or in that deep meadowed valley of Avilion where never wind blows loudly.

Storms of temptation appear cruel, but do they not give intenser earnestness to prayer?
Do they not compel me to seize the promises with a tighter hand grip?
Do they not leave me with a character refined?

Storms of bereavement are keen; but then, they are one of the Father’s ways of driving me to Himself, that in the secret of His presence His voice may speak to my heart soft and low.
There is a glory of the Master which can be seen only when the wind is contrary and the ship tossed with waves.

“Jesus Christ is no security against storms,
but He is perfect security in storms.
He has never promised you an easy passage,
only a safe landing.”

Oh, set your sail to the heavenly gale,
And then, no matter what winds prevail,
No reef can wreck you, no calm delay;
No mist shall hinder, no storm shall stay;
Though far you wander and long you roam
Through salt sea sprays and o’er white sea foam,
No wind that can blow but shall speed you Home.

— Annie Johnson Flint

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