_IF GOD BE FOR US----!_
ROMANS viii. 31-39.
Who else is worth naming? How much does anybody count? If the sun be on my
side, why should I be dismayed at any icy obstacle that may rear itself in
my way? Sun _versus_ ice! God _versus_ my impediments! Why should I fear?
If the atmosphere is on my side, then even the opposing strength of iron
will rust away into powder. "The breath of the Lord bloweth upon it," and
if the holy breath, God's Holy Spirit, is for us, then the apparently
invincible obstacle will crumble away into dust.
But we are deceived by mass, and we are forgetful of spirit. Mere size
affrights us. We are dismayed by numbers. We forget the quiet, pervasive,
all-powerful ministry of the Spirit of God. We are overwhelmed by the
phenomena of tempest and earthquake and fire, and we forget that
almightiness hides in the "still, small voice," in "the sound of a gentle
stillness." God's breath is more than the fierce threatenings of embattled
hosts. "If God be for us, who can be against us?" I will hide myself in
His holy fellowship, and "none shall make me afraid."