“Hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end”
(Heb. iii. 6).
The attitude of faith is simple trust. It is Elijah saying to Ahab, “There
is a sound of abundance of rain.” But then there comes usually a deeper
experience in which the prayer is inwrought; it is Elijah on the mount,
with his face between his knees, travailing, as it were, in birth for the
promised blessing. He has believed for it—and now he must take. The first
is Joash shooting the arrow out of the windows, but the second is Joash
smiting on the ground and following up his faith by perseverance and
victorious testing.
It is in this latter place that many of us come short. We ask much from
God, and when God proceeds to give it to us we are not found equal to His
expectation. We are made partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of
our confidence steadfast to the end, and trust Him through it all.
Fainting soldier of the Lord,
Hear His sweet inspiring word,
“I have conquered all thy foes.
I have suffered all thy woes;
Struggling soldier, trust in Me,
I have overcome for thee.”