Post by MIRIAM JACOB on Jun 17, 2008 2:27:37 GMT -5
GENTLE LEADING
"I will lead on softly, according as the cattle that goes before me
and the children be able to endure" (Gen. 33:14).
What a beautiful picture of Jacob's thoughtfulness for the cattle and
the children! He would not allow them to be overdriven even for one
day. He would not lead on according to what a strong man like Esau
could do and expected them to do, but only according to what they were
able to endure. He knew exactly how far they could go in a day; and he
made that his only consideration in arranging the marches. He had gone
the same wilderness journey years before, and knew all about its
roughness and heat and length, by personal experience.
And so he said, "I will lead on softly." "For ye have not passed this
way before" (Josh.3:4.). We have not passed this way before,
but the Lord Jesus has. It is all untrodden and unknown ground to us,
but He knows it all by personal experience. The steep bits that take
away our breath, the stony bits that make our feet ache so, the hot
shadeless stretches that make us feel so exhausted, the rushing rivers
that we have to pass through--Jesus has gone through it all before us.
"He was wearied with his journey." Not some, but all the many waters
went over Him, and yet did not quench His love. He was made a perfect
Leader by the things which He suffered. "He knows our frame; he
remembers that we are dust." Think of that when you are tempted to
question the gentleness of His leading. He is remembering all the
time; and not one step will He make you take beyond what your foot is
able to endure.
Never mind if you think it will not be able for the step that seems to
come next; either He will so strengthen it that it shall be able, or
He will call a sudden halt, and you shall not have to take it at all.
--Frances Ridley Havergal
In "pastures green"? Not always; sometimes He
Who knows best, in kindness leads me
In weary ways, where heavy shadows be.
So, whether on the hill-tops high and fair
I dwell, or in the sunless valleys, where
The shadows lie, what matter? He is there.
--Barry
© STREAMS IN THE DESERT
compiled by Mrs. Charles E. Cowman
"I will lead on softly, according as the cattle that goes before me
and the children be able to endure" (Gen. 33:14).
What a beautiful picture of Jacob's thoughtfulness for the cattle and
the children! He would not allow them to be overdriven even for one
day. He would not lead on according to what a strong man like Esau
could do and expected them to do, but only according to what they were
able to endure. He knew exactly how far they could go in a day; and he
made that his only consideration in arranging the marches. He had gone
the same wilderness journey years before, and knew all about its
roughness and heat and length, by personal experience.
And so he said, "I will lead on softly." "For ye have not passed this
way before" (Josh.3:4.). We have not passed this way before,
but the Lord Jesus has. It is all untrodden and unknown ground to us,
but He knows it all by personal experience. The steep bits that take
away our breath, the stony bits that make our feet ache so, the hot
shadeless stretches that make us feel so exhausted, the rushing rivers
that we have to pass through--Jesus has gone through it all before us.
"He was wearied with his journey." Not some, but all the many waters
went over Him, and yet did not quench His love. He was made a perfect
Leader by the things which He suffered. "He knows our frame; he
remembers that we are dust." Think of that when you are tempted to
question the gentleness of His leading. He is remembering all the
time; and not one step will He make you take beyond what your foot is
able to endure.
Never mind if you think it will not be able for the step that seems to
come next; either He will so strengthen it that it shall be able, or
He will call a sudden halt, and you shall not have to take it at all.
--Frances Ridley Havergal
In "pastures green"? Not always; sometimes He
Who knows best, in kindness leads me
In weary ways, where heavy shadows be.
So, whether on the hill-tops high and fair
I dwell, or in the sunless valleys, where
The shadows lie, what matter? He is there.
--Barry
© STREAMS IN THE DESERT
compiled by Mrs. Charles E. Cowman