Saturday, November 20, 2010

classic Saturday

A Quaker born in Philadelphia, Hannah Whitall Smith (1832-1911) wrote The Christian's Secret of a Happy Life. In the excerpt found in Devotional Classics she addresses people's problem of feeling burdened by Christian service by writing of the cure: surrender of the soul to God's perfect will.

"What you need to do, then, dear Christian, if you are in bondage in the matter of service, is to put your will over completely into the hands of the Lord, surrendering it to Him the entire control of it...Many Christians love God's will in the abstract, but carry great burdens in connection with it. From this also there is deliverance in the wonderful life of faith. For in this way of life, no burdens are carried, no anxieties felt. The Lord is our burden-bearer, and upon Him we must lay off every care. He says, in effect, "Be careful for nothing, but make your requests known to me, and I will attend to them all.

Be careful for nothing. he says, not even your service. Why? Because we are so utterly helpless that no matter how careful we were, our service would amount to nothing! What have we to do with thinking whether we are fit or not fit for service? The Master-workman surely has a right to use any tool He pleases for His own work, and it is plainly not the business of the tool to decide whether it is the right one to be used or not. He knows; and if He chooses to use us, of course we must be fit. And in truth, if we only knew it, our chief fitness is in our utter helplessness. His strength is made perfect, not in our strength, but in our weakness. our strength is only a hindrance."

Are you serving out of duty or desire? Is serving Christ a joy or a burden? Prayers for us all this week to serve in Christ and out of His good and freedom-producing will.

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