On Spurgeon's "Morning & Evening"

"By honour and dishonour, by evil report and by good report, by plenty and by poverty, by joy and by distress, by persecution and by peace, by all these things is the life of your soul maintained..."

I started this year with a devotional classic “My Utmost For His Highest”. I had heard much about this book for years but had never read it. I was surprised to discover that it didn’t take at all. I was frustrated almost daily by the content. It must be a style or preference issue because I know many people have been helped by it.

I switched to Spurgeon’s classic devotional called “Morning & Evening”, which offers a  Scripture and a half-page devotional for every day of the year - one for the morning and one for the evening. I was immediately impacted, as my journals show. Again, it must be related to style and preference, but I’m all in on this devotional.

Today’s morning entry is a good example of why that’s the case.

He starts with this: “Changeful experience often leads the anxious believer to enquire ‘Why is it thus with me?’” He then gives an account of his varied daily experiences. He looked for light but there was only darkness; one day his faith is firm, but the next day he is troubled; his mind is clear and then it's clouded; one day joy, the next distress, and so on.

And then these questions:

“Is this part of God’s plan with me? Can this be the way in which God would bring me to heaven?”

And the answer:

“Yes, it is even so. The eclipse of your faith, the darkness of your mind, the fainting of your hope, all these things are but parts of God’s method of making you ripe for the great inheritance upon which you shall soon enter. These trials are for the testing and strengthening of your faith — they are waves that wash you further upon the rock — they are winds which waft your ship the more swiftly towards the desired haven… By honour and dishonour, by evil report and by good report, by plenty and by poverty, by joy and by distress, by persecution and by peace, by all these things is the life of your soul maintained, and by each of these are you helped on your way. Oh, think not, believer, that your sorrows are out of God’s plan; they are necessary parts of it.”

It is this type of writing, vulnerable and comforting and imminently quotable, that has made Spurgeon so beloved by people of widely varied theological persuasions. And for me, one who would hold most of Spurgeon’s theology as my own, these words are a great comfort. They cheer me on and make me feel less alone on my darkest days.

It is a great comfort to know that my troubles are not new every morning the way God’s mercies are.

Note: I’m going to try something new here. Below is a QR code to a WhatsApp group that you can join. Via this group, I will send links to my posts. Entering comments on a page or a site can be intimidating, I get it, so via this group, you will also have an opportunity to send comments or messages or questions to me directly.

Let’s give it a try. To get started, simply click the graphic or scan the QR code below.