5月8日 信心的忍耐

你既遵守我忍耐的道。（啟三10）

忍耐不單是忍受。聖徒的生命在神手中，有如弓箭在射箭者的手上。神正瞄準一些我們看不見的東西，在用力拉開弓；聖徒卻說：“我再也受不了。”神不加理會，反而繼續拉緊，直至目標在望，才鬆手讓箭射出。放心把自己放在神手中。你現在正要忍耐什麼呢？只要用忍耐的信心，保持你與耶穌基督的關係。“他雖然殺我，我仍要等候他。”

信心不是悲觀的情緒，乃是強而有力的信任，是建造在神聖潔的愛上。你如今看不見他，也不明白他在做什麼，但你是認識他的。我們心靈的平穩，在乎我們是否建立在神至聖的愛這永恆的真理上；否則，信心必如船觸礁而覆沒。信心是你人生中最英勇的奮鬥，是不顧一切的把自己交托神，一心投靠他。

神在耶穌基督裡已赴湯蹈火、不顧一切地救了我們；如今他要我們不惜犧牲一切，全心信靠他。我們裡面還有許多地方是信心尚未耕耘過的，就是神的生命尚未觸摸到的。在耶穌基督的生命裡，卻沒有這樣的光景，我們也不該有。“認識你……這就是永生。”永生的真正意義，就是一種面對任何事情而不動搖的生命。我們若有這種看見，人生就成為一頁羅曼史，能夠每時每刻經歷到奇妙的事。神一直在操練我們，好使我們進入這能力的中心裡去。

祈禱◆主啊，我理應成為何等樣的人！我那充滿恩典的生命在你的掌管下是那麼奇妙；然而，我仍發覺自己是那麼氣量狹小。主啊，我還可以說什麼呢！

May 8 The Patience Of Faith

“Because thou hast kept the word of My patience.” Revelation 3:10

Patience is more than endurance. A saint's life is in the hands of God like a bow and arrow in the hands of an archer. God is aiming at something the saint cannot see, and He stretches and strains, and every now and again the saint says – “I cannot stand any more.” God does not heed, He goes on stretching till His purpose is in sight, then He lets fly. Trust yourself in God's hands. For what have you need of patience just now? Maintain your relationship to Jesus Christ by the patience of faith. “Though He slay me, yet will I wait for Him.”

Faith is not a pathetic sentiment, but robust vigorous confidence built on the fact that God is holy love. You cannot see Him just now, you cannot understand what He is doing, but you know Him. Shipwreck occurs where there is not that mental poise which comes from being established on the eternal truth that God is holy love. Faith is the heroic effort of your life, you fling yourself in reckless confidence on God.

God has ventured all in Jesus Christ to save us, now He wants us to venture our all in abandoned confidence in Him. There are spots where that faith has not worked in us as yet, places untouched by the life of God. There were none of those spots in Jesus Christ's life, and there are to be none in ours. “This is life eternal, that they might know Thee.” The real meaning of eternal life is a life that can face anything it has to face without wavering. If we take this view, life becomes one great romance, a glorious opportunity for seeing marvelous things all the time. God is disciplining us to get us into this central place of power.