THE FRIGATE-BIRD AND THE CARRIER-PIGEON

THE FRIGATE-BIRD AND THE CARRIER-PIGEON

I am growing in desire of heart to learn, outside of this scene, how to act in it. Our practice generally is to go from the things here to Christ to learn how to deal with them; we have things here before us, as it were, when we are conferring with Him. I do not say that we are not to make known all our requests, we are told to do so in Philippians 4, but this in moral order, and for moral greatness comes after chapter 3, where Christ is the object and the goal. First, He is preferred to everything in myself; and secondly, He is preferred to everything on the earth; so that both, in me, and around me, He surpasses everything. It is from this circumcision that I enter on things here; and I let men know how yielding I am, how I can give up, because God is my resource, and to Him I do more than let my requests be known; I make them known (one word in the original). To man I let it be known that I can give up, but I turn to God, and make known to Him my requests; and the peace of God — His own state, is the portion of my heart in a world of evil and opposition. I think we ought to seek to act here as an angel would, who knew nothing of what was passing here, but who knew well what was according to God, and what God would have him do in the place, because his knowledge is exclusively from God, and not from man. In addition to this we have before us the Blessed One, now in glory, who did everything according to God when He was here, and who is still a Man. We shall always be baffled and hindered here unless our eye ^[p. 88] is on that perfect and glorious Man. When we are not led and controlled by Him we fall into the ways of the natural man; and then when in distress, we turn to God to deliver us, rather than to strengthen us in Christ; and hence deliverance is more the theme of our song than Himself. To be able to say, “I laid me down and slept; I awaked for the Lord sustained me” (Psalm 3: 5) is evidence of perfect calm in the midst of pressure; but when the soul is in the strength of Christ it sings of the Lord — “He hath triumphed gloriously”. If I am occupied with myself, and things here, the most I can arrive at is repose — like the frigate-bird; but if I am in company with the Lord I am in a way His harbinger from the heavens; He is my support and stay on earth, but I am His carrier-pigeon as it were from heaven, bearing His message here as He would send me. He comes down to me and makes me a frigate-bird, enables me to rise above the pressure here, and I can then come down from Him and be His carrier-pigeon. Few are restful enough to ascend from earth to heaven, and therefore there are so few who can descend from heaven to earth to express Christ and to declare His mind and thoughts as regards things here. When I wish you to be the carrier-pigeon I do not overlook your being a frigate-bird, because you could not be truly and happily the former without being the latter.