THE DAILY MARCH IN THE WILDERNESS
THE DAILY MARCH IN THE WILDERNESS
It is a marching time. There is for us an annual and a daily journey to Canaan, like the earth, which has its annual and its diurnal motion. The former is the course of faith, the latter that of practice. I mean, one takes the circuit, fulfils the journey in faith, and one has in practice to traverse all the road; all the varieties of seasons are to be known to the soul; but we are not to be occupied with the journey, but to be each day prepared for it before the day’s march begins. The manna was gathered before the sun was up, and the cloud was the signal for them to journey. our heart is to be stored with Christ before the demands of the march are upon you, but you must be ever ready for the word ‘March.’ There is some new experience, some new testing every day almost; at any rate, I think [p. 17] there is seldom a repetition of the same experiences, except in new combinations. I suppose with the Israelites that there was a tarrying at one place until the lesson connected with it was learned. They were conducted through the wilderness in order to be, in their biography, ensamples to us in our journey through this world, upon whom the ends of the world have come. You are to begin each day with a supply from Christ, which will enable you either to remain in the old halting spot, or to enter on a new one. You pitch at one place, you remove to another; but the point is, that you are not thinking of one or the other; the one thing before you is to be prepared for either. You must be prepared to march as well as to remain; but if you are prepared to march - to enter on new circumstances, you must be first proved in prior ones. I do not mean any very remarkable circumstances, but something new, a fresh demand of some kind. It may be an unexpected visit from a former worldly friend, or an interview with a worldly saint; something apparently small, but unusual, so that it calls forth a new energy in you, and with it a fresh sense of dependence; but of this you may be assured, that if you have gathered the manna, that is, if your soul has been fed with Christ for the day, it is sufficient for the day. The day’s provision was given before the day’s demands came on. The Lord knows all that is before us, and He reveals Himself, if we seek Him simply; that is, in accordance with the need in which we shall be placed, whether it be to maintain us where we are, or to march. By marching, I mean entering on new circumstances of some kind or other. If I have begun the day with the Lord, I have the sense of His grace and power, and that is sufficient for all the demands of the day.
What an interesting journey it is! What a tale the earth could tell of its diurnal and annual motion; and surely we can tell a much more interesting and wonderful tale, as we perform our orbits, and are each supplied [p. 18] by Christ in varied ways for all that the path requires. The only strength you have is the strength which Christ has supplied, for He is your only food. In the wilderness there is really no food for nature; and as Christ is your only food, every divine energy is characterised by Him who is the food and the strength of your soul.