Welcome to "Quaint Words!”
These posts will contain thoughts, poems, and prayers from old books that I have found at antique stores, flea markets, and garage sales (with an occasional treasure from a bookstore).
I love the rhythm and sound of the older English language, and am blessed by other believers who have gone before me!
(A listing of books and authors, and also dates of individual postings from those books, will be found on my "QUAINT WORDS" page)
"Because God is not visibly present to the eye, it is difficult to feel that a transaction with Him is real. I suppose that if, when we made our acts of consecration, we could actually see Him present with us, we should feel it to be a very real thing...Such a transaction would have to us the binding power that a spoken promise to an earthly friend always has to a man of honor. What we need, therefore, is to see that God's presence is a certain fact always, and that every act of our soul is done before Him, and that a word spoken in prayer is as really spoken to Him as if our eyes could see Him and our hands could touch Him. Then we shall cease to have such vague conceptions of our relations with Him, and shall feel the binding force of every word we say in His presence.
I know some will say here, "Ah, yes; but if he would only speak to me...I would have no trouble then in believing it." No, of course you would not; but then where would be the room for faith? Sight is not faith, and hearing is not faith, neither is feeling faith; but believing when we can neither see, hear, nor feel, is faith; and everywhere the Bible tells us our salvation is to be by faith. Therefore we must believe before we feel, and often against our feelings, if we would honor God by our faith."
(From "The Christian's Secret of a Happy Life" by Hannah Whitall Smith, c. 1888)
BLOG = "Blessedly Leaning On God!"
I was over in yesterday fanning a flame and almost missed this!
ReplyDeleteLOVE it. I'm going to enjoy the quaint words posts. I can tell. I think this one gets its full bang on the very last line, don't you?
"Therefore, we must believe before we feel, and even against our feelings, if we would honor God by our faith."
Bam!
Hi Sharon,
ReplyDeleteI'm with Debbie, that last line really brings home the point of this post:
"...we must believe before we feel, and often against our feelings, if we would honor God by our faith." -- I must believe before I feel, I must even oppose my feelings. Why? That I would honor God by my faith.
Blessings and peace sis.
MTJ
such wise words written so long ago for us to draw from and learn from indeed!
ReplyDeletehope you have a nice weekend Sharon!!!
bety
LOVE this, too, and just read the blog to my entire family, husband, 12yr old daughter, 10 & 8 year old sons! This opened up a conversation about "belief" and "faith".
ReplyDeleteLoved your post and love you!
Janet
Oh I love this! Thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteDebbie and MTJ - I agree. The last line definitely contains the "full bang." I like especially how it states that we sometimes have to go AGAINST our feelings to have faith. Right now in my one-year Bible reading, I'm in the book of Job. If there was anyone who had a reason to "feel" there was no God, I think it was him. And yet, though his "feelings" reacted to his terrible circumstances, his FAITH never faltered. And that faith was counted as "righteousness."
ReplyDeleteBetty - Glad you enjoyed these "quaint words." I think it's pretty cool that these words were printed 122 years ago, and yet, they could have been written yesterday. God's "imprint" seems to give words a lasting impact, don't you think?
Janet - Thanks for the wonderful comment. I LOVE it that this opened up a conversation with the family. Matters of faith need to be discussed, openly and often. Love you, too!
Alisa - It's my pleasure to share these words. I'm so glad you liked this post. I've read this entire book by Hannah - it's wonderful. I will share more in future Quaint Words.
When I read these words, I was reminded of something I read somewhere (my paraphrase): Sometimes things have to be seen in order to be believed; but in matters of faith, it seems that things must be believed in order to be seen!
"Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see." (Hebrews 11:1)
Hope everyone is having a happy holiday weekend!!
BLESSINGS TO ALL!