All That I Have

I will love You, O Lord, my strength.
The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer;
My God, my strength, in whom I will trust;
My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised;
So shall I be saved from my enemies.
[Psalm 18:1-3 NKJV]

Rain falling on Jura, as seen from Ardifuir, Argyll. (The cloud cover seemed like a hand over the landscape)

In these unsettling days, we have a tremendous assurance of The Lord's covering hand on us, and the peace that comes from His strength encourages us to trust Him, not just in the present trial, but in all things. We have experienced His love, and we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. [Romans 8:28 NKJV].

Our God is the only one we can trust. He is unfailing and unchanging. The natural life teaches us to distrust. People let us down, or simply stop short of our expectations. The reality of this is that our focus is on ourselves - what we want - instead of looking to Our Saviour and what He wants. He wants us daily to repent - to turn ourselves around - our gaze on Him, not on ourselves. Looking to Him, we can accomplish great things, in His strength; things we would never countenance in our own.

It puts in mind a poem, written by Leo Marx, Code Poem For The French Resistance. It was used in the film Carve Her Name With Pride, which told the true story of Violette Szabo, shot by the Nazi's as a spy. Violette was played in the film by Virginia McKenna, for whom the poem became a personal favourite. The poem reads as a message of love and faith, both essentials for trust.

The life that I have, is all that I have
And the life that I have is yours
The love that I have of the life that I have
Is yours and yours and yours.

A sleep I shall have, a rest I shall have
Yet death will be but a pause
For the peace of my years in the long green grass
Will be yours and yours and yours.

The beauty of this poem - as indeed of all great art - is the multi-layers of meaning that can be discerned. It was devised as a code, although what that code was is unclear, but these verses have consistently meant a lot to many people and in many different ways.

Lord, help me to trust in you - and to nurture that trust that I may find 'the peace of my years'. In deed and in truth, 'all that I have is the life that I have' and my life was bought at such a price by You, Lord. Direct my ways to be Yours, and Yours, and Yours.

---

Virginia McKenna as Violette Szabo in the film 'Carve Her Name With Pride'

---

OSWALD CHAMBERS - 'RUN TODAY'S RACE'
Wednesday 29th April 2020
Obedience to Jesus Christ is essential, but never compulsory.
In the early stages we have the notion that the Christian life is one of freedom,
and so it is, but freedom for one thing only - freedom to obey our Master.