Hitherto and Henceforth - A Poem by Annie Johnson Flint

Hitherto and Henceforth

...Hitherto hath the Lord helped us.  1 Samuel 7:12

Hitherto the Lord hath helped us,
Hitherto His hand hath led,
Hitherto His arm protected,
Hitherto His bounty fed;
Will His love desert us wholly,
Will His heart our need forget,
Will His presence clean forsake us,
Who hath never failed us yet?

Still His constant care surrounds us,
Keeping watch by day and night,
And His faithful promise tells us
We are precious in His sight.
He hath set no bounds, no limits,
To His ceaseless gifts of love;
He hath named no times, no seasons,
When His pledge untrue shall prove.

Let the Past we know assure us
Of the Present's certain aid,
Till the Future's dark forebodings
In the light of faith shall fade;
Still He hears our supplications,
As our days our strength shall be;
And His grace is all-sufficient
For the needs of you and me.

Annie Johnson Flint

2 Corinthians 12:9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 

Are you feeling weak? This has been a hot summer for a lot of us in the northern hemisphere and a soggy winter for some in the southern. There is so much trouble and drought and cause for concern around the world these days, it can be exhausting dealing with the daily things in front of us while knowing that so much trouble is brewing in so many ways. But God...

Here are some thoughts on weakness for you to ponder.

Word of the Day: Weakness

Thoughts from the Past – A Bold Foe

Photo from my grandpa's collection, I assume taken in a zoo.

Jan. 3, 2006 [edited 2020]

A Bold Foe

Over the weekend we had a guest - a fellow believer from California. Last night we showed him one of our lion documentaries (The Lions of Etosha, filmed by Des and Jen Bartlett). In discussing the hunting habits of lions they showed two different sequences in which the lions, in the process of their hunt, did not even bother to hide themselves. They boldly approached the prey in plain sight. Half of the strategy was to panic the prey by their very presence. The prey knew they were being hunted and could see all or at least part of the lions. The fear factor in this panicked the prey into going exactly where the lions wanted them to go so that they could catch one to devour.

I was again reminded that this is one of the tactics of our adversary the devil who is also described as a devouring lion. 1 Peter 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

Sometimes the devil, or his minions, will actually hunt for the saints, as it were, in our plain sight. There is no hiding of the fact that they are there to devour. The idea is much as the lion's - they desire to panic us into bolting directly into their trap.

It is amazingly easy to be panicked by this tactic, but the Lord has not left us helpless. He has told us what to do. The passage continues, Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. 1 Peter 5:9 Steadfast resistance in the faith is the key. Unlike the helpless prey of the real lions, if we in faith steadfastly resist being panicked we can overcome the devil and his servants.

We read in Proverbs 28:1, ...the righteous are bold as a lion. We are righteous through Jesus Christ, Who is the lion of the tribe of Juda (Rev. 5:5). Another section of the video showed a confrontation between two male "stray lions" (lions not belonging to a pride), and the two big males of the pride. At first, the lone lion from the pride ran from the intruders, but when his friend - his brother - came to support him he turned around and confronted the intruders.

There is strength in the support of our fellow saints, but ultimately our support is Christ, the lion of Juda Himself. With Him no spiritual predator can overcome us. Our confidence and faith must be in Him, not ourselves. We must resist the urge to panic when the roaring devil shows himself.

Ephesians 6:16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

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First published here in July 2011.
This post was written for my old blog in 2006. The guest we had that January is now my husband. :-)