Morning & Evening Devotional Reading–

August 4– Evening

by C. H. Spurgeon, revised and edited by W. C. Neff

“[The Lord] struck down with mildew and hail all the things you worked so hard to build.”

—Haggai 2:17

How destructive is hail to standing crops! It beats out the precious grain upon the ground! How grateful we should be when the corn is spared from being destroyed! Let us offer unto the Lord thanksgiving for all we have. Mildew and hail turn good produce into a mass of soot and make it rot—or they dry up the grain so beyond any remedy that the farmer is compelled to cry, “This is the finger of God.” The corn is attacked by uncountable, minute fungi, and were it not for the goodness of God, the rider on the black horse would soon scatter famine all over the land.

Only God’s mercy can spare the food of men from being destroyed. And, in view of the many things that can destroy the harvest, we should wisely pray, “Give us this day our daily bread.” The curse is widely spread, so we have constant need of God’s blessing. When blight and mildew come, they are reprimands from heaven, and we must learn to receive their instruction and the One who brings it.

Spiritually, mildew is no uncommon evil. When our work is most promising this blight appears. We hoped for many people to be converted, but our message is spurned with general apathy, or an abounding worldliness, or a cruel hardness of heart! There may be no open sin in those for whom we are laboring, but there is a deficiency of sincerity and of decision which is sadly disappointing. We learn from this to depend upon the Lord with prayer that no blight may fall upon our work.

Spiritual pride or sloth will soon bring upon us the dreadful evil, and only the Lord of the harvest can remove it. Mildew may even attack our own hearts and shrivel our prayers and spiritual activity. May it please the great Gardner to avert so serious a calamity. Shine, O blessed Sun of righteousness, and drive these blights away. [M&E]