March 15

"Fear not, thou worm Jacob...I will make thee a threshing instrument with teeth." (Isa. 41:14, 15)

Could any two things be in greater contrast than a worm and an instrument with teeth? The worm is delicate, bruised¹ by a stone, crushed beneath the passing wheel; an instrument with teeth can break and not be broken; it can grave its mark upon the rock. And the mighty² God can convert the one into the other. He can take a man or a nation, who has all the impotence of the worm, and by the invigoration of His own Spirit, He can endow with strength by which a noble mark is left upon the history of the time.

And so the "worm" may take heart. The mighty God can make us stronger than our circumstances. He can bend them all to our good. In God's strength we can make them all pay tribute to our souls. We can even take hold of a black disappointment, break it open, and extract some jewel of grace. When God gives us wills like iron, we can drive through difficulties as the iron share cuts through the toughest soil. "I will make thee," and shall He not do it? --Dr. Jowett.

Christ is building His kingdom with earth's broken things. Men want only the strong, the successful, the victorious³, the unbroken, in building their kingdoms; but God is the God of the unsuccessful, of those who have failed. Heaven is filling with earth's broken lives, and there is no bruised reed that Christ cannot take and restore to glorious blessedness and beauty. He can take the life crushed by pain or sorrow and make it into a harp⁴ whose music shall be all praise. He can lift earth's saddest failure up to heaven's glory. --J. R. Miller⁵.

"Follow Me, and I will make you"…

Make you speak My words with power,

Make you channels of My mercy,

Make you helpful every hour.

"Follow Me, and I will make you"…

Make you what you cannot be--

Make you loving, trustful, godly,

Make you even like to Me.

--L. S. P.

　 三月十五日

　　“你这虫雅各…不要害怕…我已使你成为有快齿打粮的新器具”(赛四十一：14/15直译)。

　　虫与快齿的器具怎样可以相比呢？虫是多么软弱，给我们石头或车轮一压，就会压得稀烂；快齿的器具是多么坚强；甚至能“把山岭打得粉碎，使冈陵如同糠秕” (十五节) 。但是全能的神能使虫成为有快齿的器具。神能使个人或民族，藉着他的灵，从虫的软弱变到快齿器具的刚强，在历史上留着很深的痕迹。

　　所以我们这些虫不要丧胆。全能的神能使我们在四围患难的环境中变成刚强。靠着他的力量，我们能叫我们的环境向我们屈服，向我们进贡。我们甚至能随便抓住一个黑色的失望，把它劈开来，从其中抽出恩典的宝石来。神也能给我们像铁那般的意志，所有的难处都能迎刃而解，犹如坚土遇到铁犁那样松散。神既说：“我要使你…”，他岂会不如此行呢？——乔怀德

　　基督建造他的国度，都是用地上破碎的东西建造的。人们所要的是强健的，成功的，胜利的，不碎的；但是神所要的乃是在地上不成功的，失败的，伤心的，软弱的。天上充满着地上破碎的生命，没有一根压伤的芦苇是基督所不能恢复的。他能使一个被痛苦忧愁所压伤的生命变成一架弹出赞美的音乐来的古琴。他把地上的失败变成天上的荣耀。——密勒

跟从我，我要铸造你们，

有力地传布我的福音，

成为流出慈恩的沟洫，

使你们成为有用之人。

跟从我，我要铸造你们，

脱胎换骨，重新做人，

有信，有爱，忠实虔诚，

不愧为神的子民。

1 bruised   

[医]青肿的，瘀紫的

参考例句：

• his bruised and bloodied nose 他沾满血的青肿的鼻子
• She had slipped and badly bruised her face. 她滑了一跤，摔得鼻青脸肿。

2 mighty   

adj.强有力的；巨大的

参考例句：

• A mighty force was about to break loose.一股巨大的力量即将迸发而出。
• The mighty iceberg came into view.巨大的冰山出现在眼前。

3 victorious   

adj.胜利的，得胜的

参考例句：

• We are certain to be victorious.我们定会胜利。
• The victorious army returned in triumph.获胜的部队凯旋而归。

4 harp   

n.竖琴；天琴座

参考例句：

• She swept her fingers over the strings of the harp.她用手指划过竖琴的琴弦。
• He played an Irish melody on the harp.他用竖琴演奏了一首爱尔兰曲调。

5 miller   

n.磨坊主

参考例句：

• Every miller draws water to his own mill.磨坊主都往自己磨里注水。
• The skilful miller killed millions of lions with his ski.技术娴熟的磨坊主用雪橇杀死了上百万头狮子。