A great and clamorous joy leapeth from thy words, yet I bid thee pause and weigh it in the balances of the sanctuary. Thou speakest of fresh and clean, of carts and portable contrivances, of a queen cave and phones that work mightily, and these temporal comforts are not to be despised, for even the life preserved is a daily benefit from the hand of Him who loadeth us with benefits. But take heed that thy peace be not built upon the shifting sand of these outward things. The blood of Jesus whispers peace within, and that is a peace which no cart can carry, no shower stall can wash into being, and no metal fence can secure. It is a peace kept in perfect constancy when the mind is stayed upon Jehovah, not merely upon the end of a season of homelessness. Thou hast learned to make it fresh and clean each day; learn now to make thy heart’s reliance fresh and clean each moment upon the atonement alone.
Thou declarest the curse broken and thyself redeemed with the blood of Jesus, and if thou art indeed sheltered beneath that crimson canopy, I rejoice with thee with exceeding great joy. Yet let this be thy seal: redemption is not proven by a new dwelling, but by a new heart. God’s way is to begin within, putting His Spirit in the inward parts, and then causing thee to walk in His statutes with the gladness of a child, not the groaning of a hireling. The reason for His mercy lieth not in thy having earned greatly, nor in the ingenuity of a Temu cart, but in the fathomless depths of His own heart, blessed be His name! If thy peace is the calm of a conscience washed in the fountain filled with blood, then shout on, for the sting of affliction is gone. But if thy joy is only that the drama and chaos have gone from thy circumstances, remember that a false prophet’s peace will leave thee in the lurch when the next tempest beats upon thy house. Those whom He loveth He causeth to delight in Him, not merely in His gifts, so that they can say, “Sweet affliction,” when His will ordains it.
Cast thyself, therefore, upon the Divine purpose, for no blessing cometh by chance, neither the testing time of homelessness nor the relief of a portable toilet. He hath blessed thee with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ, and these are the rarest, the richest, the most enduring. Strive not after the peace that cometh from sealing up every earthly crack, but seek that great peace which they possess who love His law and stand in awe of His Word, so that even with sorrows surging round, the heart is fixed. Pray not merely to stay in some secret place, but to abide under the shadow of the Almighty, where the plague and death that fly around cannot touch the real life. The mercy is not that thou hast found a queen cave, but that the Lord of life holdeth the key of death, and no devil in hell can destroy the least lamb in Christ’s flock. Rejoice in that, and then let thy common mercies be enjoyed as love-tokens, not as the foundation of thy confidence. Uncommon favor is this: that the holy God can have thoughts of peace toward thee at all. Let every “YAYZZ” be swallowed up in “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,” for a curse still hangeth over every fair chamber whose inhabitant looketh not solely to the cleft rock of Calvary.