A Discovery, Not An Attainment

Again I want once more to make this absolutely clear: what came to me was a discovery , not an attainment . I did not suddenly become a better woman. I simply realized that Christ was a far better Savior than I had ever imagined. I was no more capable of conquering my temptations than before — but I had discovered that He was able, and that He was willing, to conquer them for me. I had no more wisdom or righteousness of my own, but I had finally learned that He could truly become for me — just as the Apostle declared — wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption .

I will never forget the first time I discovered that this was not merely a beautiful saying, but an actual, practical fact.

Not long after I first began to grasp the fullness of Christ’s salvation, I learned that someone particularly antagonistic toward me was coming to stay at our house for two weeks. She had always been provoking and difficult. As the time drew near, I felt certain that if I were to treat her in a Christlike manner, I would need far more patience than I normally possessed.

Still being new in the life of faith, I assumed the only way to obtain enough patience was to wrestle for it in prayer . My days were too busy, so I decided to devote an entire night to this spiritual struggle. After the family went to bed, I shut myself in my room, brought along a plate of biscuits in case I grew hungry, and knelt by my bed prepared for an all-night battle. I felt almost heroic, for long hours in prayer had always exhausted me; but since I desperately needed a storehouse of patience, I thought this was the only way to secure it. I expected something like a large “lump” of patience to be deposited into my heart— a reserve from which I could break off pieces whenever needed.

But no sooner had my knees touched the floor than the familiar Scripture flashed into my mind: “But of Him are ye in Christ Jesus , who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption… that he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.”

“Yes!” I cried inwardly. “And that must surely include patience as well!”

Immediately I rose from my knees with absolute confidence that I did not need to acquire a stockpile of patience ahead of time. Instead, I could simply look to the Lord for a present supply whenever the need arose. I saw Christ as a vast, inexhaustible storehouse, always open, always full — offering exactly the grace required at exactly the moment it was required. And suddenly it seemed absurd for me to carry about packages of grace in my spiritual pockets, which — even if I could gather them — would be misplaced the very moment I needed them most.

Naturally, that faith was fully answered. My visitor proved even more aggravating than usual, yet patience came to me moment by moment — always exactly enough for the moment at hand.

Even more wonderful than the patience itself was the discovery I had made: the storehouse of God’s grace is always open , and His supplies are always available to His children.

Some people might call my patience an “attainment.” But I had not attained anything. I had simply discovered God’s supply and taken hold of it by faith, hour by hour, as each hour required.

When reduced to its simplest form, my discovery was this: In Christ there is a perfect supply for every need, and faith alone is the channel through which that supply flows. Struggling cannot bring it. Wrestling cannot bring it. Worrying and agonizing cannot bring it. Faith always will. Faith always does.

It seems such a simple realization — one would think that any believer who reads the Bible would immediately know it. But I did not know it, not even after nine years of careful study and earnest striving. And when at last I discovered it, it revolutionized my life.

There was nothing mysterious about it. It wasn’t something added to the gospel— it was the true meaning of the gospel. Christ came, according to Scripture, to accomplish certain things; my discovery was simply that He could actually be depended on to accomplish them . And if that is true, then surely those who desire these things accomplished should hand them over to the One who has undertaken the work.

To me, this seemed — and still seems — not some extraordinary spiritual attainment, but simple, practical common sense . When I hire a builder to construct a house, it is because he knows how to build and I do not. I don’t consider handing the job to him to be some great “attainment” on my part — it is merely sensible. If I come to a roaring river and find a bridge, I do not consider crossing it an accomplishment — I merely take advantage of what has been provided.

For this reason, I much prefer the word gifts to attainments . Attainments imply my own work and effort; but Christian graces are free gifts from God. Those who “reign in life” are not those who rise to great heights by their own efforts, but those who receive abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness. If God did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him freely give us all things?

To discover that all things are truly ours is not an attainment — it is a magnificent discovery. And any soul that discovers such riches would be profoundly lacking in common sense not to take possession of whatever it needs.

No angel could fully describe what this discovery meant to me. But it is enough to say that life was transformed. Where defeat and failure once ruled, victory and triumph became my daily and hourly experience — whenever I chose to take hold of them by faith. I was no longer a slave to sin, forced to obey it even when I hated it, but had entered into the liberty Christ gives, no longer bound by the old chains.

I had thought myself happy before, but now my joy was beyond words. At times it seemed to me that even Heaven itself could scarcely offer more. Yet this joy was not rooted in myself, nor in any achievement of my own — for I had none. It was joy in the Lord.

I understood, at last, t he prophet’s words: “Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, nor the mighty man in his might, nor the rich man in his riches; but let him who glories, glory in this: that he understands and knows Me.”

I had no wisdom, no strength, no riches in myself — but I was learning to know the Lord, and in Him I could glory with all my heart.

“Where, then, is boasting?” asks the Apostle.

“It is excluded… by the law of faith.”

A soul that has no attainments cannot boast in itself; and a soul that receives everything freely from the Lord cannot help but boast in Him.

“For by grace you are saved through faith… not of yourselves… not of works, lest any man should boast.”

“They did not gain the land by their own sword, nor did their own arm save them; but Your right hand, O Lord, and the light of Your countenance.”

This was my experience. And with all my heart I could echo the Psalmist: “In God we boast all day long, and praise His Name forever.”