TRIALS & TRIUMPHS
INCLUDES: Comfort, Death, Fight the Good Fight, Fighters, Handicaps, Healing, Resisting the Devil, Romans 8:28.
RELATED INDEX TOPICS: Chastening, Courage, Faith & Trust, Fight, Persecution, Positiveness, Shtick, Yieldedness.
1. Sometime ago a great religious leader came to our state capital to speak at the YMCA. He had a terrific reputation as an evangelist, and to entertain him, his sponsors called on me and said, "Governor, would you have this man up for dinner before the evening meeting?" Of course I was delighted.
The time came, and I rushed home from my office in high expectations to meet this dynamic speaker who had made such a wonderful record for his God. Right before me was a gnome-like creature not over five feet tall, who looked like something his mother would like to forget. My face registered my disappointment. My guest looked at me and said, "Governor, isn't it wonderful what God can use?" And so it was.
2. I thank Thee more that all our joy is touched with pain;
That shadows fall on brightest hours, that thorns remain;
So that Earth's bliss may be our guide, & not our chain.
3. I once learned a lesson from a dog we had. My father used to put a bit of meat or biscuit on the floor near the dog and say, "No!" and the dog knew he must not touch it. But he never looked at the meat. He seemed to feel that if he did so, the temptation to disobey would be too great, so he looked steadily at my father's face. There is a lesson for us all. Always look up to the Master's face.
4. A biologist tells how he watched an ant carrying a piece of straw which seemed a big burden for it. The ant came to a crack in the earth which was too wide for it to cross. It stood for a time as though pondering the situation, then put the straw across the crack and walked over upon it. Here is a lesson for all mankind! A man's burden can be made a bridge for his progress.
5. If you find a path with no obstacles--it is probably a path that doesn't lead anywhere.
6. The best way to forget your own problem is to help someone else solve his.
7. Are you contributing to the solution? Or are you a part of the problem?
8. The eagle is an interesting bird. She builds her nest in the tallest trees or on the loftiest mountain ledges. One who has watched her construct her nest relates that she first lays down thorns, jagged stones, and all manner of sharp objects, which seem utterly incredible materials for the purpose. Then she covers it thickly with wool, feathers, and fur of animals she has killed. The nesting place thus becomes soft and comfortable, a delightful home for the birds which the mother will hatch. But the little creatures are not destined to remain in this inviting cradle so laboriously prepared for them. The time will come when the mother will stir up the nest. With her sharp talons she will begin to point the sharp protrusions in their flesh. Up to this time the tiny creatures have had their food delivered and dropped into their mouths. After the nest has been stirred up, the eagles become so miserable and unhappy they are willing to get out, and go somewhere else.
This is the mother's objective in picking out from the nest all the downy material with which it was originally lined and casting it to the wind. It is not cruelty on her part, but rather an effort to produce discontent with the old life of ease, and to whet their desire to move on to maturity.
9. A beekeeper told me a story of a hive--how, when the little bee is in the first stage, it is put into a hexagonal cell, and enough honey is stored there for its use until it reaches maturity. The honey is sealed with a capsule of wax, and when the tiny bee has fed itself on the honey and exhausted the supply, the time has come for it to emerge into the open. But, oh, the wrestle, the tussle, the straining to get through that wax! It is the strait gate for the bee, so strait that in the agony of exit the bee rubs off the membrane that hid its wings, and on the other side is able to fly!
10. A maker of violins searched all his life for wood that would serve for making violins with a certain beautiful and haunting resonance. At last he succeeded when he came into possession of wood gathered from the timberline, the last stand of the trees of the Rockies, 12,000 feet above sea level. Up there where the winds blow so fiercely and steadily that the bark to windward has no chance to grow, where the branches all point one way, and where a tree to live must stay on its knees all through its life, that is where the world's most resonant wood for violins is born and lives and dies.
11. When you flee temptation, be sure you don't leave a forwarding address.
12. Oh, a trouble's a ton, or a trouble's an ounce.
Or a trouble is what you make it.
And it isn't the fact that you're hurt that counts.
But only how did you take it? --Edmund Vance Cooke
13. When our eyes are washed with tears, they can better see the invisible land where there shall be no more tears.
14. In a testimony meeting in the South, an old Christian got up and said that she was always blessed by the words "And it came to pass." "When I am upset by troubles, I go to the Bible, and I never get far before I read "It came to pass." And I say, "Bless the Lord it didn't come to stay--it came to pass!"
15. Times of great calamity and confusion have ever been productive of the greatest minds. The purest ore is produced from the hottest furnace, and the brightest thunderbolt comes from the darkest storm.
16. The vine clings to the oak during the fiercest of storms. Although the violence of nature may uproot the oak, twining tendrils still cling to it. If the vine is on the side of the tree opposite the wind, the great oak is its protection; if it is on the exposed side, the tempest only presses it closer to the trunk.
In some of the storms of life, God intervenes and shelters us; while in others He allows us to be exposed, so that we will be pressed more closely to Him.
17. John Wesley had a terrible wife. She tormented him beyond measure. But he said that he attributed most of his success to his wife--that she kept him on his knees and because he was kept on his knees, he had the victory.
18. A team of Russian scientists have been conducting experiments aimed at discovering whether a life of ease shortens or lengthens life. A report on the outcome claims:
"A series of experiments were staged on animal life spans. Some animals were provided with ideal conditions of life--quiet, fresh air, plenty of food, and no cares whatever. Sleep if you like, play if you want. The fur of the animals began to gloss.
"Another group of animals was placed in conditions that involved cares and joy, setbacks and surprises of all kinds.
"Researchers found the first to fall sick and break down were animals existing in seemingly ideal conditions.
"Now the Soviet researchers are trying to establish whether the same holds good for human beings."
19. The test of tolerance comes when we are in a majority. The test of courage comes when we are in a minority.
20. Let's learn a lesson from tea. It shows its real worth when it gets into hot water.
21. Scars are the price of scepters. Grief has always been the lot of greatness.
22. The cocoon of the emperor moth is flask-shaped. In order for the perfect insect to appear it must force its way through the neck of the cocoon in hours of intense struggling. It is believed that the pressure to which the moth's body is subjected is a provision of nature for forcing the juices into the vessels of the wings.
A person was witnessing this struggle once, and out of pity took the point of some scissors and snipped the confining threads to make the exit easier, but the moth's wings never developed, and it spent its brief span of life crawling instead of flying through the air on rainbow wings.
Look not with false pity on God's children who suffer. As men we are inclined to be shortsighted. God would have us inspire their courage in the midst of it by remembering His love, and then looking for the glory to come out of it.
23. No physician ever weighed out medicine to his patient with half so much care and exactness as God weighs out to us every trial. Not one grain too much does He ever permit to be put in the scale.
24. Pressed out of measure and pressed to all length,
Pressed so intensely it seems beyond strength;
Pressed in the body and pressed in the soul,
Pressed in the mind till the dark surges roll;
Pressure by foes, and pressure by friends,
Pressure on pressure, till life nearly ends,
Pressed into loving the staff and the rod,
Pressed into knowing no helper but God;
Pressed into liberty where nothing clings,
Pressed into faith for impossible things;
Pressed into living a life in the Lord,
Pressed into living a Christ-life outpoured!
--Walter B. Knight
25. We are God's jewels. Often God exhibits His jewels on a dark background ... so they will shine more brightly.
26. Nothing shows more accurately what kind of a Christian we really are than the way in which we meet trials & difficulties.
27. Be confident of this--if God sends you on stony paths, He will provide you with strong shoes.--Or will toughen your feet!
28. There is an old Greek story of a soldier under Antigonus who had a disease that was extremely painful and likely at any time to destroy his life. In every campaign he was in the forefront of the hottest battle. His pain prompted him to fight in death to forget it, and his expectation of death at any time made him court death on the martial field.
His general, Antigonus so admired the bravery of the man that he had him cured of his malady by a renowned physician. From that moment the valiant soldier was no longer seen at the front. He avoided danger instead of seeking it, and sought to protect his life instead of risking it on the field. His tribulation made him fight well; his health and comfort destroyed his usefulness as a soldier.
Were you relieved of some burden, or healed of some disease, or set free from some worry, you might lose in moral and spiritual power and influence.
29. Dr. Lambie, medical missionary, formerly of Abyssinia, has forded many swift and bridgeless streams in Africa. The danger in crossing such a stream lies in being swept off one's feet and carried down the stream to greater depths or hurled to death against the hidden rocks. Dr. Lambie learned from the natives the best way to make such a hazardous crossing. The man about to cross finds a large stone, the heavier the better, lifts it to his shoulder, and carries it across the stream as "ballast." The extra weight of the stone keeps his feet solid on the bed of the stream and he can cross safely without being swept away.
Dr. Lambie drew this application: While crossing the dangerous stream of life, the Enemy constantly seeks to overthrow us and rush us down to ruin. We need the ballast of burden-bearing, a load of affliction, to keep us from being swept off our feet.
30. Some morning you will pick up the paper & read that D. L. Moody is dead. When you do, don't believe it, for at that very moment I will be more alive than I am now.
--Dwight L. Moody
31. The darkest hour has only sixty minutes.
32. Only with cutting & polishing is the beauty of the diamond produced. Only with trials & testing is the beauty of Jesus produced in the Christian.
33. A Frenchman incurred the displeasure of Napoleon and was put into a dungeon. He seemed to be forsaken by his friends and forgotten by everyone in the outside world. In loneliness and despair he took a stone and scratched on the wall of his cell, "Nobody cares."
One day a green shoot came through the cracks in the stones on the floor of the dungeon and began to reach up toward the light in the tiny window at the top of the cell. The prisoner kept part of the water brought to him each day by the jailer and poured it on the blade of green. It grew until at last it became a plant with a beautiful blue flower. As the petals opened in full blossom, the solitary captive crossed out the words previously written on the wall and above them scratched, "God cares."
34. A German picture, called "Cloudland," hangs at the end of a long gallery; and at first sight looks like a huge, repulsive daub of confused color, without form or comeliness. As you walk toward it, it begins to take shape, and proves to be a mass of little cherub faces, like those in Raphael's "Madonna San Sisto." Close to the picture, you see only an innumerable company of little angels and cherubims.
35. Charles W. Morton, an Atlantic Monthly editor, once told of the Harvard freshman who came to Dean Briggs' office to explain his tardiness in handing in an assignment. "I'm sorry, sir, but I was not feeling very well," he offered.
"Young man," Briggs said, "please bear in mind that by far the greater part of the world's work is carried on by people who are not feeling very well."
36. The easy roads are crowded,
And the level roads are jammed;
The pleasant little rivers
With the drifting folks are crammed,
But off yonder where it's rocky
Where you get a better view,
You will find the ranks are thinning
And the travelers are few.
Where the going's smooth and pleasant
You will always find the throng,
For the many, more's the pity,
Seem to like to drift along;
But the steps that call for courage,
And that task that's hard to do,
In the end results in glory
For the never-wavering few.
37. Spiritual growth soars when we have prayed up, made up, & paid up.
38. Sorrow touched by love grows bright,
With more than rapture's ray;
And darkness shows us worlds of light
We never saw by day.
39. Adversity does not make us frail; it only shows us how frail we are.
40. Lord Caradon, the British envoy to the United Nations knows how to put Christianity to work in times of trouble. Speaking at a luncheon held by the American Bible Society in May, 1969, he recalled the time when he had served as governor of Cyprus in the midst of a very troubled political situation.
Knowing of his devout father's concern, the young governor was not surprised when he received a cable from England containing the words: "2Corinthians Four:Eight, Nine." He knew the passage: "We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed."
It was a message of encouragement and assurance. Back to the anxious father went this cable: "Romans Five:Three, Four."
The reply cable was a testimony of faith and hope: "And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope."
41. The following prayer was prayed by an Ethiopian at Soddu, Walamo, Ethiopia: "Almighty God, from the depth of my heart I plead with Thee to send us trouble. When our king was exiled we were in much trouble with the foreign [Italian] rulers. We had to meet in secret and were in constant danger of our lives. That was the time when we worked in harmony with our fellow Christians.
"Many a night after I had locked my door and gone to bed, tired from a day's long journey of preaching and teaching, there came a persistent knocking. Lord, how I wanted to sleep, and surely but they wouldn't want to be baptized at night and be hunted and chased and put in prison and beaten, but they said they had seen the Christian's joy and they too wanted that religion. Every night there were more and more.
"We read Thy Word and talked about it and prayed through the nights. We shared our joy in the Lord. We worked side by side with only one desire, to preach and teach the Gospel. Then, Lord, our king came back. The foreign rulers were forced to leave our country ...
"We have peace in our land. We baptize in the daytime. We are not beaten. We meet and pray, yes, but we are beginning to grow careless in our zeal for Thee. Jealousies creep in and spoil the harmony. Petty troubles take on in large meetings. We are selfish in our ambitions. Dear Lord, send us more trouble, I pray Thee, that we may forget ourselves and be so dependent on Thee that we have no time to become selfish and jealous of our fellow Christians. For Jesus' sake. Amen."
42. The hammer shatters glass, but forges steel.
43. The pessimist says of trouble: "It's enough to make a person lose his religion," while the optimist says: "It's enough to make a person use his religion."
44. But in the mud & scum of things,
There always, always something sings.
--Ralph Waldo Emerson
45. The story of one of the great presidents of Harvard College, Charles William Eliot, is worth recalling. Born with a serious facial disfigurement, he discovered as a young man that nothing could be done about it, and he must go through life with his mark. It is related that when his mother brought to him that tragic truth, it was indeed "the dark hour of his soul."
His mother told him, "My son, it is not possible for you to get rid of this handicap. We have consulted the best surgeons, and they say that nothing can be done. But it is possible for you, with God's help, to grow a mind and soul so big that people will forget to look at your face."
46. "Bisogna soffrire per essere grandi." That was the favorite expression of the great singer Enrico Caruso. The words mean, "To be great, it is necessary to suffer."
After years of difficulty, Caruso achieved fame; but the man communicated more than beautiful music through his voice. A music critic observed, "His is a voice that loves you, but not only a voice, a sympathetic man." Tribulation does that for a person who accepts life's difficulties in the proper spirit.
47. Jesus, help me to be for Thee,
Just like a big, strong cedar tree;
When all the other trees are bare,
The cedar stands so green and fair,
The wind and storm, the ice and cold
Make it more beauty to unfold,
So I would stand in trial and test,
Just trusting You to do what's best,
Though others fail, Lord, keep Thou me!
May I a cedar Christian be!
48. If you keep within your heart a green branch, I have heard there will come one day a singing bird.
49. What we call adversity, God calls opportunity. What we call tribulation, God calls growth.
50. Your outcome in life doesn't depend on your income, but on how you overcome.
51. Sometimes the best inspiration is born of desperation.
52. The diamond cannot be polished without friction, nor the man perfected without trials.
53. The brook would lose its song if you removed the rocks.
54. If men can be found faithful in hard places they can be trusted in high places.
55. Trial is the school of trust.
56. God sometimes puts us in the dark to prove to us that He is light.
57. Be thankful if you have a job a little harder than you like. A razor cannot be sharpened on a piece of velvet.
58. Some people never look up until they are flat on their back.
59. Problems are only opportunities in work clothes.
60. "When thou passeth through the waters"
Deep the waves may be and cold,
But Jehovah is our refuge
And His promise is our hold;
For the Lord Himself hath said it,
He, the Faithful God and true--
"When thou comest to the waters
Thou shalt not go down, but through.
Seas of sorrows, seas of trial,
Bitterest anguish, fiercest pain,
Rolling surges of temptation
Sweeping over heart and brain--
They shall never overflow us
For we know His Word is true;
All His waves and all His billows
He will lead us safely through.
Threatening breakers of destruction,
Doubt's insidious undertow,
Shall not sink us, shall not drag us
Out to ocean depths of woe;
For His promise shall sustain us,
Praise the Lord, whose Word is true!
We shall not go down, or under,
For He saith, "Thou passeth through."
--Annie Johnson Flint
61. Great supplicants have sought the secret place of the Most High, not that they might escape the World, but that they might learn to conquer it.
62. To have suffered much is like knowing many languages: It gives the sufferer access to many more people.
63. When we think about people, trouble grows;
When we think about God, trouble goes.
64. Among the parables that Chinese teachers use is the story of a woman who lost an only son. She was grief-stricken out of all reason. She made her sorrow a wailing wall. Finally she went to a wise old philosopher. He said to her, "I will give you back your son if you will bring me some mustard seed. However, the seed must come from a home where there has never been any sorrow." Eagerly she started her search, and went from house to house. In every case she learned that a loved one had been lost. "How selfish I have been in my grief," she said, "sorrow is common to all."
65. Don't despair. Even the sun has a sinking spell every night, but it rises again in the morning.
66. "See, Father," said a small boy who was walking with his father by the river, "they are knocking the props away from under the bridge. What are they doing that for? Won't the bridge fall?" "They are knocking them away," said the father, "that the timbers may rest more firmly upon the stone piers which are now finished." God often takes away our earthly things that we may rest more firmly on Him.
67. And many a rapturous minstrel
Among the sons of light
Will say of his sweetest music,
"I learned it in the night."
And many a rolling anthem,
That fills the Father's Home
Sobbed out its first rehearsal
In the shade of a darkened room.
68. God often digs wells of joy with the spade of sorrow!
69. We were going through a great furniture factory, when our guide, the superintendent, pointed out to us a superbly grained and figured sideboard in the natural wood. "I want you to observe the beauty of this oak," he said. "It is the finest selected timber of its kind, and the secret of the intricate and beautiful graining is just this: that the trees from which it was taken grew in a spot where they were exposed to almost constant conflict with storms."
What a suggestive fact: The stormbeaten tree develops the closest and finest and most intricately woven fibers. When it is cut down and the saws lay bare its exquisitely figured grain, the cabinetmaker selects it as the material for his finest work.
So with the human life beset by sorrows, tests and trials. If it stands the storm, how the wind of God strengthens and beautifies it! We need life's stress.
70. Life offers only two alternatives; crucifixion with Christ or self-destruction without Him.
71. The true way to mourn the dead is to take care of the living who belong to them.
72. He who would have no trouble in this world must not be born in it.
73. I like my back against the wall because that's when I start fighting! If you don't have your back against the wall, you better watch out because you might get a bullet in it.--Dad
74. If none were sick, and none were sad,
What service could we render?
I think if we were always glad
We scarcely could be tender;
Did our beloved never need
Our patient ministration,
Earth would grow cold and miss indeed
Its greatest consolation.
Did sorrow never grieve our heart,
And every wish were granted,
Patience would die, and hope depart;
Life would be disenchanted.
75. We have read that during World War 1, when it was no longer possible to import those beautiful singing canaries from the Harz Mountains, Germany, a dealer in New York decided to start a system of training canaries to sing. He had bird songs put on records, and these proved of value. But one day he made a real discovery which meant success. He found that if he covered the cages with thick cloths, completely shutting out the light, the birds learned their song. The song of the Christian originates in the heart, and many a Christian has learned that God sometimes teaches His children to sing in darkness. Verily, "He giveth songs in the night."
76. The strongest trees grow not beneath the glass of a greenhouse, or in the protection of sheltered and shaded valleys. The stoutest timber stands on Norwegian rocks, where tempests rage, and long, hard winters reign. And is it not so with the Christian also? Exercise gives health, and strength is the reward of activity. The muscles are seen fully developed in the brawny arm that plies the ringing hammer.
77. Our Father, who seeks to perfect His saints in holiness, knows the value of the refiner's fire. An earnest Christian worker had been treated most unkindly, and was crying brokenheartedly when a neighbor came in, and, laying a hand on her shoulder said quietly, "Why, Mrs. _____ , you're wriggling."
Lifting her head the other replied, "I don't think this is a time to be funny."
"Oh, I am not that. But don't you know that God has permitted this trouble to touch you, because He sees something in your life that grieves Him, and He has put you in the furnace. When a goldsmith puts gold into the crucible and the fire begins to work on the dross, it begins to wriggle and wriggle, and as the dross is burned out it gets quieter, until at last the surface is so calm that the refiner sees his own face reflected and puts out the fire."
78. So many people have told us, "If God will heal me, THEN I'll serve Him, THEN I'll believe." It means nothing else in the World but that you're putting self first, trying to make a deal with God! "If God will serve me first, then I'll serve Him. You work for me first, God, then I'll work for You!"--And He just doesn't work that way!--Dad
79. Never doubt in the dark what God has spoken in the light.
80. Is this the right road home, O Lord?
The clouds are dark, and still;
The stony path is sharp and hard,
Each step brings some fresh hill!
I thought the way would brighter grow,
And the sun with warmth would glow,
And joyous songs from free hearts flow;
Is this the right road home?
Yes, child, this very path I trod,
The clouds were dark for Me;
The stony path was hard to tread,
Not sight, but faith can see.
But at the end the sun shines bright
Forever, where there is no night;
And glad hearts rest from earth's fierce fight;
IT IS THE RIGHT ROAD HOME.
--Rosalind Goforth
81. A little boy made a boat. He went off in high glee to sail it on the water. But presently it got beyond his reach. In his distress he appealed to a big boy for help, asking him to get it back for him. Saying nothing, the big boy picked up stones, and seemingly threw them at the boat. The little boy thought he would never get his boat back, and that instead of helping him, the big boy was annoying him. But presently he noticed that instead of hitting the boat, each stone went BEYOND it, and made a little wave, which moved the boat a little nearer to the shore. Every throw of the stones was PLANNED, and at last the little boat was brought within reach. How happy the little boy was! Again he was in possession of his treasure!
Sometimes things in our life seem disagreeable and without sense or plan. But let us WAIT awhile, and we shall see that each trial, each striking of a stone upon the quiet water of our life, has brought us NEARER to God!
"Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
But trust Him for His grace;
Behind a frowning providence,
He hides a smiling face!"
82. The Lord let the Devil nearly destroy Job by killing his family & his finances, & almost even killing him, but he still didn't say "Uncle" to the Devil, not even to his wife who told him to curse God & die! He just kept on believing & obeying with boils from head to toe, sitting on a heap of ashes & wearily scraping away the puss & the scabs & the sores with a piece of broken pottery saying, "Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him!"--Can you?--I hope you don't have to get in such a mess as Job! But if you do, don't quit whatever you do!--Dad
83. "I stood once in the test room of a great steel mill. All around me were little partitions and compartments. Steel had been tested to the limit, and marked with figures that showed its breaking point. Some pieces had been twisted until they broke, and the strength of torsion was marked on them. Some had been stretched to the breaking point, and their tensile strength indicated. Some had been compressed to the crushing point, and also marked. The master of the steel mill knew just what these pieces of steel would stand under the strain. He knew just what they would bear if placed in the great ship, building, or bridge. He KNEW because the TESTING ROOM revealed it. It is often so with God's children. God does not want us to be like vases of glass or porcelain. He does not want us to be hothouse plants, but storm-beaten oaks; not sand dunes, driven with every gust of wind, but granite rocks withstanding the fiercest storms. To make us such He MUST bring us into His testing room of suffering. Better the storm waters with Christ than the smooth waters without Him!"
84. It was due to the efforts of Samuel Plimsoll (1824-98), British reformer, that the Merchant Shipping Act of 1876 was passed, requiring all ships to bear a mark known as the Plimsoll mark and indicating the maximum load line. By this act the Board of Trade of England was empowered to detain any vessel deemed unsafe, and the amount of cargo was restricted, thus making the long and perilous ocean voyage of those days much safer. Because of his work, Plimsoll became known as the sailor's friend. The Plimsoll mark, with its gradations and figures, may be seen on the bow of ships near the water line as they lie at anchor in a harbor. In God's sight, each of us has a similar mark, though we may not be able to see it. The burdens and responsibilities He gives us may seem unbearable, but He knows our limit, His everlasting arms are underneath, and by His grace we can bear them without sinking. "God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make away to escape, that ye may be able to bear it" (1Cor.10:13b).
85. There can never be peace in the bosom of a believer. There is peace with God, but constant war with sin.
86. You will not get leave to steal quietly to Heaven in Christ's company without a conflict & a cross.
87. The first step on the way to victory is to recognise the enemy.
88. We must wrestle earnestly in prayer, like men contending with a deadly enemy for life.
89. When Michelangelo was ordered to decorate the walls of the Sistine Chapel, he refused. He had never done any work of that kind, and said he could not do it. But he was told his refusal would not be accepted. When he discovered that there was no alternative without unpleasant consequences, he mixed his colors and went to work. And thus came into being the world's finest painting. There are few who realize what possibilities are locked up within them until some necessity compels them to attempt something they have always considered impossible.
90. For every hill I've had to climb,
For every stone that bruised my feet,
For all the blood and sweat and grime,
For blinding storms and burning heat
My heart sings but a grateful song--
These were the things that made me strong!
For all the heartaches and the tears,
For all the anguish and the pain,
For gloomy days and fruitless years,
And for the hopes that lived in vain,
I do give thanks, for now I know
These were the things that helped me grow!
'Tis not the softer things of life
Which stimulate man's will to strive;
But bleak adversity and strife
Do most to keep man's will alive.
O'er rose-strewn paths the weaklings creep,
But brave hearts dare to climb the steep.
91. The ancients used an interesting little instrument, called the tribulum, to beat grain to divide the chaff from the wheat. The word "tribulation" comes from this word. Tribulations truly separate the chaff from the wheat in human character.
92. A jewel is a bit of ordinary earth which has passed through some extraordinary experiences.
93. Life is not a cloudless journey,
Storms and darkness oft oppress,
But the Father's changeless mercy
Comes to cheer the heart's distress;
Heavy clouds may darkly hover,
Hiding all faith's view above,
But across the thickest darkness
Shines the rainbow of His love.
94. The Lord seems to make the Entrance Exams hardest of all & they usually come all in one big batch so that everyone will know right away if you've got what it takes, so you won't waste any more of our time.--What's the use of paying for a big long education if you're going to flunk in the end?
It's kind of like being born: It's quite a crisis experience that the mother & baby go through! If they can make that, they can usually make the rest pretty well. From then on you just go step by step & grade by grade & the difficulties become a little more spread out, like the growth of the baby.--Dad
95. God never would send the darkness
If He knew you could stand the light,
But you would not cling to the Guiding Hand,
If the way were always bright;
And you would not care to walk by faith,
Could you always walk by sight.
'Tis true He has many an anguish
For your sorrowful heart to bear,
And many a cruel thorn-crown
For your tired head to wear;
He knows how few would reach heaven at all
If pain did not guide them there.
So He sends you the blinding darkness,
And the furnace of sevenfold heat,
'Tis the only way, believe me,
To keep you close to His feet;
For 'tis always so easy to wander
When our lives are glad and sweet.
So nestle your hand in the Father's
And sing, if you can, as you go,
Your song will cheer someone behind you,
Whose courage is sinking low;
And -- well, if your lips do quiver,
God will love you the better, so.
96.An elderly man asked a boy to go with him into the woods to cut down some hickory trees to make ax handles. They soon came to several young hickory trees. The boy said, "These trees would make good ax handles. Let's cut them down."
The old man said, "These trees in the lowlands have been protected from the storms which rage higher up. Let's go to the heights where the trees have been rocked back and forth by fierce winds. Those trees have been hardened by the tempest and they will make much stronger ax handles!"
Those who have been exposed to temptations -- rocked to and fro by the tempter, Satan, but who have not yielded -- are made stronger. We can be "more than conquerors through him that loved us!"
Job said, "When he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold."
97. One of God's children was passing through the dark waters of sorrow and suffering. "God has forgotten to be gracious to me. I don't understand His judgements," he said.
The pastor came to see him. He found him in the back yard, pruning a grapevine of its superfluous twigs and branches. The man said, "Pastor, because of the heavy rains of late, this vine has become overgrown with worthless twigs and branches. It is necessary to remove them so the vine can bring better fruit to maturity."
"Does this vine resist and oppose you?" asked the pastor.
"Of course not," he said.
"Then why should you complain about the chastening hand of God when He does for you what you have done to this vine?" asked the pastor.
98. The storm & the fire & the trials & the tribulations & the tests are all for what purpose? Yes, to test your strength as a tree or your purity as gold & to give you a chance to battle the Devil & see if you'll give up or if you'll keep on fighting & trust the Lord.--Dad
99. The hardiest trees are not reared in hothouses, but where they can battle with wind and tempest.
100. In medieval times, the goldsmiths had a unique method to determine when the refining fire had purged away all extraneous matter from the precious metal. They would stand patiently and peer intently into the seething, molten mass, meantime making the fire hotter and hotter. At last, a smile of satisfaction would lighten up the perspiring face of the goldsmith. He could see his face reflected in the molten mass of gold. Seeing his face mirrored there, he knew that the refining fire had wrought its purifying purpose.
Of the heavenly Father, the Bible says: "And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver" (Mal.3:3a).
Peter admonished: "Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you" (1Pet.4:12a).
When God sees the image of His dear Son reflected in our lives, He knows that His purifying fires have wrought their intended purpose.
101. Jenny Lind, the famous Swedish nightingale, was considered one of the greatest popular singers of her day. Her music teacher said, "Jenny, you've got everything to make you the World's greatest singer, but one thing!"
"What in the World is that?" she asked. "I practice all day long, & you say I have tremendous range, versatility, & talent! What haven't I got?"
"To make you a truly great singer," he replied, "you have to have a broken heart!"
So he thereupon proceeded to break it for her! She fell in love with him, & he jilted her. Then she began to sing from her heart!--The songs she sang became her own songs of loneliness & tears--not just a collection of words & music--but it was her own heartcry!--Dad
102. The bird whose pinion was once broken, by the grace of God will fly even higher than before, & the straying sheep whose leg had to be broken will have to remain in the Shepherd's bosom so long he will never stray again!--Dad
103. The meaning of trial is not only to test worthiness, but to increase it; as the oak is not only tested by the storms, but toughened by them.
104. At a period of Donatello's life he went to Pisa to execute some works there which were found so wonderful that the Pisans broke out into transports of delight, praising the artist to the skies. Oddly enough, however, this excessive praise proved distasteful to the sculptor. He declared that he must go back to Florence for the whimsical reason, that where he was praised by everybody he would soon forget all he knew, grow lazy and self-satisfied, whereas at home in Florence he was notoriously abused and found fault with and thus forced always to produce his best, "the constant blame forcing him," as he put it, "to study and consequently do greater achievements."
105. A butter-fingered man who had been suffering from a long siege of unemployment at last found a job in a chinaware house. He had been at work only a few days when he smashed a large vase. He was summoned to the manager's office and told by that dignitary that he would have to have money deducted from his wages every week until the vase was paid for. "How much did it cost?" asked the culprit. "Three hundred dollars," said the manager. "Oh, that's wonderful," he said, "I'm so happy. At last I've got a steady job!"
106. You try putting paper money faith through the fire & see what happens! That so-called faith--so-called value, like paper money, is not worth a damned thing the minute it's put to the test!
That's why the whole World's paper-thin financial System is collapsing right now!--Because it is based on pig paper money instead of God's good gold!--You just stick them both through the fire & see which one comes out the best! You'll find that real gold--no matter how hot the fire or how long the fire, how hot the test or how long it lasts--will still come out gold--even finer gold!--"Yea, than much fine gold!" Because the fire burns all the dross & the impurities away!
But that paper pig stuff that claims to be valuable isn't worth the paper it is printed on when the real test comes. The minute it feels the slightest flame it goes up in smoke & you've got nothing left but a few ashes just to remind you of something that wasn't there in the first place!--Dad
107.He sat by a fire of seven-fold heat
As He watched by the precious ore,
And closer He bent with a searching gaze
As He heated it more and more.
He knew He had ore that could stand the test,
And He wanted the finest gold
To mould as a crown for the King to wear,
Set with gems with a price untold.
So He laid our gold in the burning fire,
Tho' we fain would have said Him 'Nay.'
And He watched the dross that we had not seen,
And it melted and passed away.
And the gold grew brighter and yet more bright,
But our eyes were so dim with tears,
We saw but the fire -- not the Master's hand,
And questioned with anxious fears.
Yet our gold shone out with a richer glow,
As it mirrored a Form above,
That bent o'er the fire, tho' unseen by us,
With a look of ineffable love.
Can we think that it pleases His loving heart
To cause us a moment's pain?
Ah no! but He saw through the present cross
The bliss of eternal gain.
So He waited there with a watchful eye,
With a love that is strong and sure,
And His gold did not suffer a bit more heat,
Than was needed to make it pure.
108. Life holds nothing within it which Christ has not conquered.
109. The Lord makes you stronger with each victory. It's sort of like inoculation: He gives you small doses so you won't catch the disease, so you will constantly gradually build up your resistance to it. Whereas, if you are never tested, never given a small dose, you will never be able to take the big dose.
Like in the Middle Ages & Olden Times, because assassination by poison was so common, kings & important men used to take small doses of poison every day. They'd start off with a very tiny portion, just a few grains, & keep taking a little more each day, until they gradually built up a resistance, so that if somebody gave them a large dose it wouldn't be fatal!
It's kind of like the Lord does with us: He gives us a little more each day to test us, to try us, to build up our strength & resistance. He inoculates us with a little more serum of sacrifice & trial & trouble & battle each day.
--Dad
110. The leaves are fading and falling,
The winds are rough and wild,
The birds have ceased their calling
But let me tell you, My child.
Though day by day as it closes,
Doth darker and colder grow,
The roots of the bright red roses,
Will keep alive in the snow.
And when the winter is over,
The boughs will get back new leaves,
The quail come back to the clover,
And the swallow back to the eaves;
The robin will wear on his bosom,
A vest that is bright and new,
And the loveliest wayside blossom
Will shine with the sun and dew.
The leaves, today, are swishing,
The brooks are all dry and dumb;
But let me tell you, darling,
The Spring will surely come.
There must be rough, cold weather,
And winds and rains so wild;
Not all good things together
Come to us here, My child.
So when some dear joy loses
It's beauteous summer glow,
Think how the roots of the roses
Are kept alive in the snow.
--by Alice Carry
111. Upon the threshold of another year
We stand again.
We know not what of gladness and good cheer,
Of grief or pain
May visit us while journeying to its close.
In this we rest,
God dealeth out in wisdom what He knows
For us is best.
--Thomas Wearing
112. What is my cloud, after all--shade of His hand outstretched caressingly.
113. Is it raining, little flower?
Be glad of rain;
Too much sun would wither thee;
'Twill shine again.
The clouds are very black, 'tis true;
But just behind them shines the blue.
Art thou weary, tender heart?
Be glad of pain:
In sorrow sweetest virtues grow,
As flowers in rain.
God watches, and thou wilt have sun,
When clouds their perfect work have done.
--Lucy Larcom.
114. If all my years were summer, could I know
What my Lord means by His "Made white as snow"?
If all my days were sunny, could I say,
"In His fair land He wipes all tears away"?
If I were never weary, could I keep
Close to my heart, "He gives His loved ones sleep"?
Were no graves mine, might I not come to deem
The life eternal but a baseless dream?
My winter, and my tears, and weariness,
Even my graves, may be His way to bless!
I call them ills, yet that can surely be
Nothing but love that shows my Lord to me!
115. Life is not one uniform leaden sky loaded with weeping clouds; the darkest horizon is rainbow-spanned; the bright spots outnumber the dark. Life is not all music in the minor--far less a clash of discord and dissonance. It is rather made up of blended harmonies.
116. I remember there was one very precious girl, just as sweet as could be, wonderful Christian, loved the Lord, always smiling, always cheerful, but her sister always pushed her to church in a wheelchair because she was a spastic & had little control over her contorted limbs or her writhing head or even her grotesque facial expressions!
But she could smile! Her face would just light up with joy & smile talking about the Lord & talking to her friends! Everybody loved her & she loved everybody & she seemed to be very happy.
But for some reason or other, the Lord never delivered her, at least not as long as I can remember, as long as I was a child in that church. And I just looked at her & wondered, & yet, I thought, she's so happy in spite of that affliction. She'd never known anything else! But she seemed to be happy & enjoying life.
But here was a church that believed in healing, so it was pretty humbling for us to have this girl coming to every service in a wheelchair!--And it was pretty humbling for us to have this other girl falling off the piano stool in epileptic fits! I mean it was pretty humbling, really embarrassing to say the least.
So I wonder if the Lord didn't use it for that reason, to keep us humble?
--Dad
117. Shut in? Ah, yes, that's so,
As far as getting out may go,
Shut in away from earthly cares,
But not shut out from Him who cares.
Shut in from many a futile quest,
But Christ can be your daily Guest.
He's not shut out by your four walls,
But hears and answers all your calls.
Shut in with God. Oh that should be
Such a wonderful opportunity.
Then after you have done your best,
In God's hands safely leave the rest.
118. The little sharp vexations
And the briars that catch and fret,
Why not take all to the Helper
Who has never failed us yet?
Tell Him about the heartache,
And tell Him the longings, too;
Tell Him the baffled purpose
When we scarce know what to do.
Then, leaving all our weakness
With the One divinely strong,
Forget that we bore the burden,
And carry away the song.
--Margaret Sangster
119. He said not,
"Thou shalt not be
Tempested;
Thou shalt not be
Travailed;
Thou shalt not be
Afflicted:"
But He said,
"Thou shalt not be
Overcome!"
--Julian of Norwick
120. REST of the weary,
Joy of the sad,
Hope of the dreary,
Light of the glad;
Home of the stranger,
Strength to the end,
Refuge from danger,
SAVIOUR and Friend!
Pillow where, lying,
Love rests its head,
Peace of the dying,
Life of the dead;
Path of the lowly,
Prize at the end,
Breath of the holy,
SAVIOUR and Friend!
When my feet stumble,
I'll to Thee cry,
Crown of the humble,
Cross of the high;
When my steps wander,
Over me bend
Truer and fonder,
SAVIOUR and Friend!
Ever confessing
Thee, I will raise
Unto Thee blessing,
Glory, and praise:
All my endeavour,
World without end,
Thine to be ever,
SAVIOUR and Friend!
121. Zacchaeus had short legs, but he outran the crowd when Jesus passed through town.
Short legs will get you there as fast as long legs if you know how to use them.
122. A dear old saint was asked what she would do if a fierce temptation overtook her. Her quick reply was, "I would lift up my hands to the Lord and say, 'Lord, your property is in danger. Take care of it quick!' Then I'd forget about it 'til I was tried again."
123. Trouble is something no one can escape,
Everyone has it in some form or shape--
Some people hide it way down deep inside,
Some people bear it with gallant-like pride,
Some people worry and complain of their lot,
Some people covet what they haven't got,
While others rebel and become bitter and old
With hopes that are dead and hearts that are cold ...
But the wise man accepts whatever God sends,
Willing to yield like a storm-tossed tree bends,
Knowing that God never makes a mistake,
So whatever He sends they are willing to take--
For trouble is part and parcel of life
And no man can grow without trouble and strife,
And the steep hills ahead and high mountain peaks
Afford man at last the peace that he seeks--
So blest are the people who learn to accept
The trouble men try to escape and reject,
For OUR ACCEPTANCE we're given great grace
And courage and faith and the strength to face
The daily troubles that come to us all
So we may learn to stand "straight and tall"--
For the grandeur of life is born of defeat
For in overcoming we make life complete.
124. Were there no night, we could not read the stars,
The heavens would turn into a blinding glare;
Freedom is best seen through prison bars,
And rough seas make the haven passing fair;
We cannot measure joys but by their loss;
When blessings fade away, we see them then;
Our richest clusters grow around the cross,
And in the nighttime angels sing to men.
125. If I can endure for this minute
Whatever is happening to me,
No matter how heavy my heart is,
Or how "dark" the moment may be--
If I can remain calm and quiet
With all my world crushing about me,
Secure in the knowledge God loves me
When everyone else seems to doubt me
If I can but keep on believing
What I know in my heart to be true,
That "darkness will fade with the morning"
And that this will pass away, too.
Then nothing in life can defeat me
For as long as this knowledge remains
I can suffer whatever is happening
For I know God will break "all the chains"
That are binding me tight in "the darkness"
And trying to fill me with fear--
For there is no night without dawning
And I know that "my morning" is near.
126. Must Jesus bear the cross alone,
And all of us go free?
No, there's a cross for everyone,
And there's a cross for me.
--Thomas Shepherd
127. We look before and after,
And pine for what is not;
Our sincerest laughter
With some pain is fraught;
Our sweetest songs are those that tell of saddest thought.
Yet if we could scorn
Hate and pride and fear;
If we were things born
Not to shed a tear,
I know not how Thy joy we ever should come near.
--Percy Bysshe Shelley
128. He sendeth sun, He sendeth shower,
Alike they're needful for the flower;
And smiles and tears alike are sent,
To give the soul fit nourishment.
As comes to me or cloud or sun,
Father! Thy will, not mine, be done.
Can loving children e'er reprove
The father whom they trust and love!
Creator! I would ever be
A loving, trusting child to Thee.
As comes to me or cloud or sun,
Father! Thy will, not mine, be done.
--Sarah Flower Adams
128b. Life is a mixture
Of sunshine and rain,
Laughter and teardrops
Pleasure and pain--
Low tides and high tides,
Mountains and plains.
Triumphs, defeats
And losses and gains--
But ALWAYS in ALL WAYS
God's guiding and leading
And He alone knows
The things we're most needing
And when He sends sorrow
Or some dreaded affliction,
Be assured that it comes
With God's kind benediction--
And if we accept it
As a GIFT OF HIS LOVE,
We'll be showered with blessings
From OUR FATHER ABOVE.
129. Life looking pretty dreary?
Cheer up, because you see,
In all the choicest patterns
The dark threads have to be.
They make the bright ones brighter,
The rose and gold more clear,
It's just our own perspective
That makes the thing look queer.
We work so near the pattern,
It's difficult at best,
To see how each day's weaving
Is needed for the rest.
And when sickness brings the gray threads,
To your life scheme and mine,
Let's just trust the Master Weaver,
For He planned the whole design.
130. Things don't just happen to children of God
They're part of a wonderful plan;
The troubles, reverses, the sorrows, the rod
Are strokes of the Great Sculptor's hand.
When some dread accident strikes you a blow,
And you worry and fret and demand,
Why try so hard the mystery to know,
It's not just an accident--it's planned.
Have you been dropped from a place of power?
Do you wonder and reprimand?
Don't rebel but look to Him in that hour;
This didn't just happen--it's planned.
Persecution, tribulation, come down like a storm
Friends disappoint and withstand,
At last all alone, bewildered, forlorn,
You look and He smiles "This is planned".
Do you wonder why God to affliction should call,
And why you must suffer and moan?
"No man should be moved by affliction," says Paul,
"For you know it is part of the plan."
Did some dear one sicken and finally die?
Did your heart break with anguish and woe?
Did you question your Lord and cry: "My God Why?"
Don't question--He planned it just so.
Things don't just happen to children of God,
The blueprint was made by His hand;
He designed all details to conform to His Son,
So all things that happen are planned.
No matter what happens to those call "His own,"
Events that are awful or grand;
Every trial of your life he sends from His throne;
Things don't just happen, they're planned.
--Rom.8:28
131. Not to the strong is the battle,
Not to the swift is the race,
Yet to the true & the faithful
Vict'ry is promised thru' grace.
132. When the storm's a rumblin'
And our strength's a crumblin'
And Oh! so sore we're tried,
When the wind's a blowin'
And our spirit's lowerin'
O Lord, support us, on the leanin' side!
When the loved one's taken
And the heart's a'breakin'
And sorrow's multiplied,
When we're crushed and grievin'
And our hope's a'leavin'
O Lord, support us, on the leanin' side!
When the thunder's roarin'
And the torrent's pourin'
And sweepin' in, the tide,
When we're rowin', rowin'
And our courage goin'
O Lord, support us, on the leanin' side!
When we're weak and fallin'
And we need recallin'
Be Thou our Stay, our Guide;
As we're heav'nward hienin'
When a livin', dyin'
O Lord, support us, on the leanin' side!
--Edith L. Mapes
133. President Lincoln once wrote to General McClellan, when the latter was in command of the army. General McClellan, as is well known, conducted a waiting campaign, being so careful not to make any mistakes that he made very little headway. President Lincoln sent this brief but exceedingly pertinent letter:
"My dear McClellan:
If you don't want to use the army I should like to borrow it for a while.
Yours respectfully,
A. Lincoln."
134. During the heroic defence of the Bataan Peninsula, one of the commanding officers lined up a company of his men and asked for a volunteer for a mission of the utmost peril. Anyone willing to serve was instructed to step forward two paces from the line. He glanced for a second at a memorandum in his hand and, looking up, was shocked and disappointed to see the ranks unbroken.
"What," he said unbelievingly, "not a single man!"
"You do not understand, sir," said an aide at his elbow,
"the whole line has stepped forward two paces."
135. Too many Christian soldiers fraternise with the Enemy.
136. Some Christians who should be wielding the Sword of the Spirit are still tugging at the nursery bottle.
137. They tell me I must bruise
The rose's leaf,
Ere I can keep & use
Its fragrance brief.
They tell me I must break
The skylark's heart,
Ere her cage song will make
The silence start.
They tell me love must bleed,
And friendship weep,
Ere in my deepest need
I touch that deep.
Must it be always so
With precious things?
Must they be bruised and go
With beaten wings?
Ah, yes! by crushing days,
By caging nights, by scar
Of thorn and stony ways,
These blessings are!
138. Fainting soldier of the Lord,
Hear His sweet inspiring word-
"I have conquered all thy foes,
I have suffered all thy woes;
Struggling soldier, trust in Me,
I have overcome for thee."
"I have overcome, for thee;
Thou shall overcome, thro' Me."
Fear not, tho' thy foes be strong;
Faint not, tho' the strife be long;
Trust thy glorious Captain's power,
Watch with Him one little hour;
Hear Him calling, "Follow Me,
I have overcome for thee."
Soon the conflict will be done,
Soon the battle will be won,
Soon shall wave the victor's palm,
Soon shall ring th' eternal psalm;
Then our joyful song shall be--
"I have overcome for thee."
139. Abide with me! fast falls the eventide;
The darkness deepens: Lord, with me abide!
When other helpers fail, and comforts flee,
Help of the helpless, O abide with me!
Swift to its close ebbs out life's little day;
Earth's joys grow dim, its glories pass away;
Change and decay in all around I see:
O Thou who changest not, abide with me!
I need Thy presence every passing hour:
What but Thy grace can foil the tempter's power?
Who like Thyself my guide and stay can be?
Through cloud and sunshine, O abide with me!
I fear no foe, with Thee at hand to bless:
Ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness:
Where is death's sting? where, grave, thy victory?
I triumph still, if Thou abide with me!
Hold Thou Thy cross before my closing eyes;
Shine through the gloom and point me to the skies;
Heaven's morning breaks, and earth's vain shadows flee
In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me!
--Henry Francis Lyte
140. He often tests us like He did Abraham by making us think He's going to take something away from us permanently, just to see if we'll still obey Him & still follow Him, still worship Him & love Him & serve Him. But I've found most of the time, that once He's threatened to take it away from you or looks like He's going to take it away or does take it away from you for a little while, it's just a test to see if you'll still love Him.
Just like Job, whom God allowed the Devil to test. He first of all took away all his wealth, then He even took away his family, his children & wife & all that he loved, & finally his health. It was all a test, perpetrated by the Devil but allowed by the Lord in order to show that Job really loved Him in spite of it all.
And when Job passed the test & gave the final right answer: "Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him" (Job 13:15), well, he got his diploma & the Lord gave him back everything & several times over what he'd had before!--Although He'd allowed the Devil to take it all away from him. But it was just a test to see if he would love the Lord still, in spite of all the sacrifice & suffering & denial & deprivation & all the rest.--Dad
141. The other day I was trying to figure out how to get some scum off the surface of a pot of water, & every time I tried to pour it off myself it just got worse stirred up with the rest! Finally, I got the brilliant idea of sticking the pot under the faucet & turning on more water so it would cause the water level to rise in the pot & the surface to overflow, & all that junk on the top just rolled off & went down the drain!
That's what God does in the refining fires of His trials & testings! He puts you under the fire, & He brings you to a boil, so all the scum & dross comes to the top where everybody can see it! You don't have to tell them about it--they'll just watch you while you're going through it! They probably already knew it anyway! It just didn't show until God put you on the fire--but that brought it out! That's what the fire's for--to bring out the meanness in you--to show how bad & impure you really are--& then get rid of it--boil it off--let it go down the drain--get it off your chest! Get rid of it--but for God's sake, don't dump it on somebody else--it may really burn them & leave a scar that will take years to heal!--Dad
142. I found that God usually gives me the most severe test, allows the Enemy to tempt & test me the worst just as I'm considering or about to begin a new task for Him or a new project. You have the most difficult times & the most difficult trials & the most severe testings in the beginning because God wants to know if you're really going to go through with it, live or die, sink or swim, whether you really mean business, whether you're really going to trust Him or not & whether you have really got what it takes to see it through, because usually if you pass those first severe hard tests the Lord stamps your passport with His stamp & says, "OK, buddy, go to it, you're free to go on into the Promised Land that I have offered you if you're willing to forsake all & to follow & to die if need be to do the job I want you to do!"--Dad
143. "... That it may bring forth more fruit." (John 15:2)
Two years ago I set out a rosebush in the corner of my garden. It was to bear yellow roses, and it was to bear them profusely. Yet, during those two years, it did not produce a blossom!
I asked the florist from whom I bought the bush why it was so barren of flowers. I had cultivated it carefully, had watered it often, had made the soil around it as rich as possible; and it had grown well.
"That's just the reason," said the florist. "That kind of rose needs the poorest soil in the garden. Sandy soil would be best and never a bit of fertilizer. Take away the rich soil and put gravelly earth in its place. Cut the bush back severely.
Then it will bloom. I did--and the bush blossomed forth in the most gorgeous yellow known to nature. Then I moralized: that yellow rose is just like many lives. Hardships develop beauty in the soul: they thrive on troubles: trials bring out all the best in them; ease and comfort and applause only leave them barren.
144. There is starlight through the shadows for the feet that have to tread
In the path of secret sorrow, with the hidden tears unshed.
There's the glory of the sunset flaming red down in the west,
When the storm is hushed to stillness and the waters sink to rest.
There's a lamp that God has lighted where the shadowed pathways are,
And it sheds a softened radiance like the shining of a star;
There's a haven of sweet refuge from the deeply hidden pain,
Where the heart that long has suffered sees God's rainbow through the rain.
There's an angel in the shadows--oftentimes in human guise,
Who, in silent understanding, sees the tears that blind our eyes;
For the words may be unspoken, quiet waters running deep--
When the sympathy of friendship is outpoured on those who weep.
There's a twilight in the evening when the throb of pain is stilled,
And the heart, through human friendship, with the peace of God is filled;
And the twilight touches softly all the valley we have trod,
When a true friend's love sustains us, like an angel sent from God. (ICor.12:26; Heb.12:11)
145. Sometimes I'm sad, I know not why
My heart is torn apart
It seems the burdens of this world
Have settled on my heart.
And yet I know ... I know that God
Who doeth all things right
Will lead me thus to understand
To walk by FAITH ... not SIGHT.
And though I may not see the way
He's planned for me to go ...
The way seems dark to me just now.
But oh, I'm sure He knows!
Today He guides my feeble step
Tomorrow's in His right ...
He has asked me to never fear ...
But walk by FAITH ... not SIGHT.
Some day the mists will roll away,
The sun will shine again.
I'll see the beauty in the flowers,
I'll hear the bird's refrain,
And then I'll know my Father's hand
Has led the way to light
Because I placed my hand in His
And walked by FAITH ... not SIGHT.
--Ruth A. Morgan
146. Are you standing at 'Wits' End Corner,'
Christian, with troubled brow?
Are you thinking of what is before you
And all you are bearing now?
Does all the world seem against you,
And you in battle alone?
Remember--at Wits' End Corner
Is just where God's power is shown.
Are you standing at Wits' End Corner,
Blinded with wearying pain,
Feeling you cannot endure it,
You cannot bear the strain,
Bruised through the constant suffering,
Dizzy and dazed and numb?
Remember--to Wits' End Corner
Is where Jesus loves to come.
Are you standing at Wits' End Corner,
Your work before you spread,
All lying, begun, unfinished
And pressing on heart and head,
Longing for strength to do it,
Stretching out trembling hands?
Remember--at Wits' End Corner
The Burden Bearer stands.
Are you standing at Wits' End Corner,
Yearning for those you love,
Longing and praying and watching,
Pleading their cause above,
Trying to lead them to Jesus,
Wond'ring if you've been true?
He whispers--at Wits' End Corner--
'I'll win them as I won you.'
Are you standing at Wit's End Corner?
Then you're just in the very spot
To learn the wondrous resources
Of Him Who faileth not!
No doubt to a brighter pathway
Your footsteps will soon be moved,
But only at Wit's End Corner
Is the 'God Who is able' proved.
(Ps.34:19; 107:27)
147. The broken heart is the only sound heart.
148. The Christian's chief occupational hazards are depression & discouragement.
149. He that despairs degrades the Deity.
150. God does not despair of you, therefore you ought not to despair of yourself.
151. Hopeless & lifeless go together.
152. It is impossible for that man to despair who remembers that his Helper is omnipotent.
153. A tender child of summers three,
Seeking her little bed at night,
Paused on the dark stair timidly,
'Oh Mother! take my hand,' said she,
'And then the dark will all be light.'
We older children grope our way,
From dark behind to dark before:
And only when our hands we lay,
Dear Lord, in Thine, the night is day,
And there is darkness nevermore.
Reach downward to the sunless days,
Wherein our guides are blind as we,
And faith is small and hope delays:
Take Thou the hands of prayer we raise,
And let us feel the light of Thee.
--John Greenleaf Whittier (Eph.5:8)
154. Until I learned to trust
I never learned to pray,
And I did not fully learn to trust
Till sorrow came my way.
Until I felt my weakness,
His strength I never knew;
Nor dreamed till I was stricken
That He could see me through.
(Ps.34:6; 56:3,11; Isa.12:2;26:4)
155. His ways are ways of pleasantness,
And all His paths are peace.
His words are words of graciousness
And love which ne'er shall cease.
His works are works of holiness
And victory over sin.
His wounds are wounds of tenderness:
He only wounds to win.
--F.H. Oakeley (Ps.18:30; Pro.3:17)
156. A little bird am I
Shut in from fields of air;
Yet in my cage I sit and sing
To Him Who placed me there;
Well pleased His prisoner to be
Because, my God, it pleaseth Thee.
Naught have I else to do,
I sing the whole day long;
And He Whom most I love to please
Doth listen to my song.
He caught and bound my wandering wing,
But still He loves to hear me sing.
Thou hast an ear to hear,
A heart to love and bless;
And, though my notes were e'er so rude,
Thou wouldst not hear the less;
Because Thou knowest, as they fall,
That same sweet love inspired them all.
My cage confines me round;
Abroad I cannot fly;
But though my wing is closely bound,
My heart's at liberty.
My prison walls cannot control
The flight, the freedom of the soul.
O, it is good to soar
These bolts and bars above
To Him Whose purpose I adore,
Whose Providence I love,
And in Thy mighty will to find
The joy, the freedom, of the mind.
--Madam de la Mothe Guyon (Ps.69:33; Acts 16:25; 2Tim.2:8,9).
157. When problems get Christians praying they do more good than harm.
158. There are no difficulties with God. Difficulties wholly exist in our own unbelieving minds.
159. There are no disappointments to those whose wills are buried in the will of God.
160. Our faith is really & truly tested only when we are brought into very severe conflicts, & when even Hell itself seems opened to swallow us up.
161. Without a glimpse of darkened skies
Our hearts would never realise
The beauty of the day.
Without the silver of the shower
No loveliness of leaf or flower
Would blossom on our way.
And so in life we value more
The joys unrealised before
With every hurt we bear.
It takes the daily cares we face
To prove our Saviour's tender grace
And realise His care.
(Isa.43:1,2; 2Cor:12.9)
162. Aliens may escape the rod,
Nursed in earthly, vain delight;
But a trueborn child of God
Must not, would not if he might.
(Heb.12:6-7)
163. We are passing through the Valley,
And the road is sometimes steep,
And the mountains all around us
Often make the shadows deep.
'Tis the narrow Vale of Baca,
'Tis the valley full of shade;
But we're only passing through it,
So we need not be afraid.
Far away the land of Beulah
Wrapped in sunlight may be seen,
And this little bit of valley
Is now all that lies between.
Just beyond it is the sunshine,
Just beyond it is our home,
When we reach it, 'twill not matter
By what valley we have come.
One there is Who trod the Valley,
And He suffered much from thirst.
He was weary, worn and footsore
As He trod the way the first.
But His footsteps made the pathway
Which we now may safely tread,
And it makes the road more easy
When we know He's just ahead.
Just before He left the Valley
And emerged into the light,
All His friends He gathered round Him
E'er He vanished out of sight.
Words of comfort then were spoken
To the travellers in the vale.
Not one promise that He made them
Has been ever known to fail.
--W. D. Morrow
(Ps.23:4; 84:6; Isa.43:1,2; John 16:33)
164. Trust God even when the pieces don't seem to fit.
165. There may be a time when God will not be found, but no time wherein He must not be trusted.
166. Faith, like a muscle, grows by stretching.
167. Faith tries God & God tries the faith He gives.
168. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our consciences, but shouts in our pains; it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.
169. If you fall, don't give up, GET up!
170. Content makes poor men rich; discontent makes rich men poor.
171. Always remember to forget
The things that made you sad,
But never forget to remember
The things that made you glad.
172. We are told that Billy Bray, the Cornish miner, was noted far and near for his piety. One year his potato crop was almost a failure. As he was digging the potatoes, Satan said, "There, Billy, isn't that poor pay for serving your Father the way you have all this year? Just see those small potatoes!" "Ah, Satan," said Billy, "at it again talking against my Father? Bless His Name! Why, when I served you I did not have any potatoes at all. I thank my dear Father for small potatoes."
Those who thank God for the little things soon find their blessings multiplying.
173. A lady was summering in Switzerland. One day she started out for a stroll. Presently, as she climbed the mountain-side, she came to a shepherd's fold. She walked to the door and looked in. There sat the shepherd. Around him lay his flock. Near at hand, on a pile of straw, lay a single sheep. It seemed to be in suffering. Scanning it closely, the lady saw that it's leg was broken. At once her sympathy went out to the suffering sheep. She looked up inquiringly to the shepherd. "How did it happen?" she said.
To her amazement, the shepherd answered: "Madam, I broke that sheep's leg." A look of pain swept over the visitor's face. Seeing it, the shepherd went on: "Madam, of all the sheep in my flock, this one was the most wayward. It never would obey my voice. It never would follow in the pathway in which I was leading the flock. It wandered to the verge of many a perilous cliff and dizzy abyss. And not only was it disobedient itself, but it was ever leading the other sheep of my flock astray. I had before had experience with sheep of this kind. So I broke it's leg. The first day I went to it with food, it tried to bite me. I let it lie alone for a couple of days. Then, I went back to it. And now, it not only took the food, but licked my hand, and showed every sign of submission and even affection. And now let me tell you something. When this sheep is well, as it soon will be, it will be the model sheep of my flock. No sheep will hear my voice so quickly. None will follow so closely at my side."
174. Sometimes Christ sees that we need the SICKNESS for the good of our souls more than the HEALING for the ease of our bodies.
175. Godly sorrow is better than Worldly joy.
176. Night brings out stars as sorrow shows us truths.
177. The soul would have no rainbow had the eyes no tears.
178. The finest flowers are often found growing in the soil of sorrow.
179. One Son God hath without sin, but none without sorrow.
180. God would sooner we had holy pain than unholy pleasure.
181. It is said that in Africa there is a fruit called the "taste berry," because it changes a person's taste so that everything eaten tastes sweet and pleasant. Sour fruit, even if eaten several hours after the "taste berry," becomes sweet and delicious. Gratitude is the "taste berry" of Christianity, and when our hearts are filled with gratitude, nothing that God sends us seems unpleasant to us. Sorrowing heart, sweeten your grief with gratitude. Burdened soul, lighten your burden by singing God's praises. Disappointed one, dispel your loneliness by making others grateful. Sick one, grow strong in soul, thanking God that He loves you enough to chasten you. Keep the "taste berry" of gratitude in you hearts, and it will do for you what the "taste berry" of Africa does for the African.
182. "God knows the way of the righteous,
Even though it be dark and drear;
He knows when we're tired and weary,
Our burdens too heavy to bear;
We ask, as the shadows lengthen,
'Lord, lift Thou this burden of care!'
And often His voice replieth:
'My child, I placed it for you there!
With grace that is all-sufficient,
That you might grow stronger in Me,
So trust, weary child, your Father,
He knoweth & careth for thee!'"
183. Arthur Brisbane once pictured a crowd of grieving caterpillars carrying the corpse of a cocoon to its final resting place. The poor, distressed caterpillars, clad in black raiment, were weeping, and all the while the beautiful butterfly fluttered happily above the muck and the mire of earth, forever freed from its earthly shell. Needless to say, Brisbane had the average orthodox funeral in mind and sought to convey the idea that when our loved ones pass, it is foolish to remember only the cocoon and concentrate our attention on the remains, while forgetting the bright butterfly.
184. Pain & suffering are not necessarily signs of God's anger; they may be exactly the opposite.
185. The face of Jesus must be very near our own when the thorns from His crown of suffering are pressing our brow & hurting us.
186. We can sometimes see more through a tear than through a telescope.
187. Suffering times are a Christian's harvest times.
188. Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars.
189. Canst thou take the barren soil
And with all thy pains and toil
Make lilies grow?
Thou canst not. O helpless man,
Have faith in God--He can.
Canst thou paint the clouds at eve?
And all the sunset colors weave
Into the sky?
Thou canst not. O powerless man
Have faith in God--He can.
Canst thou still thy troubled heart
And make all cares and doubts depart
From out thy soul?
Thou canst not. O faithless man,
Have faith in God-He can.
190. Handel lost his health. His right side was paralyzed. His money was gone. His creditors threatened to imprison him. Handel was so disheartened by his tragic experiences that he almost lost faith and despaired. He came through the ordeal, however, and composed his greatest work, "The Hallelujah Chorus," which is the climactic part of his great Messiah.
John wrote, "This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith."
191. In a cellar in Cologne, Germany after World War II were found these words on the wall:
I BELIEVE ...
I believe in the sun, even when it is not shining;
I believe in love,
even when I feel it not;
I believe in God,
Even when He is silent.
192. Bismark said of immortality: "I do not doubt it, even for a moment. This life is too sad, too incomplete, to satisfy our highest aspirations and desires. It is meant to be a struggle to ennoble us. Can the struggle be in vain? I think not. Final perfection, I believe in, a perfection which God has in store for us."
193. A little girl whose baby brother had just died asked her mother where baby had gone. "To be with Jesus," replied the mother. A few days later, talking to a friend, the mother said, "I am so grieved to have lost my baby." The little girl heard her, and, remembering what her mother had told her, looked up into her and asked, "Mother, is a thing lost when you know where it is?"
"No, of course not." "Well, then, how can baby be lost when he has gone to be with Jesus?" Her mother never forgot this. It was the truth.
194. There is as much difference between the sufferings of the saints & those of the ungodly as there is between the cords with which an executioner pinions a condemned malefactor & the bandages wherewith a tender surgeon binds his patient.
195. Suffering times are teaching times.
196. Sufferings are but as little chips of the cross.
197. God whispers to us in health & prosperity, but, being hard of hearing, we often fail to hear God's voice in both. Whereupon God turns up the amplifier by means of suffering. Then His voice booms.
198. A lady, when her husband was absent, lost both her children to cholera. She laid them out with a mother's tenderness, spread a sheet over them, and waited at the door for her husband's return.
"A person lent me some jewels," she told her husband on his return, "and he now wants to have them back. What shall I do?"
"Return them, by all means," said the husband. Then she led the way, and silently uncovered the forms of their children.
199. SAFELY HOME
I am home in Heaven, dear ones;
Oh, so happy & so bright.
There is perfect joy & beauty
In this everlasting light.
All the pain & grief is over,
Every restless tossing passed;
I am now at peace forever,
Safely home in Heaven at last.
Did you wonder I so calmly
Trod the valley of the shade?
Oh!--But Jesus' Love illumined
Every dark & fearful glade.
And He came Himself to meet me
In that way so hard to tread,
And with Jesus' arm to lean on,
Could I have one doubt or dread?
Then you must not grieve so sorely
For I love you dearly still:
Try to look beyond Earth's shadows,
Pray to trust our Father's will,
There is work still waiting for you,
So you must not idly stand;
Do it now, while life remaineth--
You shall rest in Jesus' land.
When that work is all completed,
He will gently call you home;
Oh, the rapture of that meeting,
Oh, the joy to see you come!
200. SAFELY, safely gathered in,
No more sorrow, no more sin,
No more childish griefs or fears,
No more sadness, no more tears;
For the life, so young and fair,
Now hath passed from earthly care;
God Himself the soul will keep,
Giving His beloved sleep.
Safely, safely gathered in,
Free from sorrow, free from sin,
Passed beyond all grief and pain,
Death for thee is truest gain:
For our loss we must not weep,
Nor our loved one long to keep
From the home of rest and peace,
Where all sin and sorrow cease.
Safely, safely gathered in,
No more sorrow, no more sin;
God has saved from weary strife,
In its dawn, this young fresh life,
Which awaits us now above,
Resting in the SAVIOUR'S love.
Jesus, grant that we may meet
There, adoring at Thy Feet. Amen.
--Henrietta O. Dobree
201. The real problem is not why some pious, humble, believing people suffer, but why some do not.
202. There is nothing the body suffers that the soul may not profit by.
203. Good men are often great sufferers.
204. Saints should fear every sin, but no sufferings.
205. I would ... suggest that some form of suffering is virtually indispensable to holiness.
206. God's wounds cure; sin's kisses kill.
207. TENDER Shepherd, Thou hast stilled
Now Thy little lamb's brief weeping;
Ah, how peaceful, pure, and mild,
In Thy loving Arms 'tis sleeping;
And no sigh of anguish sore
Heaves that little bosom more.
In a world of pain and care,
LORD, thou wouldst no longer leave it;
To Thy meadows bright and fair
Lovingly Thou dost receive it;
Clothed in robes of spotless white
Now it dwells with Thee in light.
Ah, Lord Jesus, grant that we
There may live where it is living,
And the blissful pastures see
That its Heavenly food are giving;
Lost awhile our treasured love,
Gained for ever, safe above. Amen.
--Rev. J.W. Meinhold
208. THEY SOFTLY WALK
They are not gone who pass
Beyond the clasp of hand,
Out from the strong embrace.
They are but come so close
We need not grope with hands,
Nor look to see, nor try
To catch the sound of feet.
They have put off their shoes
Softly to walk by day
Within our thoughts, to tread
At night our dream-led paths
Of sleep.
They are not lost who find
The sunset gate, the goal
Of all their faithful years.
Not lost are they who reach
The summit of their climb,
The peak above the clouds
And storms. They are not lost
Who find the light of sun
And stars and God.
They are not dead who live
In hearts they leave behind.
In those whom they have blessed
They live a life again,
And shall live through the years
Eternal life, and grow
Each day more beautiful
As time declares their good,
Forgets the rest, and proves
Their immortality.
--Hugh Robert Orr
209. The Bible has a great deal to say about suffering & most of it is encouraging.
210. Calvary is God's great proof that suffering in the Will of God always leads to glory.
211. Thou art beaten that thou mayest be better.
212. We often learn more under the rod that strikes us, than under the staff that comforts us.
213. In prosperity, our friends know us; in adversity we know our friends.
214. BEREAVED
Let me come in where you sit weeping, --aye,
Let me, who have not any child to die,
Weep with you for the little one whose love
I have known nothing of.
The little arms that slowly, slowly loosed
Their pressure round your neck; the hands you used
To kiss.--Such arms--such hands I never knew.
May I not weep with you?
Fain would I be of service--say some thing,
Between the tears, that would be comforting,--
But ah! so sadder than yourselves am I,
Who have no child to die.
--James Whitcomb Riley
215. Madame de la Mothe Guyon, that notable prisoner for Christ's sake in the Chateau de Chillon, sang:
Nor exile I nor prison fear;
Love makes my courage great;
I find a Saviour everywhere,
His grace in every state.
Nor castle walls, nor dungeon deep,
Exclude His quickening beams;
There I can sit and sing and weep,
And dwell on heavenly themes.
There, sorrow for His sake is found
A joy beyond compare;
There no presumptuous thoughts abound,
Nor pride can enter there.
A Saviour doubles all my joys
And sweetens all my pains;
His strength in my defence employs,
Consoles me and sustains.
(Eph.6.20; Rev.1.9).
216. God sometimes snuffs out our brightest candle that we may look up to His eternal stars.
217. Affliction is the medicine of the mind.
218. Only in the hot furnace of affliction do we as Christians let go of the dross to which, in our foolishness, we ardently cling.
219. I never knew the meaning of God's Word until I came into affliction. Martin Luther.
220. The Lord hath His way in the storm. (Nah.1:3)
221. Art thou weary, tender heart?
Be glad of pain!
In sorrow sweetest things will grow,
As flowers in rain.
God watches; thou wilt have the sun,
When clouds their perfect work have done.
--Adelaide Procter
222. Sometimes you went away
For just a little while,
And I could scarcely wait
To see again your smile.
I listened for your step,
My hand was on the door,
And what a joy it was
To have you back once more.
One day you said "Goodbye",
And went to see the King,
His beauty to behold
And precious sheaves to bring;
In eagerness I wait
Though now I feel my lack,
I'm looking hour by hour
To see you both come back.
--Edith L. Mapes
223. "My burden is too heavy, Lord,"
I tremblingly said.
"I can no further carry it!"
And tears I shed.
Then came a sudden cry for help
From one sore pressed;
I ran to seek him, gladly gave
Him of my best.
Then thought I of my heavy burden-
But, lo! 'twas gone!
The gloom and doubt had vanished quite
And Love's light shone.
224. Trouble is the structural steel that goes into character-building.
225. By afflictions God is spoiling us of what otherwise might have spoiled us--when He makes the World too hot for us to hold, we let it go.
226. Grace grows best in the winter.
227. In shunning a trial we are seeking to avoid a blessing.
228. SEED CORN INTO GRAIN
We are too ignorant of death. We will not learn
How it is wages paid to those who earn
How it is the gift for which on earth we yearn,--
To be set free from bondage to the flesh;
How it is turning seed corn into grain,
How it is winning heaven's eternal gain,
How it means freedom evermore from pain,
How it untangles every mortal mesh.
We are so selfish about death. We count our grief
Far more than we console their relief,
When the great Reaper gathers in the sheaf
No more to know the season's constant change;
And we forget that it means only life,--
Life with all joy, peace, rest and glory rife,
The victory won, and ended all the strife,
And heaven no longer far away and strange.
229. THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE
O little friend, I wait on you with praise,
Seeking to celebrate your early days
Of bugle, drum and gallant rocking-horse
Without complaint of tears, without remorse.
For why should man regret the silver dawn,
Now that the sun has set and from the lawn
Slow mist arises as of quiet tears
Shed for the swift futility of years.
At first when you were gone I turned my face
From life and sat upon a lonely place
Apart from men, bewailed but nursed my sorrow
And, loving yesterday, I loathed tomorrow.
Then suddenly you said, "O foolish one,
Awake, there are no dead--I am your son!"
And then above my sorrow and my strife
I found the Resurrection and the Life.
--Robert Norwood.
230. SHED NOT TOO MANY TEARS
Shed not too many tears when I shall leave;
Be brave enough to smile.
It will not shorten, howsoe'er you grieve,
Your loneliness the while.
I would not have you sorrowful and sad,
But joyfully recall
The glorious companionship we've had,
And thank God for it all.
Don't let your face grow tear-streaked, pale and wan:
Have heart for mirth and song--
Rejoice, though for a little while I've gone,
That I was here so long.
For if I thought your faith would fail you so,
And leave you so distressed,
That sobbing to my body's grave you'd go,
My spirit could not rest.
231. There are some of your graces which would never be discovered if it were not for your trials.
232. Jesus was transfigured on the hilltop, but He transforms us in the valley.
233. TURN AGAIN TO LIFE
If I should die and leave you here a while,
Be not like others, sore undone, who keep
Long vigil by the silent dust and weep.
For my sake turn again to life and smile,
Nerving thy heart and trembling hand to do
That which will comfort other souls than thine;
Complete these dear unfinished tasks of mine,
And I, perchance, may therein comfort you.
--Mary Lee Hall
234. NO FUNERAL GLOOM
No funeral gloom, my dears, when I am gone,
Corpse-gazings, tears, black raiment, graveyard grimness.
Think of me as withdrawn into another room,
Yours still, you mine.
Remember all the best of our past moments and forget the rest,
And so to where I wait come gently on.
--Ellen Terry
235. ON THE DEATH OF AN AGED FRIEND
You are not dead--Life has but set you free!
Your years of life were like a lovely song,
The last sweet poignant notes of which, held long,
Passed into silence while we listened, we
Who loved you listened still expectantly!
And we about you whom you moved among
Would feel that grief for you were surely wrong--
You have but passed beyond where we can see.
For us who knew you, dread of age is past!
You took life bravely to the very last;
It never lost for you its lovely look;
You kept your interest in its thrilling book;
To you Death came no conqueror; when it came--
You merely smiled to hear the Saviour call your name!
--Roselle Mercier Montgomery
236. We are safer in the storm God sends us than in a calm when we are befriended by the world.
237. The whale that swallowed Jonah was the means of bringing him safely to land.
238. TRUST IN GOD
Courage, brother! Do not stumble,
Though thy path is dark as night;
There's a star to guide the humble,
Trust in God and do the right.
Let the road be long and dreary,
And its ending out of sight;
Foot it bravely--strong or weary,
Trust in God and do the right.
Some will hate thee, some will love thee,
Some will flatter, some will slight;
Turn from man and look above thee,
Trust in God and do the right.
239. HE IS RISEN
He is not dead,
Your son, your dear beloved son,
Your golden one,
With his blond touseled head,
The shining and excited words he said!
Ah no! Be comforted.
For him the world will never
Grow flat and tired and dull;
He is a part of all swift things forever,
All joyous things that run
Or fly,
Familiar to the wind and cloud and sky,
Forever beautiful!
--Joseph Auslander
240. SELFISHNESS
Death takes our loved ones--
We are bowed in grief. For whom?
Are we not selfish?
A mourner weeps for himself,
The dead know nought of sorrow.
--Margaret E. Bruner
241. "Give her, I pray, all good:
Bid all the buds of pleasure grow
To perfect flowers of happiness
Where'er her feet may go:
Bid Truth's bright shield and Love's strong arm
Protect her from all earthly harm.
"Lest there should be some other thing,
Better than all the rest,
That I have failed to ask," I said,
"Give Thou the very best
Of every gift that Thou dost deem
Better that aught I hope or dream."
"Better than I can ask or dream!"
This was my prayer, and now
That she is lying still and pale,
With God's peace upon her brow,
I wonder, sobbing, sore dismayed,
If this be that for which I prayed.
242. Among my list of blessings infinite stands this the foremost--that my heart has bled.
243. A saint is often under a cross, never under a curse.
244. There never yet was an unscarred saint.
245. The Christian life is a bed of roses--thorns & all.
246. From the dust of the weary highway,
From the smart of sorrow's rod,
Into the royal Presence,
They are bidden as guests of God.
The veil from their eyes is taken.
Sweet mysteries they are shown,
Their doubts and fears are over,
For they know as they are known.
For them there should be rejoicing
For them the festal array,
As for the bride in her beauty,
Whom love hath taken away;
Sweet hours of peaceful waiting
Till the path that we have trod,
Shall end at the Father's gateway,
And we are the guests of God.
247. It is wonderful how many of the elect of the human race the winners of immortal fame entered the contest with a severe handicap. HOMER was a blind minstrel; and MILTON, too was blind. BEETHOVEN was deaf: "Though so deaf he could not hear the thunder for a token, he made music of his soul, the grandest ever spoken." ALEXANDER THE GREAT was a hunchback; and so was ALEXANDER POPE, and a suffering weakling to boot. ST. PAUL was an uncouth manikin, the jest of coarse adversaries (cf. 2Cor.10:1,10) "three cubits high," says St. Chrysostom, "yet he touched the stars." And like him for stature were HORATIO NELSON and NAPOLEON, SHAKESPEARE on his own testimony was a cripple; and so were SCOTT, BYRON and KELVIN, to say nothing of EPICTETUS.
248. A little girl came home from a neighbor's house where her little friend had died.
"Why did you go?" questioned her father.
"To comfort her mother," replied the child.
"What could you do to comfort her?" the father continued.
"I climbed into her lap and cried with her," answered the child.
249. God promises no immunity from crosses.
250. God may call you to endure difficulties, but He will never cause you to experience defeat.
251. The storms of life no more indicate the absence of God than clouds indicate the absence of the sun.
252. The pressures of life are the hands of the Potter.
253. God's way of answering the Christian's prayer for more patience, experience, hope & love often is to put him into the furnace of affliction.
254. When you walk through a storm
Hold your head up high,
And don't be afraid of the dark
At the end of the storm
Is a golden sky
And the sweet silver song of a lark.
Walk on through the wind
Walk on through the rain
Though your dreams
Be tossed and blown,
Walk on, walk on, with hope in your heart
And you'll never walk alone--
You'll never walk alone.
255. Grace when the sun is shining Lord,
Grace when the sky is black,
Grace when I get the unkind word,
Grace on the too-smooth track,
Grace when I'm elbowed into a nook,
Grace when I get my turn,
Grace when the dinner will not cook,
Grace when the fire won't burn.
Grace when my duties all go wrong,
Grace when they all go right,
Grace when it's gladness, praise and song,
Grace when I have to fight,
Grace when my clothes are fresh and new,
Grace when they're worn and old,
Grace when my purse is empty too,
Grace when it's full of gold.
Grace when the saved ones don't act saved,
Grace when they outshine me,
Grace when denied the good I've craved,
Grace when I get my plea,
Grace when the midnight hours I tell,
Grace when the morn is nigh,
Grace when I'm healthy, strong and well
Grace when I come to die.
Lord Jesus, hear and grant the grace:
My need to Thy store I bring,
That, the proper one in the proper place,
I may glorify Thee, my King.
(John 1:16; 2Cor.12:9)
256. Sometimes the lions' mouths are shut;
Sometimes God bids us flight or fly;
Sometimes He feeds us by the brook;
Sometimes the flowing stream runs dry.
Sometimes the burning flames are quenched;
Sometimes with sevenfold heat they glow;
Sometimes His hand divides the waves:
Sometimes His billows overflow.
Sometimes He turns the sword aside;
Sometimes He lets the sharp blade smite;
Sometimes our foes are at our heels;
Sometimes He hides us from their sight.
We may not choose, nor would we dare,
The path in which our feet shall tread;
Enough that He that path hath made,
And He Himself shall walk ahead.
The dangers that His love allows
Are safer than our fears may know;
The peril that His care permits
Is our defence where'er we go.
(Acts 27.9; 2Cor.1.10; 11.26; Heb.11.35)
257. Saints have their winter seasons.
258. Spiritual believers are honoured with warfare in the front line trenches.
259. The Scriptures show conclusively that tribulation is a natural by-product of genuine Christianity.
260. Testing is important, inevitable ... because we must be revealed to ourselves.
261. J. R. Miller commented that the "cup" is our portion, embracing all the experiences of our earthly lives. Our Father gives us the cup, therefore it must be the very best that the wisest love can provide. When death enters a Christian home there is sweetest comfort in the thought that God has really done the best possible for the friend whom He has taken away. We prayed Him to crown our loved one with His richest blessings, and is not that just what He has done?
262. God does not promise that waters of trouble shall never gather about His children, but He does make it possible for them to keep their heads above the water. Dr. Jowett calls it "the grace of aboveness." God's children shall never be under the circumstances -- always above!
263. Child of my love, lean hard,
And let me feel the pressure of thy care.
I know thy burden, child, I shaped it,
Poised in my own hand, made no proportion
In its weight to thy unladed strength;
For soon as I laid it on, I said,
'I shall be near and when he leans on me,
This burden shall be mine, not his.'
So shall I keep my child within the circling arms
Of mine own love. Here lay it down, nor fear
To impose it on a shoulder which upholds
The government of worlds. Yet closer come:
Thou art not near enough: I would embrace thy care,
So I might feel my child reposing on my breast.
Thou lovest me! I know it! Doubt not then,
But, loving me lean hard.
(Ps.55.22; 1Pet.5.7)
264. 'In pastures green?'
Not always. Sometimes He
Who knoweth best in kindness leadeth me
In weary ways, where heavy shadows be;
Out of the sunshine, warm, and soft, and bright:
Out of the sunshine into darkest night.
I oft would faint with sorrow and affright.
Only for this: I know He holds my hand;
So, whether led in green or desert land,
I trust, although I may not understand.
'And by still waters'? No, not always so.
Oftimes the heavy tempests round me blow,
And o'er my soul the waves and billows go.
But when the storm beats loudest, and I cry
Aloud for help, the Master standeth by,
And whispers to my soul, 'Lo, it is I.'
Above the tempest wild I hear Him say,
'Beyond this darkness lies the perfect day;
In every path of thine I lead the way.'
So whether on the hilltops high and fair
I dwell, or in the sunless valleys where
The shadows lie--what matters? He is there.
So where He leads me I can safely go;
And in the blest hereafter I shall know
Why, in His wisdom, He hath led me so.
(Ps.23.2; 78.53; Isa.42.16; John 10.3)
265. There may be love in Christ's heart while there are frowns in his face.
266. Adversity is the diamond dust Heaven polishes its jewels with.
267.Bad news has come, and heart and mind are sobered,--
We did not think that things would come to this:
We deemed that God would surely send deliverance;
We asked that what was threatened we might miss.
But it has come--the thing we deemed unwanted!
Bad news, indeed, it seems to us today;
We cannot think that God has failed to hear us,
But cannot fathom why He answers 'Nay'.
What shall we do?--Succumb or get down-hearted?
That were indeed the easy road to tread;
With hope and trust cast over--faith abandoned--
And God, the God Who loves--why, deemed as dead.
Bad news indeed! But God abideth faithful!
Some fresh unfolding of His power He'll show;
Thus, unto Him, Whose love is quite unending,
Whose care and power are limitless--we'll go.
--J. Danson Smith (Rom.8.28; Phil.2.26,27; 4.19)
268. When I consider how my light is spent
Ere half my days in this dark world and wide,
And that one talent which is death to hide
Lodged with me useless, though my soul more bent
To serve therewith my Maker, and present
My true account, lest He returning chide,
'Doth God exact day-labour, light denied?'
I fondly ask. But Patience, to prevent
That murmur, soon replies, 'God hath not need
Either man's work or his own gifts. Who best
Bear His mild yoke, they serve Him best. His state
Is kingly: thousands at His bidding speed,
And post o'er land and ocean without rest:
They also serve who only stand and wait.'
--John Milton's Sonnet (Prov.8.34; Isa.42.16--first clause)
269. In the day of prosperity we have many refuges to resort to; in the day of adversity only one.
270. I do not pray for a lighter load but for a stronger back.
271. Ill that God blesses is our good:
All unblest good is ill;
And all is right that seems most wrong
If it be His blest will.
(Gen. 50.20; Heb.12.11)
272. Adversity misunderstood becomes a double curse:
Her chastening hand improves the good but makes the wicked worse.
Thus clay more obdurate becomes, to the fierce fire consign'd;
While gold in the red ordeal melts, but melts to be refined.
--C.C. Colton (Heb.3.7-8,15-16; 4.7; 12.5)
273. The story is told of a king who placed a heavy stone in the road and then hid and watched to see who would remove it. Men of various classes came and worked their way round it, some loudly blaming the king for not keeping the highways clear, but all dodging the duty of getting it out of the way. At last a poor peasant on his way to town with his flock of sheep came, and contemplating the stone, laid down his load and rolled the stone into the gutter. Then, turning round, he spied a purse that had lain right under the stone. He opened it and found it full of gold pieces with a note from the king saying it was for the one who should remove the stone. Under every obstacle our King has hidden a blessing. We can turn back from a cross or go round it, but we are eternal losers if we do. We cannot dodge the cross without dodging God's blessing, and we cannot refuse it without endangering our crown. He is watching. (Luke 14.27; John 11.39)
274. A well-known missionary, Fidelia Fisk, was once instructing a class of heathen women. She was obliged on account of the custom of the country, to occupy a sitting posture on the floor, without any support to her back, and as she had just recovered from an illness, she became very tired. One of the women who was a believer noticed this, left the circle and sat down right behind her, placing her back to Miss Fisk's back, who acknowledged the kindness and timeliness of the act and leaned gently against the prop offered to her. 'No! No!' said the Christian woman, 'if you love me, lean hard.'
275. In the Gospel records, fish as a provision for human needs occupies a prominent place in our Lord's miracles. There were two miracles in which loaves and fishes were used to feed large companies, and two miraculous draughts of fishes. The risen Lord had fish to feed His toiling, hungry disciples on the shore of the Sea of Tiberias, and directed Peter to find the tribute money in the mouth of a fish, He knew where the fish was, and He knew where the money was.
So, and because the Greek letters of the word for 'fish' spell out the initials of our Lord's titles, the fish became the symbol of the Christians in days of persecution and trouble. It is frequently seen in the catacombs. The Greek word for 'fish' has five letters, which form the initials of the Greek words in the following order--Jesus Christ, Of God the Son--Saviour.
(Matt.14.17-19; 17.27; Mark 8.7; Luke 5.6; John 21.11)
276. God will never permit any troubles to come upon us unless He has a specific plan by which great blessing can come out of the difficulty.
277. What we call life is a journey to death. What we call death is the gateway to life.
278. The water-spider lives in the water and is made for life in the water but it cannot live without air. It would drown in the water, so is constantly surrounded by an element deadly to it; yet it continues to live a happy life against odds. Over its body is a thick covering of hair. When it plunges into the water it carries with it an envelope of air which at once forms a bubble round it. It chooses its place, spins a silken dome attached to water-weed, and into this dome flicks the bubble of air. Then it rises and brings another until it fills its home with the air it needs.
(Rom.8. 37; 2Cor.4.8,9)
279. Samuel Rutherford, writing from prison in Aberdeen three centuries ago, persecuted for his faith, and writing his famous 'Letters' to his parishioners, ended one of them with this sentence: 'Jesus Christ came into my prison-cell last night, and every stone in it glowed like a ruby.' (Luke 24.15,32; 2Tim.4.17)
280. The refiner is never far from the mouth of the furnace when his gold is in the fire, and the Son of God is always walking in the flames when his holy children are cast into them. (Isa.43.2; Dan.3.22-25; 1Pet.1.7,8).
281. A jeweller gives as one of the surest tests for diamonds the 'water test'. He says: 'An imitation diamond is never so brilliant as a genuine stone. If your eye is not experienced enough to detect the difference, a simple test is to place the stone under water. The imitation diamond is practically extinguished. A genuine diamond sparkles under water and is distinctly visible. If you place a genuine stone beside an imitation under water, the contrast will be apparent to the least experienced eye.'
Many seem confident of their faith so long as they have no trials; but when the waters of sorrow and affliction overflow them, their faith loses its brilliancy. It is under these circumstances that the true children of God shine as genuine jewels.
(Job 23.10; Isa.43.1,2; I Pet.1.7)
282. If you go to the banks of a little stream and watch the flies that come and bathe in it, you will notice that, while they plunge their bodies, they keep their wings high out of the water and fly away with their wings unwet. Now, that is the lesson for us. Here we are, immersed in the cares and business of the world, but let us keep the wings of our faith and love out of the world so that, with these unclogged, we may be ready to take our flight to heaven.
The Christian is not ruined by living in the world, but by the world living in him.
(John 17.16-19; Gal.6.14; 1John 2.15-17)
283. Let God lay on a burden, He will be sure to strengthen the back.
284. Affliction by itself does not sanctify; it exhausts & embitters, it depresses & entices. It is the presence of God & the use made of it by Him, as He relates it to our lives as a whole...that makes adversity salutary.
285. Mountains are God's methods.
286. 'Whenever I find myself in the cellar of affliction, I always look about for the wine,' said Samuel Rutherford. (Rom.8.28; Heb.12.11)
287. The Scripture speaks of some being salted with fire. If you're already burned out by the Holy Spirit, you can't be literally burned out by the judgements of the Lord! In fighting prairie fires, they used to use a method called "backfiring"--they would set a controlled fire to the areas they had to save, so that when the major fire reached that area, it was already burned out. Judgement begins at the House of the Lord! We're the house of the Lord, & we're already judged by the Lord because we've accepted Him & received His as payment. Therefore we don't have to undergo the literal horrible judgements that the World is going to suffer.--Dad
288. David was greatly distressed and wept. No wonder, for he was enduring--Exile from his loved homeland--'eating the bitter bread of banishment'. Ingratitude from the people whom he had saved from Goliath and the Philistines: Postponement of his acceptance by his own people as their Divinely-appointed king: Losses of material possessions snatched from him at a single blow, and of all he held dear; and mutiny by his own followers, for 'the people spake of stoning him'.
Yet 'David encouraged himself in the Lord.'
(1Sam.30.6; 2Tim.4.17).
289. The mountain goat which lives in the higher reaches of the mountains must in due season teach her offspring how to jump from crag to crag.
When they come to the edge of a ledge which mother has selected, the little fellow naturally hesitates, so mother promptly pushes him over the cliff. Terrified, the young goat manages to strike his feet against a jutting rock, and then he bounces safely to a trail below. Mother knows that there is a ledge below, and a trail that her son can jump to, for she has made these jumps many times before, and she will not lead her offspring into a task he is incapable of. The feet of a mountain goat are made 'non-skid.' In like manner God trains His people. It is through God-appointed trials that our faith is strengthened.
(Deut.32.11; James 1.12)
290. God's wounds are better than Satan's salves.
291. Affliction is a badge of adoption.
292. God has done a mighty work in our hearts when we can praise Him in every pain, bless Him for every burden, sing in every sorrow & delight in every discipline.
293. Adversity dose not make us frail; it only shows us how frail we are.
294. Poor King David, he had lots of troubles just like us sometimes, & he had his groanings. I was always comforted by the Psalms, because when I have my hard times & troubles & my groanings, I can remember, "Well, dear King David had the same problem sometimes!" Sometimes he was sure he was finished! Once he said "I shall someday surely die at the hand of Saul!" (1Sam.27:1) That was really not much faith, was it? He thought he was surely going to get killed by his enemies. But he didn't, did he? He died in peace at a ripe old age when he was clear up in his 80's. He never got killed by his enemies & all of his worries about his enemies killing him never happened. So he might as well have not done all his worrying, just like I shouldn't worry.
The nice thing about all David's Psalms & all of his time that he gets down in the dumps & weeps & groans & cries & laments is that he never stays there! He always pops back up again & winds up with a positive note. I think the Lord probably let him have all these problems & troubles so he'd write about'm & show how you can pull out of'm by looking to the Lord.--Dad
295. They say that the great London fire which destroyed most of London after the horrors of the "Black Plague" had decimated most of its population--they say the fire probably was the best thing that could have happened to London, to literally wipe out rat-infested buildings full of those bubonic-carrying pests, & literally purge London from the putrefaction left by the plague, & purifying the city--lest, trade centre that it was, it might have infected the entire World! The fire that destroyed London seemed a catastrophic holocaust at the time, but is now known & realised as a blessing that blotted out the plagues of the past! Both plague & fire seemed like the judgements of God on a wicked generation of Londoners, but like most of God's merciful judgements, they turned out to be blessings of chastisement to purge & purify His children & bring a change for the better!
--Dad
296. Afflictions are blessings to us when we can bless God for afflictions.
297. It lightens the stroke to draw near to Him who handles the rod.
298. We should be more anxious that our afflictions should benefit us than that they should be speedily removed from us.
299. Days of trouble must be days of prayer.
300. While the fire is hot, keep conversing with the Refiner.
301. You've got to believe & obey the Lord even if He never heals you! Like the three Hebrew children who were thrown into the fiery furnace for refusing to renounce their faith & bow down to the King of Babylon's idol: They said, "Our God, whom we serve, is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, & He will deliver us out of thy hand. ... But if not, be it known unto thee, O King, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship thy golden image!" (Dan.3:17,18)
And it looked like the end, because into the furnace they went, & the flames were so hot it even killed their executioners! But because of their faith & obedience, God was with them, & they came out without even the smell of smoke on them! (See Daniel 3.)
--Dad
302. I'm not alone, though others go
A different way from what I choose;
I'm not alone, though I say "No!"
I know that I will never lose.
I'm not alone, though others tease
And urge that I should go their way;
I'm not alone, though I displease
My friends by what I'll never say.
I'm not alone, for I now choose --
Though other folk may call me odd,
Though now it seems that I might lose --
To go the way that Jesus trod.
--L. E. Dunkin
303. I will not doubt, though all my ships at sea
Come drifting home with broken masts and sails;
I shall believe the Hand which never fails,
From seeming evil worketh good to me;
And, though I weep because those sails are battered,
Still will I cry, while my best hopes lie shattered,
"I trust in Thee."
I will not doubt, though all my prayers return
Unanswered from the still, white realm above;
I shall believe it is an all-wise Love
Which has refused those things for which I yearn;
And though, at times, I cannot keep from grieving,
Yet the pure ardor of my fixed believing
Undimmed shall burn.
I will not doubt, though sorrows fall like rain,
And troubles swarm like bees about a hive;
I shall believe the heights for which I strive,
Are only reached by anguish and by pain;
And, though I groan and tremble with my crosses,
I yet shall see, through my severest losses,
The greater gain.
I will not doubt; well anchored in the faith,
Like some stanch ship, my soul braves every gale,
So strong its courage that it will not fail
To breast the mighty, unknown sea of death.
Oh, may I cry when body parts with spirit,
"I do not doubt," so listening worlds may hear it
With my last breath.
--Ella Wheeler Wilcox
304. Does Jesus care when my heart is pained
Too deeply for mirth and song;
As the burdens press, and the cares distress,
And the way grows weary and long?
Does Jesus care when my way is dark
With a nameless dread and fear?
As the daylight fades into deep night shades,
Does He care enough to be near?
Does Jesus care when I've tried and failed
To resist some temptation strong;
When for my deep grief I find no relief,
Tho' my tears flow all the night long?
Does Jesus care when I've said "good-by"
To the dearest on earth to me,
And my sad heart aches till it nearly breaks--
Is it aught to Him? Does He see?
Oh, yes, He cares; I know He cares,
His heart is touched with my grief;
When the days are weary, the long nights dreary,
I know my Saviour cares.
--Frank E. Graeff
305. 'Tis better far to follow Jesus
No matter where His hand may lead;
Than with the world's vain fleeting pleasures
Our souls' immortal longings feed;
For He has made us for His glory
And His are joys that never die;
'Tis sweeter far to follow Jesus,
For He alone can satisfy.
What matter if the way be thorny,
Or if dark waves of sorrow roll?
Beside me walks my loving Saviour
And I shall safely reach the goal;
For me He bore the thorns and scoffing,
It was for me He bled and died;
'Tis sweet that I may share His sorrow
And walk forever at His side.
What matter while I walk with Jesus
If to Gethsemane I go,
And in the darkness of its shadows
The fullest cup of anguish know?
For me shall be the after sweetness
Of angels' ministry and strength,
And tho' the waters may be bitter
In heaven's peace I'll rest at length.
What matter if I stand at Calv'ry
And lay my life down for the lost?
'Twas only what HE did before me,
I'll follow Him at any cost;
Then from the pain, and shame, and dying,
In glorious pow'r I'll rise again
To share the glory of His kingdom
And ever more with Jesus reign.
--May Agnew Stephens.
306. I'll sing of the wonderful promise,
That Jesus has given to me;
"My strength is made perfect in weakness,
My grace is sufficient for thee."
And lest my poor heart should forget it,
Or ever forgetful should be,
He still keeps repeating the promise,
My grace is sufficient for thee.
Yes over and over and over,
My Saviour keeps saying to me;
My strength is made perfect in weakness,
My grace is sufficient for thee.
His grace is sufficient to save me,
And cleanse me from guilt and from sin;
Sufficient to sanctify wholly,
And give me His Spirit within.
His grace is sufficient for trials,
No matter how hard they may be,
This promise stands over against them,
My grace is sufficient for thee.
His grace is sufficient for sickness,
Sustaining and making me whole;
His grace is sufficient when sorrows
Like billows roll over the soul.
His grace is sufficient for service,
It sets us from selfishness free,
And sends us to tell to the tired ones,
His grace is sufficient for thee.
--A.B. Simpson.
307. Peace, perfect peace, in this dark world of sin?
The blood of Jesus whispers peace within.
Peace, perfect peace, by thronging duties pressed?
To do the will of Jesus, this is rest.
Peace, perfect peace, with sorrows surging round?
On Jesus' bosom naught but calm is found.
Peace, perfect peace, with loved ones far away?
In Jesus' keeping we are safe, and they.
Peace, perfect peace, our future all unknown?
Jesus we know, and He is on the throne.
Peace, perfect peace, death shad'wing us and ours?
Jesus has vanquished death and all its pow'rs.
It is enough: earth's struggles soon shall cease,
And Jesus calls us to heav'n's perfect peace.
--Edward H. Bickersteth.
308. Calm me, my God, and keep me calm:
Let Thy outstretched wing
Be like the shade of Elim's palm, (Ex.15:27)
Beside her desert spring.
Yes, keep me calm, though loud and rude
The sounds my ear that greet;
Calm in the closet's solitude,
Calm in the busy street;
Calm in the hour of buoyant health,
And in the hour of pain;
Calm in my poverty or wealth,
And in my loss or gain;
Calm in the sufferance of wrong,
Like Him who bore my shame;
Calm 'mid the threat'ning, taunting throng,
Who hate Thy holy Name.
Calm me, my God, and keep me calm,
Soft resting on Thy breast;
Soothe me with holy hymn and psalm,
And bid my spirit rest.
--Horatius Bonar
309. Help me to see the sunshine through the rain.
What I count loss may somehow be gain.
Help me to sing when I would cry
Knowing that Thou art standing by.
310. He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock,
That shadows a dry thirsty land;
He hideth my life in the depths of His love,
And covers me there with His hand.
--Fanny Crosby
311. The United States won its independence from Britain under the military leadership of a soldier who would have been turned down flat by a modern draft board. When George Washington took command of the Continental Army in 1775, Dr. Rudolph Marx writes in American Heritage, the 43-year-old general was a man rendered hopelessly 4-F by previous attacks of smallpox, influenza, tubercular pleurisy, dysentery, malaria. Despite his sickly condition, Marx says, "we have no record that Washington was ever incapacitated all during the Revolutionary War."
312. The Saviour can lift ev'ry burden,
The heavy as well as the light;
His strength is made perfect in weakness,
In Him there is power and might.
The Saviour can solve ev'ry problem,
The tangles of life can undo;
There is nothing too hard for Jesus,
There is nothing that He cannot do.
The Saviour can bear ev'ry sorrow,
In Him there is comfort and rest;
No matter how great the affliction,
He only permits what is best.
The Saviour can strengthen the weary,
His grace is sufficient for all
He knows ev'ry step of the pathway,
And listens to hear when we call.
The Saviour can break sins' dominion,
The vict'ry He won long ago;
In Him there is freedom from bondage,
He's able to conquer the foe.
The Saviour can satisfy fully
The heart that the world cannot fill;
His presence will sanctify wholly
The soul that is yielded and still
--Rev. Oswald J. Smith.
313. Safe is my refuge, sweet is my rest,
Ill cannot harm me, nor foes e'er molest;
Jesus my spirit so tenderly calms.
Holding me close in His mighty arms.
Oh! what wonderful, wonderful rest!
Trusting completely in Jesus I'm blest:
Sweetly He comforts and shields from alarms,
Holding me safe in His mighty arms.
Pressing my tear-stained cheek to His own,
Hushing my grief with His sweet, gentle tone:
Touching my heart with His healing balms,
Holding me still in His mighty arms.
Tempests may rage, sin's surges may beat,
Ne'er can they reach my sheltered retreat;
Free from all danger, from dread alarms,
Resting so safe in His mighty arms.
--W. Macomber.
314. There's a battle raging in the heav'nly places,
Sin & death & sickness, with Satan leading on:
With the hosts of Earth & Hell arrayed against us,
How in all our weakness shall the fight be won?
Hark! Hear our Captain now, calling from the Heavens!
Courage, little children, I have overcome for you!
Fear not! I am with you, & I lead My army!
Trust now in My promise, & you'll conquer too!
We are led by One Who never lost a battle,
So let us shout the vict'ry as we onward go!
Hear the bugle's call & the sabre's rattle;
Know our adversary is a conquered foe!
Jesus leadeth & giveth us the victory!
He Who died & overcame at Calvary!
He yet lives to fight for you and me!
Hallelujah! Jesus gives the victory!
Let us take the vict'ry over Satan's kingdom,
Over sickness, sorrow, self & sin;
Let us bear the banner, o'er the lands of darkness
Till the foes' last stronghold we for Christ shall win!
315. In the center of the circle
Of the Will of God I stand:
There can come no second causes,
All must come from His dear hand.
All is well! for 'tis my Father
Who my life hath planned.
Shall I pass through waves of sorrow?
Then I know it will be best;
Though I cannot tell the reason,
I can trust, and so am blest.
God is Love, and God is faithful.
So in perfect Peace I rest.
With the shade and with the sunshine,
With the joy and with the pain,
Lord, I trust Thee! both are needed,
Each Thy wayward child to train,
Earthly loss, did we but know it,
Often means our heavenly gain.
316.There is a law that I am learning
That is helping me each day,
That our Lord sends something better
For each thing He takes away.
317. Within a week after my conversion, I passed by a window of a picture store in St. Louis, and saw hanging there an engraving of a painting of Daniel in the den of lions. The prophet, with his hands behind him, and the lions circling about him, is looking up and answering the king's question. The one thing I was in mortal fear of, in those days, was that I might go back to my sins. I was a drunken lawyer in St. Louis when I was converted, with no power over an appetite for strong drink, and I was so afraid of a barroom or a hotel or a club that when I saw I was coming to one I would cross the street. I was in torment day and night. No one had told me anything about the keeping power of Jesus Christ. I stood before that picture, and a great hope and faith came into my heart, and I said, "Why, these lions are all about ME--my old habits and sins--but the God that shut the lions' mouths for Daniel can shut them for me." I learned that my God was able. He had saved me, and He was able to deliver me from the lions. Oh, what a rest it was!
318. Use your cross as a crutch to help you on, and not as a stumblingblock to cast you down.
319. The meaning of trial is not only to test worthiness, but to increase it; as the oak is not only tested by the storms, but toughened by them.
320. I do not know what God has planned to come to me today.
I only know that He has promised me to be my stay.
And that His hand has mapped out all the way
That I must go.
I do not know that road o'er which my feet must run the race,
But I do know, though rough it be, though steep in many a place,
He has said, "Sufficient is my grace,"
As I go on.
321. Health is a good thing, but sickness is far better if it leads us to God.
322. There is no commentary that opens up the Bible so much as sickness & sorrow.
323. Sanctified sickness is far better than unsanctified soundness.
324. Joys are our wings; sorrows are our spurs.
325. How fast we learn in a day of sorrow!
326. I had a friend who was very happy in the possession of a beautiful wife, and a sweet little daughter of the age of three. Sudden sorrow struck the home when the young wife was killed in a traffic accident, and it seemed that all of the light had gone out of his life forever. The night after the funeral, the young father was putting his baby daughter to bed, and with awkward fingers was buttoning her sleeping garment when the lights suddenly went out all over the house. He suspected that a fuse had blown out in the basement, and said to the baby, "Papa will be right back; you lie still and wait here." But she, frightened at the thought of being left alone, pleaded to be taken with him, so he picked her up in his arms and started through the darkened hallways and down the stairs.
The babe snuggled in his arms for a while in silence; but as they entered the basement she tightened her arms about his neck, and said, "It's awfully dark; but I'm not afraid, because my papa is here!"
A sob shook the man's whole body. He buried his face in the baby's hair and wept, as he said, "Yes, dear, it IS dark, indeed; but I also am not afraid, because MY Father is here!"--"I will never leave thee nor forsake thee." (Hebrews 13:5)
327. A story is told of a Christian girl in India, who was about to be married. She was attractive, and one of the most capable girls in the institution. Sores appeared on her hands, and it was discovered that she had leprosy. She was removed from the orphanage and sent to the leper asylum. She was dressed in her beautiful white flowing garments, as she walked with her brother into that awful place. The women who were there were dirty and filthy, and their faces looked sad and hopeless. When she saw them, she threw her head on her brother's shoulder, and wept and sobbed, "My God," she said, "am I going to become as they are?" She was so distressed, that those about her were afraid she might jump into the well. The missionaries sympathized with her, and asked her if she wouldn't like to be a help to those poor women. A ray of hope came to her and she caught the vision. She started a school, and taught the women to sing, read and write. She could play, so the missionaries bought her a folding organ. Gradually a transformation took place. The houses were made clean, neat and tidy; the women washed their clothes and combed their hair; and that horrible place became a place of blessing.
After being there for some time, she said, "When I first came to the asylum I doubted that there was a God." "Now," she said, "I know that God had a work for me to do, and if I had not become a leper, I never would have discovered my work. Every day I live, I thank Him for having sent me here, and that He has given me this work to do."
328. No affliction would trouble a child of God if he knew God's reasons for sending it.
329. A Christian should never let adversity get him down--except on his knees.
330. Many a man has thought himself broken up, when he has merely been made ready for the sowing.
331. Few people travel the road to success without a puncture or two.
332. Cast your troubles where you have cast your sins.
333. Dr. Handley Moule, Bishop of Durham, visited West Stanley immediately after a terrible colliery explosion. He addressed the crowd at the pit's mouth, among whom were relatives of the entombed miners. "It is very difficult," he said, "for us to understand why God should let such an awful disaster happen, but we know Him and trust Him, and all will be right. I have at home an old bookmarker given me by my mother. It is worked in silk, and when I examine the wrong side of it, I see nothing but a tangle of threads. It looks like a big mistake. One would think that someone had done it who did not know what she was doing. But when I turn it over and look at the right side, I see there, beautifully embroidered, the letters, 'God is love!' We are looking at all this today," he continued "from the wrong side. Some day we shall see it from another standpoint and we shall understand."
334. Be still, and know that I am God,
Where you now tread, I too have trod--
I know your griefs--I have a part,
I know the anguish of your heart.
Did I not walk the toilsome road,
A wanderer, without abode?
Did I not stand in Pilate's Hall,
Though innocent, hear judgment fall?
Did I not hang on yonder Tree
At Golgotha, to die for thee?
Did I not break the bars away,
On that first Resurrection Day?
Ah, yes my friend, I've journeyed far,
To break the might of death's cold bar--
'Twas all for you I paid the price,
For you, I made such sacrifice,
In Me, you'll find your source of power,
To gird you in this trying hour--
Let not your heart then troubled be,
Believe in God, and so in Me,
Where you now tread, I too have trod,
Be still, and know that I am God.
335. Have you ever gone to your parked car and found a traffic ticket on it? The experience doesn't make one feel happy. For years, I had been parking my car in an alley near my Chicago home. Neither I nor others doing likewise had ever been ticketed, as there was no regulation against parking there. Going out one morning, I found a ticket on the car. I paid the three-dollar fine. For a while, I was hesitant to include the unpleasant experience among the "all things" which work together for good to God's children. Not until some days thereafter did I see the hand of God in the experience. During a wind storm a mammoth oak went down and fell right across the place where I had been parking my car for years. Had my car been in its accustomed place, it would have been smashed right in the middle! I humbly thanked God for the fact that nothing of a chance nature can ever befall His children who are "the called according to his purpose."
336. Affliction may be lasting, but it is not everlasting.
337. God has not called us to fumble through life.
338. God wants us to be victors, not victims; to grow, not grovel; to soar, not sink; to overcome, not to be overwhelmed.
339. When Satan borrows our senses to speak one thing, let faith appropriate Scripture to speak the contrary.
340. Oh, it is sad for a poor Christian to stand at the door of the promise in the dark night of affliction afraid to draw the latch!
341. "For years I have been memorizing precious promises from God's Word, cherishing the comforting thought that I would repeat them as I entered the valley of the shadow of death," said an aged, dying saint to his pastor, "but now my memory has failed me completely."
"My friend, do you think God has forgotten them?"
"Of course not, pastor."
"Then why not rest in the Promiser Himself?" said the pastor.
342. There is an eye that never sleeps,
Beneath the wing of night;
There is an ear that never shuts,
When sink the beams of light;
There is an arm that never tires,
When human strength gives way;
There is a love that never fails,
When earthly loves decay.
343. Wesley, when traveling in a carriage one day along a narrow road filled with ruts, became stuck in the mud. The delay especially disturbed him because he was eager to preach at the next town. While some helpers tried to get the vehicle moving, another Christian came by.
Wesley talked with him a moment and perceived that the poor fellow was deeply troubled. Asking why he was so distressed, he learned that because of a crop failure, the man was almost destitute. "I haven't been able to get the money together to pay the rent," he said despairingly. "The landlord is ready to turn us out, and I don't know where to go with my wife and children."
"How much do you owe?" Wesley inquired--"Well," said Wesley, "I believe we can handle that. The Lord evidently wanted me to meet you."
Taking the money from his wallet, he handed it to the man and said, "Here, go and be happy!" Then turning to his companions, he exclaimed, "Now I see why our carriage had to get stuck in the mud. Our steps were halted so that we might help that needy family."
344. He that rides to be crowned will not think much of a rainy day.
345. My own weakness makes me shrink, but God's promise makes me brave.
346. Sickness is God's messenger to call us to meet with God.
347. You can usually determine the caliber of a man by ascertaining the amount of opposition it takes to discourage him.
348. We must suffer patiently, because impatience is rebellion against the justice of God.
349. My Father's way may twist and turn,
My heart may throb and ache,
But in my soul I'm glad I know,
He maketh no mistake.
My cherished plans may go astray,
My hopes may fade away,
But still I'll trust my Lord to lead
For He doth know the way.
Tho' night be dark and it may seem
That day will never break,
I'll pin my faith, my all in Him,
He maketh no mistake.
There's so much now I cannot see,
My eyesight's far too dim;
But come what may, I'll simply trust
And leave it all to Him.
For by and by the mist will lift
And plain it all He'll make.
Through all the way, tho' dark to me,
He made not one mistake.
--A. M. Overton
350. Years ago a fishing fleet went out from a small harbor on the east coast of Newfoundland. In the afternoon there came up a great storm. When night settled down not a single vessel of all the fleet had found its way into port. All night long wives, mothers, children, and sweethearts paced up and down the beach, wringing their hands and calling on God to save their loved ones. To add to the horror of the situation, one of the cottages caught fire. Since the men were all away, it was impossible to save the home.
When the morning broke, to the joy of all, the entire fleet found safe harbor in the bay. But there was one face which was a picture of despair--the wife of the man whose home had been destroyed. Meeting her husband as he landed, she cried, "Oh, husband, we are ruined! Our home and all it contained was destroyed by fire!" But the man exclaimed, "Thank God for the fire! It was the light of our burning cottage that guided the whole fleet into port!"
351. For the Christian, trials & temptation are not only means for proving his faith but for improving his life.
352. The Christian's midnight is brighter than the sinner's noon.
353. Affliction is the school of faith.
354. Afflictions are often God's best blessings sent in disguise.
355. The darker the night, the brighter the stars; the hotter the fire, the purer the gold.
356. The more a tree of righteousness is shaken by the wind, the more it is rooted in Christ.
357. The story is told of an only survivor of a wreck who was thrown on an uninhabited island. After a while he managed to build himself a hut, in which he placed the little that he had saved from the wreck. He prayed to God for deliverance, and anxiously scanned the horizon each day to hail any passing ship. One day on returning from a hunt for food he was horrified to find his hut in flames,--all he had had gone up in smoke. The worst had happened it seemed. But that which seemed to have happened for the worst was in reality for the best. The next day a ship arrived. "We saw your smoke signal," the captain said. If our lives are in God's hands "all things work together for good." (Rom.8:28)
358. In his Confessions, Augustine relates that when as a young man, having expressed a purpose to visit Rome, his mother remonstrated, and prayed earnestly that he might be prevented from going, her reason being that she feared the effect upon the young man of the temptations and vices with which the great city abounded.
He went, however, and during his stay there was converted to Christianity under the preaching of St. Ambrose. Augustine writes that her prayer was answered, though not in its outward form, but in its inward heart. What she really prayed for was that he might be saved from the ways of sin.
359. When at night you sleepless lie,
And the weary hours drag by --
Lift your thoughts to God above,
Bending down to you in love.
Feel His presence by your bed --
His soft touch upon your head.
Let your last thought be a prayer,
As you nestle in His care;
Ask Him all your way to keep,
Then -- why then -- drop off to sleep.
360. Benjamin Franklin, in his autobiography, tells of the man who bought an ax from the local blacksmith. The purchaser wanted the whole of its surface as bright as its edge, and this the smith consented to do, provided the man would turn the wheel while he ground it. It was a hard, wearisome job and often the man stopped to see how the ax was getting on. "Turn on, turn on," said the smith; "we shall have it bright by and by; as yet it is only speckled."
"Yes," said the man, "but I think I like a speckled ax best."
Is this not the case with many of God's children? Instead of going all the way into the fully consecrated and victorious Christian life, they become satisfied with "a speckled ax" Christian experience, God's second best for them.
361. We must shed tears if we would hereafter have them wiped away.
362. The best of saints have borne the worst of sufferings.
363. Trial is the school of trust.
364. Stars shine brightest in the darkest night. Grapes come not to the proof till they come to the press. Spices smell sweetest when pounded. Young trees root the faster for shaking. Vines are the better for bleeding. Gold looks the brighter for scouring; & juniper smells sweeter in the fire.
365. "I learn as the years roll onward,
And leave the past behind,
That much I have counted sorrow
But proves that my Lord was kind;
That many a flower I longed for
Had a hidden thorn of pain;
And many a rocky bypath
Led to fields of golden grain."
366. The late President Theodore Roosevelt was very near-sighted. He always carried with him two pairs of glasses of different strength, one for near and the other for distant vision. During his last great political campaign he was shot in the city of Milwaukee by a man called Schrenk. The surgeon who was examining his wound handed him his steel spectacle case with the remark that it was due to its presence in his vest pocket that he owed his life. The case had broken the force of the bullet and had deflected its course from his heart. "Well, now, that's strange," said Mr. Roosevelt as he took the case with the shattered spectacles. "I've always considered the burden and handicap of having to carry these two pairs of glasses, especially these heavy ones that were in this case, as a very sore one, and here at last they have been the means of saving my life." We may not always know in this life the reason for the handicaps with which we may be afflicted. We are certain, however, that they are often blessings in disguise. Milton, blind, was much more of a poet than when he had his full sight. The imprisoned Bunyan was writing for the ages to come. Sometimes lameness comes to a man that he may be slowed up, live much longer and thereby continue his work. Countless are the illustrations which reveal to us that God is in the events of our lives to a greater extent than most of us imagine.
367. As William Dean Howells and Mark Twain were coming out of church one morning, it commenced to rain heavily. "Do you think it will stop?" asked Howells.
"It always has," answered Twain.
368. Fiery trials make golden Christians.
369. If we cry to God for the removal of the oppression & affliction we are under, & it is not removed, the reason is not because the Lord's hand is shortened or His ear heavy, but because the affliction has not done its work.
370. No man, without trials & temptations, can attain a true understanding of the Holy Scriptures.--Martin Luther
371. We should never see the stars if God did not sometimes take away the day.
372. When a man has the will the way will mostly open itself. Francis Mouthelon, to whom was awarded the 1000 franc prize by the French society of artists for the loveliest painting in 1895, had no hands. He painted with wonderful skill by means of a wooden hand.
An artist of Antwerp, having no arms, held his brush between the toes of his right foot while he painted. He did his work most exquisitely. If you have the heart, my brother, to your work you will find the way.
373. A certain missionary found herself seriously ill in the outpost where the Lord had stationed her. To add to her sorrow her check had not arrived and she was forced day after day to do without the good food she needed and to live on a miserable diet of oatmeal and canned milk. In spite of everything, the lady missionary got better, and after 30 days of steady oatmeal diet, she finally got her check and was able to get something different on the table.
During her illness she had "a little sneaking suspicion" that the Lord was not doing her right. When furlough time came, she told of her great trial to an eager audience. At the close of the meeting, a kindly doctor inquired as to the nature of her ailment. On hearing what the digestional malfunction was, he said, "Well, if your check had arrived, you would not be here talking to me today. And the diet we always prescribe for that trouble is a 30-day oatmeal diet."
374. Dr. Hubert Davidson visited the noted poetess, Myra Brooks Welch, who perhaps is best known for her masterpiece, "The Touch of the Master's Hand." As he turned to leave her home, Myra Welch patted the arm of her wheelchair and said, "And I thank God for this." Imagine being grateful for a wheelchair! But her talent lay undiscovered prior to her wheelchair days. Rather than becoming bitter, she chose a better way, and a wonderful ministry opened new doors of blessings for her. Her poems have blessed the whole world.
375. Henry Fawcett accompanied his father on a hunting trip. The father accidentally discharged his shotgun, blinding his son in both eyes. The boy was just twenty at the time.
Before the accident, the son had been a bright, ambitious young man with a great future. No one would have blamed him if the accident had made him bitter and full of despair. And that was how it did seem to him at first. But there was one thing that saved him: he had deeply loved his father and knew that his father was nearly out of his mind with grief at what he had done to his son.
The only way he could save his father's sanity was to choose hope over terrible despair. And that is just what he did. He pretended to be cheerful when he was not. He pretended to take an interest in life that he did not feel. He pretended to have hope that he could be a useful citizen, though he himself felt no such hope.
Then an odd thing happened. The pretense turned into reality. It was as if, by an act of will, he had exorcised an evil spirit, driving it out of himself. The result: Henry Fawcett was elected to Parliament. Later, at Gladstone's request, he became postmaster general, where he brought about great improvements in the English postal and telegraph systems.
376. There is no education like adversity.
377. A dark hour makes Jesus bright.
378. The tools that the great Architect intends to use much are often kept long in the fire, to temper them & fit them for work.
379. Trials are intended to make us think, to wean us from the World, to send us to the Bible, to drive us to our knees.
380. Poverty & affliction take away the fuel that feeds pride.
381. The tears of affliction are often needed to keep the eye of faith bright.
382. Thomas A. Edison's plant was on fire. As he helplessly watched it burn, taking his costly experiments up in flames, he called his son Charles. "Come!" he said. "You'll never see anything like this again!" Then he called his wife. As the three stood gazing, Edison said, "There go all our mistakes. Now we can start over afresh." In two weeks he started rebuilding the plant, and it was not long before he invented the phonograph.
383. Katherine Bevis tells how among the students at a well-known college there was a young man who had to get about on crutches. He had an unusual talent for friendliness and optimism and so won the deep respect of his classmates. One day a student asked him what had caused his deformity. "Infantile paralysis," he replied briefly, not wishing to elaborate on his difficulties.
"With a misfortune like that, how can you face the world so cheerfully?" inquired his classmate.
"Oh," replied the young Christian, smiling, "the disease never touched my heart."
384. Cold blasts make a fire to flame the higher & burn the better.
385. Despise not the desert. There is where God polishes His brightest gems.
386. Better to be pruned to grow than cut up to burn.
387. There is more evil in a drop of sin than in a sea of affliction.
388. Christ went by the cross to the crown, & we must not think of going any other way.
388a. Thomas Edison invented the phonograph at age 30, and he was almost totally deaf from childhood. He could hear only the loudest noises and shouts. This kind of delighted him, for he said, "A man who has to shout can never tell a lie!"
His other inventions: incandescent bulb, microphone, mimeograph, fluoroscope and movies.
389. Lord Byron and Sir Walter Scott were both lame. Byron was embittered by his lameness, brooded on it till he loathed it, never entered a public place but his mind reverted to it, so that much of the color and zest of existence were lost to him. Scott, on the other hand, never complained or spoke one bitter word about his disability, not even to his dearest friend. In the circumstances it is not so very surprising that Sir Walter should have received a letter from Byron with this sentence in it: "Ah, Scott, I would give my fame to have your happiness."
390. For several months after he was born, Robert Louis Stevenson was not expected to live, his health was so delicate. Sickness kept him from making much progress in school, and from joining in strenuous exercises, and so he developed a love for stories, especially tales of the sea. In early manhood he began to weave his own stories.
Bad health plagued him all through life. Yet, his courage and cheerfulness have seldom been equalled. He had made a resolution never to complain, even though he could not share in the strenuous life he admired so much. Still seeking soundness of body, he went to the island of Samoa, whose natives soon came to love him as they gathered about every evening to hear their "Tusitala" or "Teller of Tales" as they called him.
On this island he died in December of 1894, and is buried there. The world of literature is much richer for his efforts. Almost every schoolboy is familiar with his entrancing story Treasure Island. His tales have made him famous. But beneath it all is the more enduring and helpful legacy bequeathed by Stevenson--his courage and cheerfulness in the face of such overwhelming odds.
391. To hold on to the plough while wiping our tears, that is Christianity.
392. God loves His people when He strikes them as well as when He strokes them.
393. Those whom God loves He takes to pieces; & then puts them together again.
394. Paradoxical as it may seem, God means not only to make us good, but to make us also happy, by sickness, disaster & disappointment.
395. A little brown cork
Fell in the path of a whale
Who lashed it down
With his angry tail
But in spite of its blows
It quickly arose,
And floated serenely
Before his nose
Said the cork to the whale:
"You may flap & sputter and frown,
But you never, never, can keep me down;
For I'm made of the stuff
That is buoyant enough
To float instead of to drown."
396. In Western Africa, it was fourteen years before one convert was received into the church. In East Africa, ten; in New Zealand, nine years before one baptism and two more years before one communicant; in Tahiti, it was sixteen years before the first harvest.
William Carey labored seven years before the first Hindu convert was baptized. In Burma, Judson toiled for seven years before he had one, once writing England:
"Beg the churches to have patience. If a ship were here to carry me to any part of the world, I would not leave my field. Tell the brethren success is as certain as the promise of a faithful God can make it."
397. Could anything be more boring than sweeping floors? Murray Spangler, a department store janitor in Canton, Ohio, didn't think so, even though the dust made him wheeze and cough. Many men would have given up and quit. Instead, Spangler set out to find a better way to clean floors. "Why not eliminate the broom," he wondered, "... maybe something that would suck up dust ... ?"
Spangler's question led to a crude but workable vacuum cleaner, which he induced an old friend in the leather business to finance. The friend's name was H. W. Hoover.
398. When the late Bishop of Madras was visiting Travancore, there was introduced to him a little slave girl called "The Child Apostle." She had won this title by the zeal with which she talked of Christ to others. Her quiet, steady persistence in this had won several converts to Christ. But she had suffered persecution too brutal to relate. When she was introduced to the Bishop, her face, neck and arms were disfigured and scarred by stripes and blows. As he looked at her, the good man's eyes filled, and he said, "My child, how could you bear this?"
She looked up at him in surprise and said, "Don't you like to suffer for Christ, sir?"
399. A sculptor does not use a manicure set to reduce the crude unshapely marble to a thing of beauty.
400. Whoever brings an affliction, it is God Who sends it.
401. Come then, affliction, if my Father wills, & be my frowning friend. A friend that frowns is better than a smiling enemy.
402. Trials always change our relationship with God. Either they drive us to Him, or they drive us away from Him.
403. If you would not have affliction visit you twice, listen at once to what it teaches.
404. The early Christians were so devoid of any political or worldly "pull" that they could not stay out of jail. Yet they were so endued with the power of the Holy Spirit that no prison was strong enough to hold them!
405. The saddest day has morrow,
The darkest night has a dawn,
So turn from yesterday's sorrow,
And press courageously on!
406. Two frogs fell into a can of cream,
Or so I've heard it told;
The sides of the can were shiny and steep,
The cream was deep and cold.
"O, what's the use?" croaked No. 1.
"Tis fate; no help's around.
Goodbye, my friend! Goodbye, sad world!"
And weeping still, he drowned.
But Number 2, of sterner stuff,
Dog-paddled in surprise.
The while he wiped his creamy face
And dried his creamy eyes.
"I'll swim awhile, at least," he said--
Or so I've heard he said;
"It really wouldn't help the world
If one more frog were dead."
An hour or two he kicked and swam,
Not once he stopped to mutter,
But kicked and kicked and swam and kicked.
Then hopped out, via butter!
--T.C. Hamlet
407. John Wesley was riding along a road one day when it dawned on him that three whole days had passed in which he had suffered no persecution. Not a brick or an egg had been thrown at him for three days.
Alarmed, he stopped his horse, and exclaimed, "Can it be that I have sinned, and am backslidden?"
Slipping from his horse, Wesley went down on his knees and began interceding with God to show him where, if any, there had been a fault.
A rough fellow, on the other side of the hedge, hearing the prayer, looked across and recognized the preacher. "I'll fix that Methodist preacher," he said, picking up a brick and tossing it over at him. It missed its mark, and fell harmlessly beside John. Whereupon Wesley leaped to his feet joyfully exclaiming, "Thank God, it's all right. I still have His presence."
408. Trials are medicines which our gracious & wise Physician prescribes, because we need them; & He proportions the frequency & weight of them to what the case requires.
409. If the sun of God's countenance shines upon me, I may well be content with the rain of affliction.
410. Perils & frights should drive us to God, not from Him.
411. A Christian is a bird that can sing in Winter as well as in Spring.
412. Saints must be best in worst times.
413. Adoniram Judson, the renowned missionary to Burma, endured untold hardships trying to reach the lost for Christ. For 7 heartbreaking years he suffered hunger and privation. During this time he was thrown into Ava Prison, and for 17 months was subject to almost incredible mistreatment. As a result, for the rest of his life he carried the ugly marks made by the chains and iron shackles which had cruelly bound him.
Undaunted, upon his release he asked for permission to enter another province where he might resume preaching the Gospel. The godless ruler indignantly denied his request, saying, "My people are not fools enough to listen to anything a missionary might SAY, but I fear they might be impressed by your SCARS and turn to your religion!"
414. As Adoniram Judson lay in a foul Burmese jail with thirty-two pounds of chains on his ankles, and his feet tied to a bamboo pole, one sneeringly asked, "What about the prospects of converting the heathen?" Instantly Judson replied, "The prospects are just as bright as the unfailing promises of the never-failing God!"
415. In spite of sorrow, loss, and pain,
Our course be onward still;
We sow on Burmah's barren plain,
We reap on Zion's hill.
Adoniram Judson
416. If life is always a warfare
Between the right and the wrong,
And good is fighting with evil,
For ages and aeons long--
Fighting with eager cohorts,
With banners pierced and torn;
Shining with sudden splendour,
Wet with the dew of morn:
If all the forces of heaven
And all the forces of sin
Are met in the infinite struggle,
The souls of the world to win--
If God's in the awful battle
Where the darkling legions ride,
Hasten to sword and to saddle;
Lord! let me fight on Thy side.
(2Chron.20.15; Eph.6.12,13; 1Tim.6.12; 2Tim 4.7).
417. Lord, how happy it is when strong afflictions from Thee raise in us strong affections for Thee!
418. The average man can stand adversity better than prosperity.
419. When things get rough, remember: It's the rubbing that brings out the shine.
420. Character, like sweet herbs, should give off its finest fragrance when pressed.
421. There are two ways of meeting difficulties: alter the difficulties, or alter yourself to meet them.
422. The only thing worse than a quitter is the man who is afraid to begin.
423. The man who lacks courage to start, has made a finish already.
424. Nearly every bride once received a copy of America's famous cookbook entitled Fanny Farmer's Cookbook. How many women, however, know that these culinary secrets were revealed by a cripple?
425. When the Emperor Valens sent messengers to lure Eusebius into heresy by fair words and glowing promises, the saint answered them: "Alas, sirs, these speeches are fit to catch children; but we, who are taught and nourished by the Sacred Scriptures, are ready to suffer a thousand deaths, rather than permit one tittle of the Scriptures to be altered."
Then the emperor threatened to take by force all his goods, to torture him, banish him, and even kill him. Answered the courageous Christian:
"He needs not fear confiscation, who has nothing to lose; nor banishment, to whom heaven is his country; nor torments, when his body can be destroyed at one blow; nor death, which is the only way to set him at liberty from sin and sorrow."
426. Your name may not appear down here
In this world's Hall of Fame;
In fact, you may be so unknown,
That no one knows your name.
The Oscars here may pass you by,
And neon lights of blue;
But if you love and serve the Lord,
Then, I have news for you!
This Hall of Fame is only good
As long as time shall be;
But keep in mind, God's Hall of Fame
Is for Eternity!
To have your name inscribed up There
Is greater, yes by far,
Than all the Halls of Fame down here,
And every man made star.
This crowd on earth they soon forget
The heroes of the past,
They cheer like mad until you fall,
And that's how long you last!
But God, He never does forget,
And in His Hall of Fame,
By just believing in His Son,
Inscribed you'll find your name.
I tell you, friend, I wouldn't trade
My name, however small,
That's written there beyond the stars
In that celestial Hall.
For every famous name on earth
Or glory that they share:
I'd rather be an unknown here,
And have my name up There!
427. How would a person ever know whether his faith was weak or strong unless it has been tried & tested?
428. Prosperity makes friends; adversity tries them.
429. God often tries us with a little to see what we would do with a lot.
430. When you're up to your ears in trouble, try using the part that isn't submerged.
431. The triumphal song of life would lose its melody without its minor keys.
432. It's not so bad making mistakes so long as you don't make a habit of it.
433. Who does God's work will get God's pay,
However long may seem the day,
However weary be the way;
Though powers and princes thunder "Nay,"
Who does God's work will get God's pay.
He does not pay as others pay,
In gold or land or raiment gay;
In goods that vanish and decay;
But God in wisdom knows a way,
And that is sure, let come what may,
Who does God's work will get God's pay.
434. The story is told of Sundar Singh who was traveling with a Tibetan companion on a bitterly cold day. Snow was falling heavily, and both men were almost too frozen to go forward; they felt they would never survive the terrible experience. They reached a steep precipice, and there they saw that a man had slipped over the edge, and was lying, almost dead, on the ledge of rock below. Sundar suggested that they should carry the poor fellow into safety. The Tibetan refused to help, saying it was all they could do to save themselves; and he went on, leaving Sundar behind. With great difficulty the Sadhu managed to get the dying man up the slope and on to his back, and then he struggled on with his heavy burden. Before long he came upon the body of his former companion, the Tibetan. He was dead, frozen to death. On struggled Sundar, and gradually the dying man, receiving warmth from the friction of his own body against that of his rescuer, began to revive, while the Sadhu himself grew warm through his labour. At last they reached a village and were safe. With a full heart, Sundar thought of the words of his Master: "Whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for My sake shall find it."
435. When God allows a burden to be put upon you, He will put His arms underneath you to help you carry it.
436. It's not the load that breaks you down, it's the way you carry it.
437. The heaviest burdens in life are the things that might happen but don't.
438. The burdens that appear easiest to carry are those born by others.
439. Few burdens are heavy when everybody lifts.
440. It had been a dull year in the church where Moffat was converted. The deacons finally said to the old pastor: "We love you, pastor, but don't you think you had better resign? There hasn't been a convert this year."
"Yes," he replied, "it has been a dull year, sadly dull to me. Yet, I mind me that one did come, wee Bobby Moffat. But he is so wee a bairn that I suppose it is not right to count him."
A few years later Bobby came to the pastor and said, "Pastor, do you think that I could ever learn to preach? I feel within me that I ought to. If I could just lead souls to Christ, that would be happiness to me."
The pastor answered, "Well, Bobby, you might. Who knows? At least you can try!" He did try, and years later when Robert Moffat came back from his wonder-work in Africa the King of England rose & uncovered his head in his presence, & the British Parliament stood as a mark of respect. The humble old preacher, who had but one convert, and who was so discouraged, is dead & forgotten, and yet that was the greatest year's work he ever did, and few have equalled it!
441. I've shut the door on yesterday
Its sorrows and mistakes;
I've locked within its gloomy walls
Past failures and heartaches.
And now I throw the key away
To seek another room,
And furnish it with hope and smiles
And every springtime bloom...
I've shut the door on yesterday
And thrown the key away
Tomorrow holds no fears for me,
Since I have found today.
--Vivien Yeiser Laramore
442. One day during his great mission in London, Mr. Moody was holding a meeting in a theater packed with a most select audience. Noblemen and noblewomen were there in large numbers, and a prominent member of the royal family was in the royal box.
Mr. Moody arose to read the Scripture lesson. He attempted to read Luke 4:27: "And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Eliseus the prophet." When he came to the mane Eliseus he stammered and stuttered over it. He went back to the beginning of the verse and began to read again, but when he reached the word "Eliseus" he could not get over it. He went back the third time, but again the word was too much for him. He closed the Bible with deep emotion and looked up and said, "Oh, God, use this stammering tongue to preach Christ crucified to these people."
The power of God came upon him, and one who heard him then and had heard him often at other times said to me that he had never heard Mr. Moody pour out his soul in such a torrent of eloquence as he did then, and the whole audience was melted by the power of God.
443. Character is not made in crisis--it is only exhibited.
444. Courage is the quality it takes to look at yourself with candor, your adversaries with kindness, & your setbacks with serenity.
445. Trouble is what gives a fellow a chance to discover his strength--or lack of it.
446. The true expression of Christianity is not a sigh, but a song.
447. The noble character of General O. O. Howard, whose death occurred some years ago, is well known; and he was often referred to as the "Christian Soldier." Concerning General Howard, Dr. F.E. Clark relates this incident: "When first appointed in command of a regiment located at Governor's Island, he used to walk up and down Broadway, New York, where he was jostled in the crowds. This jostling pained and irritated him, as his arm had been amputated at the shoulder. In his fear that this irritation would sour his disposition he used to pray, as anyone ran into him and hurt him, "God bless him!" This habit became such second nature with him that he was constantly praying for those about him."
448. For days the snow fell unabated until the roofs of the homes were heavy with snow. One night, a robber entered a home occupied by a Christian man and wife and their baby. As the robber moved about the room where all three were sleeping, the baby began to move and showed signs of awakening. The robber, fearing that the baby might awaken and cry, and thus betray his presence, gently lifted the sleeping infant from his crib, and placed him just outside the front door. The baby awakened and began to cry. His crying awakened the father and mother. They ran in the direction where it came from. Just as they ran out of the front door. the roof of their home fell in. Later, the robber was found dead beneath the ruins near the things he had stolen!
449. I suddenly had the most wonderful thrilling peaceful feeling, perfect calm, perfect peace! I guess it's what you'd call "Dying Grace!" It reminds me of that story I used to tell about Dwight L. Moody: The two old sisters came up to Dr. Moody & asked him after the church service one night. They said, "Dr. Moody, do you have dying grace?" He said, "No, dear sisters, I don't." And they looked shocked! "Why, Dr. Moody! You don't have dying grace?" He said, "No, I'm not dying yet!"--Dad
450. The blue of heaven is larger than the clouds.
451. A Communist teacher in East Germany said to a class of children: "Stand and say, 'There is no God.'" A little eight-year-old girl from a Christian home refused. She was threatened, but she wouldn't say the words. Finally the teacher angrily said "Go home and write fifty times, 'There is no God,' and give me the paper tomorrow!" That night she sat down and wrote fifty times, "Es gibt doch ein Gott"--"There is a God!" The teacher was angry. "When you go home write five hundred times, 'There is no God,' or else!" The "or else" meant terrible punishment. The next day, the father and the little girl went to the superintendent of the school and told him what had happened. "Don't worry," he said to the little girl. "Your teacher was killed in a motorcycle accident last night. The matter is settled. Go to your class!"
452. A brilliant Chinese student was offered a fine position with the government. When Bishop Wilson S. Lewis asked the young man why he refused the splendid offer and volunteered to preach the Gospel for a mere pittance, he said:
"During the Boxer Uprising I lived in an inland village where there was a temple for devil worship. The Christians were led by the soldiers to that temple and ordered to renounce their religion and bow before the devil image or they would be executed. I saw one hundred and sixty-three of my townsmen walk by the devil god with heads erect, when a little bow would have saved their lives--then out to a great beam over which they placed their heads for the swift stroke of the executioner's sword that sent their heads rolling in the dust. My father was one of that number. It was the unshaken integrity of their faith that thrilled me and gave me a longing for the new life. I must go back and tell my fellow townsmen of Christ who loves them, and of his power to save."
453. A Christian must get on his knees before he can get on his feet.
454. The cross is easier to the Christian who takes it up than to the one who drags it along.
455. It is usually not so much the greatness of our troubles as the littleness of our spirit which causes us to complain.
456. Many things are worse than defeat, & compromise with evil is one of them.
457. On a Friday morning, an eager young man from Stanford University stood before Louis Janin, seeking part-time employment. "All I need right now," said Janin, "is a stenographer." I'll take the job," said the eager applicant, "but I can't come back until next Tuesday." On Tuesday he reported for duty. "Why couldn't you come back before Tuesday?" Janin wanted to know. "Because I had to rent a typewriter and learn to use it!" was the unexpected answer. That quickly prepared typist was Herbert Hoover!
458. It cost Abraham the willingness to yield his only son.
It cost Esther the risk of her life.
It cost Daniel being cast into the den of lions.
It cost Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego being put in a fiery furnace.
It cost Stephen death by stoning.
It cost Peter a martyr's death.
It cost Jesus His life.
Does it cost you anything?
459. A man whom others called poor, but who had just enough fortune to support himself, went about the country in the simplest way, studying and enjoying the life and beauty of it.
He once talked with a great millionaire who was engaged in business, working at it daily, and getting richer each week. The poor man said to the millionaire, "I am a richer man than you are."
"How do you figure that?" asked the millionaire.
"Why," he replied "I have as much money as I want, and you haven't."
460. He who receives scars for Christ here will wear stars with Christ there.
461. The sound of an egg beater drew me into the kitchen one day, & there I found my mother at work...I began to watch what she was doing. I would find out just what she put into that chocolate cake that made it so good. There was chocolate, of course, & I reached for a little crumb that had fallen off the bar...It was bitter. I glanced at the other things on the table. There was a cupful of sour milk--surely Mother wasn't going to put that in the cake!...I saw her add it, along with some of that awful soda that she had given me once for stomachache. What kind of cake could she possibly make out of such things?...My nose turned up, but Mother only smiled & told me to wait & see.
We were eating dinner...It was true that it looked as good as usual, but I tasted it carefully, a little crumb, then a larger crumb, and finally a whole bite. It couldn't have been better. I forgot all about the sour milk & asked for another piece.
Life is not all sweetness--there is much that is bitter, & we cannot believe anything good will come from it. Certainly, all things are not good, but "all things work together for good." This is God's promise to them that love Him. Day by day He is making you what He wants you to be, & He will never put anything into your life by mistake.
462. Remember the steam kettle! Though up to its neck in hot water, it continues to sing.
463. Tackle any difficulty at first sight, for the longer you gaze at it the bigger it grows.
464. The best way out of difficulty is through it.
465. There are some flowers that will not yield their perfume till they are bruised.
466. The secret of happiness is to count your blessings while others are adding up their troubles.
467. When Robert Bruce, the famous emancipator of Scotland, was fleeing from his enemies, he sought refuge in a cave. Although they were hot on his trail, when they reached his hideout a spider had built a web over the mouth of the cave. His pursuers concluded that he could not have entered without first destroying the web. Naturally they presumed that he had fled elsewhere. No wonder Bruce prayed, "O God I thank Thee that in the tiny bowels of a spider you can save for me a shelter, and then send the spider in time to place it for my protection."
468. Back to the same old boat, the self-same net,
And even to the self-same fishing ground
Where they had toiled all night in vain; & yet,
How great success this time their effort crowned.
So full the net it brake. They were amazed
To find what difference he had for them wrought.
With wondering eyes they at each other gazed
And back to land the glittering spoil they brought.
The gracious master did not change the scene
Nor give to them a new environment.
More gracious still--back where they late had been
A so great failure were the seven sent,
That they may learn how near to failure lies,
For faithful souls, most glorious surprise.
469. Nothing costs more than buying trouble.
470. The address of character is often carved on the corner of Adversity Avenue & Determination Drive.
471. Be happy when your troubles are at their worst--it means that anything that happens will be an improvement.
472. Examine your troubles & you'll often find your name stamped on them as the manufacturer.
473. Borrowing trouble is as easy as pie, but the carrying charge runs pretty high.
474. Perhaps you heard about the Yankee shoe salesman who went to Africa & wired his manufacturer, "I want to come home. Nobody wears shoes in this part of Africa." So they brought him home & sent another salesman who shipped back order after order. He wrote the home office, "Everybody here needs shoes!"
475. One night a man had a dream. He dreamed he was walking along the beach with the Lord. Across the sky flashed scenes from his life. For each scene he noticed two sets of footprints in the sand, one belonging to him & the other to the Lord.
When the last scene of his life flashed before him, he looked back at the footprints in the sand. He noticed that many times along the path of his life there was only one set of footprints. He also noticed that it happened at the very lowest & saddest times in his life.
This really bothered him & he questioned the Lord about it. "Lord, You said that once I decided to follow You, You'd walk with me all the way. But I have noticed that during the most troublesome times in my life, there is only one set of footprints. I don't understand why when I needed You most You would leave me."
The Lord replied, "My son, My precious child, I love you & would never leave you. During your times of trial & suffering, when you see only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you."
476. John Burroughs, the naturalist, says that when a hawk is attacked by crows or kingbirds, he does not make a counterattack, but soars higher and higher in ever widening circles until his tormentors leave him alone.
477. If you find yourself getting miserly, begin to scatter, like a wealthy farmer in New York State that I heard of. He was a noted miser but he was converted. Soon after, a poor man who had been burned out and had no provisions, came to him for help. The farmer thought he would be liberal and give him a ham from his smoke house. On his way to get it, the Tempter whispered to him:
"Give him the smallest one you have."
He had a struggle whether he would give a large ham or a small ham, but finally he took down the largest he could find.
"You are a fool," the Devil said.
"If you don't keep still," the farmer replied, "I'll give him every ham I have in the smokehouse."
478. Thank God every morning when you get up that you have something to do which must be done, whether you like it or not. Being forced to work, and forced to do your best, will breed in you temperance and self-control, diligence and strength of will, cheerfulness and content, and a hundred virtues which the idle never know.
479. Never bear more than one kind of trouble at a time. Some people bear three: all they have now, all they have had, & all they expect to have.
480. We are told that the gray heron has a very singular mode of defense. When attacked by the eagle or falcon it simply stands quiet and firm, using its bill as a sword, allowing the enemy to pierce himself through by his own force. The Christian's method of defense is very similar. We have the sword of the Spirit. When attacked by the enemy, stand firm and display the Word; hold it forth. The more fiercely the foe attacks, the more surely will he pierce himself with it.
481. Did you ask the Lord for patience?
Did you plead for it in prayer?
But when tribulation tried you,
Did you think He didn't care?
Oh, my child, He heard & answered,
Answered full your earnest cry;
"Tribulation worketh patience!"
Now you know the reason why.
Did you ask Him for submission?
Did you ask for it in prayer?
But when suff'ring came upon you,
Did you think it wasn't fair?
Ah, my dear, He heard & answered,
Though not how you wished, 'tis clear;
For we only learn submission
By the things we suffer here.
'Twas unselfishness you wanted?
Did you plead for it in prayer?
But the sacrifice He asked for,
Did it seem too great to bear?
Ah, He cared, He heard & answered,
Answered full your heart-felt prayer;
For we learn to be unselfish,
By the sacrifice we bear.
Did you ask the Lord for vict'ry?
Well, He took you at your word!
Tho' when the battle raged around you,
You wondered if He'd heard.
Ah, my child, He heard & answered,
And He gave you your request;
For how can you win a vict'ry
If you never face a test?
Did you ask to be made humble?
Not to have self-righteous pride?
But then wonder when He published
All your failings far & wide?
Well, my child, that was His answer
To your prayer of desperation;
The surest way to be made humble,
Is to bear humiliation.
Judge not God with mortal's judgement,
When your prayers are answered so;
For the truest paths for Christians,
Often lead through vales of woe.
And the answers that He gives you,
Will be truly good & fair;
Though you may not understand them
Till you view from over There!
--Josephine Hope Westervelt
482. If we could only forget our troubles as easily as we do our blessings!
483. When you get to the end of your rope, be thankful--God is there!
484. Maybe the Lord allows some people to get into trouble because that is the only time they ever think of Him.
485. The college of hard knocks is about the only one that doesn't let the student drop out if the course gets tough.
486. Laughter is the shock absorber that erases the blows of life.
487. The path was steep & snowy--the way was hard & cold,
The wind rushed fiercely at us like a wolf upon the fold;
And we bit our lips & struggled in the terror of the blast,
And we blessed our staffs & wondered if the storm would soon be past.
Sometimes our feet slipped backwards on the crusty ice & snow,
Sometimes we stumbled, helpless, for the way was hard to go;
Sometimes we fell, & falling, we were sorry we had tried
To reach the mountain's summit, & the hope within us died.
The path was steep & snowy--the way was hard & cold,
But we struggled ever forward, half afraid--no longer bold;
And with dogged perseverance, we pushed up the hidden trail,
And we seemed but children playing with the elements--too frail
To live long in the displeasure of the wind, hail & sleet,
And the snowy down-like blanket seemed a mammoth winding sheet--
And we almost started homeward with a weary broken sigh,
But we flinched & struggled forward 'neath the scorn that cleft the sky.
The path was steep & snowy--the way was hard & cold,
But at last we reached the summit, & it glittered with the gold
Of the sun that had been shining, with a perfect, glowing light
From behind the heavy storm clouds that had turned the day to night.
And standing on the summit, we looked down & tried to pray,
For we wished to thank the Father Who had kept us on our way;
For the snow & sleet & windstorm were but trifles in the past,
And they made the sunshine brighter when we reached the top at last.
--Margaret E. Sangster, Jr.
488. God writes with a pen that never blots, speaks with a tongue that never slips, & acts with a hand that never fails.
489. Half our troubles come in wanting our way; the other half comes in getting it.
490. When you brood over your troubles you are certain to hatch despair.
491. If you could kick the person who is most responsible for your troubles, you wouldn't be able to sit down for a week.
492. Better a bald head then none at all.
493. Our Father knows what's best for us
So why should we complain
We always want the sunshine,
But He knows there must be rain
We love the sound of laughter
And the merriment of cheer,
But our hearts would lose their tenderness
If we never shed a tear...
Our Father tests us often
With suffering & with sorrow,
He tests us, not to punish us,
But to help us meet tomorrow...
For growing trees are strengthened
When they withstand the storm,
And the sharp cut of the chisel
Gives the marble grace & form...
God never hurts us needlessly,
And He never wastes our pain,
For every loss He sends to us
Is followed by rich gain ...
And when we count the blessings
That God has so freely sent,
We will find no cause for murmuring
And no time to lament ...
For our Father loves His children,
And to Him all things are plain,
So He never sends us pleasure
When the soul's deep need is pain...
So whenever we are troubled,
And when everything goes wrong,
It is just God working in us
To make our spirit strong.
494. Jesus Christ never met an unimportant person. That is why God sent His Son to die for us. If someone dies for you, you must be important.
495. We never need be ashamed of our poverty unless our own sins have brought it upon us.
496. Trouble causes some people to go to pieces; others to come to their senses.
497. Of all the troubles great or small, the greatest are those that don't happen at all.
497b. Sunshine let it be or frost,
Storm or calm, as thou shalt chose;
Though thine every gift were lost,
Thee Thyself we couldn't not lose.
--Mary Elizabeth Coleridge
498. Who called my child away from me
Who called away my love?
And put the light into his eyes,
This stranger from above.
Who cast His magic spell on him
And turned his light on bright?
Who put the roses in his cheeks,
This stranger in the night!
Who turned my whole world upside down,
And brought me unknown joy?
By taking what I love so much,
My precious son, my boy!
I've found myself a new Love now,
My life is not the same.
This stranger is no stranger now,
Jesus is His Name!
Each day is new, each day is bright,
Each day a shining thing.
He called away the child I love,
But brought me everything!
--By Mrs. Fletcher
499. It is not His cross that is heavy;
It is those that our hands have made
That hinder us on our journey,
On our aching shoulders laid;
There is strength for the load He gives us
And balm for the thorn He sends,
But none for the needless burdens,
And none for our selfish ends.
For His yoke is easy to carry
And his burden is light in weight;
He will do His share of the labour,
For He is a true yoke-mate.
Are we weary & heavy-laden?
Are we anxious & full of care?
That is not the cross of His giving
But the one we make & bear.
500. The cry of man's anguish went up to God, "Lord, take away pain!
The shadow that darkens the World Thou hast made; The close coiling chain
That strangles the heart: the burden that weighs on the wings that would soar--
Lord, take away pain from the World Thou hast made that it love Thee the more!"
Then answered the Lord to the cry of the World, "Shall I take away pain,
and with it the power of the soul to endure, made strong by the strain?
Shall I take away pity that knits heart to heart, and sacrifice high?
Will ye lose all your heroes that lift from the fire
White brows to the sky?
Shall I take away love that redeems with a price,
And smiles with its loss?
Can ye spare from your lives that would cling unto Mine
The Christ on his cross?"
501. What a different World this would be if people would only magnify their blessings the way they do their troubles.
502. You'll have a better life if you make the most of the best & the least of the worst.
503. Life is like a mirror. If we frown at it, it frowns back. If we smile, it returns the greeting.
504. If your life looks cloudy, maybe the windows of your soul need washing.
505. If you can laugh at it you can live with it.
506. Complainingly I told myself,
"This cross is too heavy to wear"
And I wondered discontentedly
Why God gave it to me to bear.
And I looked with envy at others
Whose crosses seemed lighter than mine
And wished that I could change my cross
For one of a lighter design.
And then, in a dream, I beheld the cross
I impulsively wanted to wear,
It was fashioned of pearls & diamonds
And gems that were precious & rare.
And when I hung it around my neck
The weight of the jewels & the gold
Was much too heavy & cumbersome
For my small, slender neck to hold--
So I tossed it aside & before my eyes
Was a cross of rose-red flowers
And I said with delight as I put it on,
"This cross I can wear for hours"
For it was so dainty & fragile,
So lovely & light & thin,
But I had forgotten about the thorns
That started to pierce my skin
And then in my dream I saw "my cross,"
Rugged & old & plain,
That clumsy old cross I had looked upon
With discontented disdain--
And at last I knew that God had made
This "special cross for me"
For God in His great wisdom knew
What I before could not see,
That often the loveliest crosses
Are the heaviest crosses to bear,
For only God is wise enough
To choose the cross we can wear
So never complain about your cross
For your cross has been blest
God made it just for you to wear
And remember, God knows best!
507. An upright man can never be a downright failure.
508. Remember your spiritual system, forget your nervous system, & you'll have a place in God's Heavenly system.
509. There is more chance for a cripple on the right road than for an athlete on the wrong road.
510. You can't have rosy thoughts about the future when your mind is full of the blues about the past.
511. The optimist says his glass is half full; the pessimist says his glass is half empty.
512. Old Black Sam was the servant of this wealthy plantation owner down South. Sam was asked by his master one day,
"How come, Sam, that you're a Christian & yet you have all these troubles & trials & tribulations? Here I don't even believe in God & yet I don't have as much trouble as you do!" He said, "Well, Boss, I guess I have to think for a little while before I can answer that one."
A few days later they were out duck hunting. In bird hunting, some birds are killed & some are just lamed or temporarily wounded. Sometimes they'll even get up & fly off again if you don't grab them quick. So his master yelled at him after he'd been shooting at several ducks & said,
"Bag the live ones! Bag the live ones! Leave the dead ones lay!" And old Sam came back & said, "I think I got the answer, Boss." He said, "I'm a live one! The Devil is afraid I'm going to get away, so he tries to bag me first. You's a dead one, he's already got you, he's not a bit worried about you!"--Dad.
513. An old deacon who used to pray every Wednesday night at prayer meeting always concluded his prayer the same way: "And, Lord, clean all the cobwebs out of my life." The cobwebs were those things that ought not to have been there, but had gathered during the week. It got too much for one fellow in the prayer meeting, and he heard the old deacon one time too often. So when the man made that prayer, the fellow jumped to his feet and shouted: "Lord, Lord, don't do it! Kill the spider!" That's what needs to happen.
514. If you can't go under, go over.
If you can't go through, go round.
If you can't go right, go left.
If you can't get an angle, take two plates & make it.
If you haven't the right material, go get it.
If you can't find it, substitute.
If you can't substitute, improvise.
If you can't improvise, innovate.
But above all, get the job done!
--Henry J. Kaiser
515. To the optimist, a fireplace is a center of warmth & beauty.
To the pessimist, it is a source of smoke and ashes.
516. The thing to try when all else fails is again.
517. The prisoner of limitation is the person who says, "It can't be done." According to the laws of aerodynamics the bumblebee is unable to fly. This is because the size, the weight & the shape of the body, in relation to wingspread, makes flying impossible. But the bumblebee, being ignorant of the scientific truths, goes ahead & flies anyway.
518. 'Tis a lesson you should heed,
Try, try again;
If at first you don't succeed,
Try, try again;
Then your courage should appear,
For, if you will persevere,
You will conquer, never fear;
Try, try again.
Once or twice though you should fail,
Try, try again;
If you would at last prevail,
Try, try again;
If we strive, 'tis no disgrace
Though we do not win the race;
What should you do in the case?
Try, try again.
Time will bring you your reward,
Try, try again.
All that other folks can do,
Why, with patience, should not you?
Only keep this rule in view;
Try, try again.
519. 'Tis better to have tried in vain,
Sincerely striving for a goal,
Than to have lived upon the plain
An idle & a timid soul.
'Tis better to have fought & spent
Your courage, missing all applause,
Than to have lived in smug content
And never ventured for a cause.
For he who tries & fails may be
The founder of a better day;
Though never his the victory,
From him shall others learn the way.
--Edgar A. Guest
520. All the World's a daily stage,
And life itself seems but a play;
But from birth to snow-white age
From our lines we often stray.
But let us strive to read our parts,
Whether great or humble cast,
And with courage in our hearts
Let us learn them well at last!
At times we're cast in tragic parts,
And feel somehow we're losing;
So we stray from Heaven's script,
Speaking words of our own choosing.
Then like some ill-versed actor,
We vainly rant across the stage!
Throw the script aside, unlearned,
And don't even act our age!
But think now: Should we strive to play
Sad parts with lesser might,
Than lofty nobler scenes which cast
Us in a better light?
We practice oft the choicest lines,
That draw forth laughs & cheers;
Ought we then to shrink from those,
Which break them into tears?
Tho' lighter parts we'd all first choose,
From life's great book of plays;
The sweetest lines, with tears are twined
And must be learned some day.
Let each of us then strive to be
As splendid in our woe,
As brave in tragedy & trials
As in life's laughing show.
--Edgar A. Guest.
521. A real man is one who finds excuses for others, but never for himself.
522. We may not be responsible for many of the things that happen to us, but we are responsible for the way we react when they do happen.
523. Rainbows apologize for angry skies.
524. Things turn out best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out.
525. Shared joy is double joy & shared sorrow is half-sorrow.
526. One stormy night in 1910, a group of traveling musicians arrived at the city of Riga, on the Baltic Sea, to fulfil a concert engagement.
The weather was so bad, however, & the concert hall so far out of town, that the conductor of the orchestra tried to persuade the manager of the hall to cancel the concert. He felt no one would venture out on such a wild night.
The manager refused to cancel, but he agreed that if no one turned up, the orchestra could leave early in order to catch the night boat for Helsinki, Finland.
When the musicians arrived at the concert hall, they found only one person sitting in the audience...a stout old gentleman who seemed to smile at everyone.
Because of this old music-lover, the musicians were forced to play the entire concert. They were, therefore, unable to leave early & catch the boat.
After the concert was over, the old man continued to keep his seat. Thinking he was asleep, an usher nudged his shoulder. Only then was it discovered that the old man was not alive. The musicians had played an entire concert for a dead man!
But in doing this, they also saved their lives. For the boat they would have taken to Helsinki went down that stormy night with all hands lost.
527. Make yourselves nests of pleasant thoughts. None of us know what fairy palaces we may build of beautiful thought--proof against all adversity. Bright fancies, satisfied memories, noble histories, faithful sayings, treasure houses of precious & restful thoughts, which care cannot disturb, nor pain make gloomy, nor poverty take away from us--houses built without hands, for our souls to live it.
528. You can't have a better tomorrow if you are thinking about yesterday all day today.
529. Here is the story by a stenographer who found it paid to act as if her work were interesting. She used to fight her work. But no more:
There are four stenographers in my office & each of us is assigned to take letters from several men. Once in awhile we get jammed up in these assignments; & one day, when an assistant department head insisted that I do a long letter over, I started to rebel. I tried to point out to him that the letter could be corrected without being retyped--& he retorted that if I didn't do it over, he would find someone else who would! I was absolutely fuming! But as I started to retype this letter, it suddenly occurred to me that there were a lot of other people who would jump at the chance to do the work I was doing. Also, that I was being paid a salary to do just that work. I began to feel better. I suddenly made up my mind to do my work as if I actually enjoyed it--even though I despised it. Then I made this important discovery: if I do my work as if I really enjoy it, then I do enjoy it to some extent. I also found I can work faster when I enjoy my work. So there is seldom any need now for me to work overtime. This new attitude of mine gained me the reputation of being a good worker. And when one of the department superintendents needed a private secretary, he asked for me for the job--because, he said, I was willing to do extra work without being sulky! This matter of the power of a changed mental attitude has been a tremendously important discovery to me. It has worked wonders!
530. "I am a lucky man," white-bearded Pierre Renoir told his friends. "Now I can do nothing but paint."
He was in a wheel chair, this shy little man, humming off key, his fingers & joints twisted by rheumatism. Strapped to one hand was an artist's brush, with which he made painful strokes on the canvas in front of him. Yet, to look at his easel, no one would have guessed how much he suffered; he painted only beauty. He was already famous & could have rested on his past glories, but he forced his stony hands to create still more loveliness. Later collectors & museums were to pay small fortunes for the fruits of his determination.
He got things done because he wanted to do things; he could not tolerate doing nothing. But Renoir did not need the heavy time of illness to make him want to do something. He was a genius, & a large ingredient in genius is a wish to get things done that is stronger than one's natural inclination to laziness.
531. The lilting music of "Pinafore" must have been written by a happy, carefree man; or so it would seem.
It was written by Sir Arthur Sullivan while he was in torment from kidney stones. His pain, day & night, did not keep him from getting things done. He made the pain more endurable by creating frolicsome music, not a dirge.
532. The man who really wants to do something finds a way; the other man finds an excuse.
533. There was a young woman who had taken ballet lessons all through her childhood, & now she felt that she was ready to commit herself to the study & discipline necessary to make a career of it. She wanted to be a prima ballerina, but first she wanted to be sure that she had a special talent. So when the ballet company came to town she went backstage after the performance & spoke to the ballet master.
"I want to be a great ballerina," she said, "but I don't know if I have the talent."
"Dance for me," the master said, & after only a minute or so he shook his head. "No, no," he said. "You don't have what it takes."
The young woman went home, heartbroken. She tossed her ballet slippers in the closet & never wore them again. Instead, she got married & had babies, & when the kids were old enough she took a part-time job running a cash register at the convenience store.
Years later she attended the ballet, & on the way out she ran into the old master, now in his eighties. She reminded him that they had spoken before. She showed him photos of her kids & told him about the job at the convenience store, & then she said, "There's just one thing that's always bothered me. How could you tell so quickly that I didn't have what it takes?"
"Oh, I barely looked at you when you danced," he said. "That's what I tell all of them who come to me."
"But that's unforgivable," she cried. "You ruined my life. Maybe I could have been a great prima ballerina."
"No, I don't think so," said the old master. "If you had had what it takes you wouldn't have paid any attention to what I said."
534. Brooks Brothers, the men's store, has a well-earned reputation for imperturbability. On the opening day of its Chicago branch, in 1950, the manager was briefing his salespeople. Just before the doors were unlocked, a Cadillac went out of control & ran through the show window. "Gentleman," the manager said to his staff, "our first customers have arrived."
535. Just over the hill is a beautiful valley, but you must climb the hill to see it.
536. Louis was a blind boy. He had been able to see when he was born, but a serious accident lost him his sight. He was sent to a school for blind children.
But Louis did not waste his time feeling sorry for himself because he could not see like other children. Reading was the skill he most longed to have; & he began to dream of finding a way to help blind people to read easily. He tried one method after another, but without success. Then one day he heard of a captain in the army who had found a way of sending messages to his soldiers at night. He did it by piercing a piece of cardboard so as to form letters on its surface. Louis knew at once that this was the answer he was seeking.
It took him ten years to work out this system. But he kept at it steadily, & at last he had perfected it. And today the name of this blind boy is known throughout the World, & especially by the blind, for the system of reading which he created is called by his own surname--Braille.
537. "I need a better place to work, more equipment," is also a common alibi. But the Curies isolated radium in a rickety shed. The Brashears made their famous astronomical lenses in a shack that was just as rickety & much smaller. Rokitansky founded pathological anatomy in a shed in Vienna. Einstein worked in a plain room on a plain kitchen table.
Poor workplaces do not discourage people; they discourage themselves.
"People bother me & prevent me from getting things done," is another of the side-stepper's allegations.
Yet A. Canan Doyle wrote some of his famous Adventures of Sherlock Holmes in the corner of a room where a dozen people were talking & milling about. George Sand scribbled even surrounded by friends. Concentration is needed for such work, but some people let nothing deter them from getting things done. They do not let grass grow under their feet merely because others are there to distract them.
538. Lord, rebuke this devilish sickness! Precious Jesus, rebuke this thing, in the name of Jesus! You promised, "They shall lay hands on the sick & they shall be healed." So I right now lay my hands on this sick one, & Lord, I command Thee to recover her. You said, "Command thou Me." So we ask Thee in Jesus' name to do it!--Dad
539. You have to claim the victory. You have to rebuke the Enemy & resist the Evil One & he will flee from you, in Jesus' name!--Dad
540. Arriving at Chester at 2 a.m. on a cold winter's night, after a rough passage across the Irish Channel, I found I should have five or six hours to wait before the train would arrive to take me the rest of my journey.
The station is a dreary place to wait in at this hour, and season. It is cold, desolate, and terribly draughty, being open from end to end, and not a terminus. I went to the waiting room and found an old porter, apparently the only man left on the premises at that hour, sweeping out the room. I could not help noticing his face, as it had such a happy, patient look.
'Are you here all night?' I said.
'For many, many years, sir, I've been on night duty here; but I'm almost worn out now."
'It must be very cold for you, you don't look very strong."
"No, sir, I'm not, and I'm almost racked to death with the rheumatics, but oh, sir, I've had such a blessed time this night, although the cold has gone right through my old bones.'
Curious to know, and but half suspecting the old porter's source of comfort, I said that there was not much comfort in being frozen to death with cold.
'Oh! sir,' said the old man, his face all lighting up, 'it is not that, but what I've been a-thinking of before you came in was that blessed Jesus; and what love it was of Him to go and take a body that could feel, and go through all His sorrow and suffering down here that He night be able to understand all my cold and pain this night, while He's up there in Heaven. I know His feeling for me, and He knows and understands all I suffer; and when I think of Him a-feeling for me and loving me up there, I seem as if I didn't half mind the pain. Oh! 'tis a wonderful thing--His love--isn't it, sir?'
Through God's mercy I was enabled to share my fellow-pilgrim's enjoyment of the Good Shepherd's love, and a happy time we spent together talking of the One dear to both our hearts.
(Gal.2.20; Heb.2.18; 4.15)
541. A thirteen-year old girl left her village and was travelling to another place. On the road a lama met her. He asked her, 'Child, I think you are a Christian. Is it because your father is a Christian that you have become a Christian?'
To that she replied, 'No, a Christian Sadhu came to our house and preached. I thought about it again and again. Then from my own experience I knew that Christ was the Saviour. That is why I became a Christian.
The lama burned with anger. He took her and shut her in a dark room, giving her no food or water. The man was amazed to hear her singing with great gladness. After four days he went to see her. What was it that he saw there? He did not see that poor child singing. She was speaking quietly to someone, and with eyes closed. What was she saying? The lama tried to understand. This is what he heard from her:
'O Lord, I thank Thee that I have received the privilege of suffering for Thee. Lord, have mercy on this lama. Open the eyes of his heart to see the light.'
Hearing this sincere prayer, the man broke down and cried. He fell at her feet and before very long he accepted her words as he would the words of a Guru. That lama told everyone he saw about the wonderful strength of the girl; and not only that, he desired to receive that wonderful strength himself.
(2Kings 5.2,3; Acts 1.8; 5.41)
542. Claim the Promises, "I am the Lord that healeth thee." "Who forgiveth all thine iniquities, who healeth all thy diseases." You cannot be in bondage. "Whom the Lord hath set free is free indeed."--Dad
543. Quote Scriptures against the Devil! Go before the congregation & let them openly lay hands on you, openly confess & ask the Lord to forgive you & openly ask them for help & the Lord will heal you!--Dad
544. He went so blithely on the way
That people call the Road of Life,
That good folks, who had stopped to pray,
Shaking their heads would look and say
It wasn't right to be so gay
Upon this weary road of strife.
He whistled as he went, and still
He bore the young where streams were deep,
He helped the feeble up the hill;
He seemed to go with heart athrill,
Careless of deed and wild of will.
He whistled that he might not weep.
--Dollett Fuguet
545. F.B. Meyer, just before passing into glory, said, 'You will tell the others I am going home a little sooner than I thought. Then tell them not to talk about the servant but to talk about the Saviour.'
(Gal.2.20; Phil.1.19,20)
546. Fanny Crosby, blind writer of six thousand hymns testified, "I am the happiest creature in all the land."
O what a happy soul am I
Although I cannot see,
I am resolved that in this world
Contented I will be;
How many blessings I enjoy
That other people don't,
To weep and sigh because I'm blind,
I cannot and I won't.
--Written by Fanny Crosby at the age of eight.
547. You've got to fight! Fight! Fight! Fight, team, fight! You've got to rebuke him & fight, in Jesus' name! Rebuke the Devil that is trying to interfere, & trust the Lord! You've got to fight, team, fight! It's the Devil! It's a battle! You've got to just rebuke & resist the Devil so he will flee from you. The Lord can heal you but He has to have your cooperation!--Dad
548. If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;
If you can dream--and not make dreams your master;
If you can think--and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools;
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings--nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run--
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And--which is more--you'll be a Man, my son!
--Rudyard Kipling
549. Words are very important! You need to use them. "By thy words art thou justified, or by thy words art thou condemned." The Lord hears them & the Heavenly Hosts hear them & you hear them & the Devil hears them. If you get busy quoting Scripture & praising the Lord & rebuking the Devil, you won't have so much time to think about your aches & pains & sorrows! If your mind is centered on the Lord & stayed on Him, then He is the One you are thinking about & you can't think about both things at once.--Dad
550. It is not raining rain to me,
It's raining daffodils;
In every dimpled drop I see
Wildflowers on the hills.
The clouds of gray engulf the day,
And overwhelm the town;
It is not raining rain to me,
It's raining roses down.
It is not raining rain to me,
But fields of clover bloom,
Where every buccaneering bee
May find a bed and room.
A health unto the happy!
A fig for him who frets!
It is not raining rain to me,
It's raining violets.
--Robert Loveman
551. Just think of that odd little sparrow,
Uncared for by any but God,
It surely must bring thee some comfort
To know that He loves it -- though odd.
That one little odd little sparrow,
The object of God's tender care?
Then surely thou art of more value,
Thou need'st not give way to despair.
It may be thou art an "odd sparrow",
But God's eye of love rests on thee,
And He understands what to others,
Will always a mystery be.
Thou thinkest thy case so peculiar
That nobody can understand.
Take life's tangled skein to thy Saviour
And leave it in His skilful Hand.
Believe in His love and His pity
Confide in His wisdom and care,
Remember the odd little sparrow,
And never give way to despair.
552. It makes me furious when people take the attacks of the Enemy lying down & let the Devil walk all over them without resistance, or go pussyfooting around trying to appease him or trying not to disturb or upset him or arouse him! I like to hit him head-on & rebuke him in the name of Jesus in the power of the Spirit, & get rid of him, not just keep putting up with him, tolerating him, & letting him hang around bothering us & the poor people he is oppressing, obsessing & attacking! Hallelujah!--Dad
553. It's easy to die 'mid the world's applause
For a noble deed, with trumpets blaring!
It's the harder part to fight for a cause
And inwardly bleed with no one caring!
It's easy, perhaps, to die for a dream
With banners unfurled--and be forgiving!
It's the harder part to follow the gleam
When scorned by the world--and go on living!
--Myra Brooks Welch
554. He came to my desk with quivering lip--
The lesson was done.
"Dear Teacher, I want a new page," he said,
"I have spoiled his one."
I took the old page, stained and blotted,
And gave him a new one, all unspotted,
And into his sad eyes smiled:
"Do better now, my child!"
I went to the Throne with a quivering soul--
The old year was done.
"Dear Father, hast Thou a new leaf for me?
I have spoiled this one."
He took the old leaf, stained and blotted,
And gave me a new one, all unspotted,
And into my sad heart smiled:
"Do better now, my child!"
555. When you've set your mind to do it,
When your judgement says you're right,
When your conscience gives it sanction,
Then pitch in with all your might.
Don't let anything prevent you,
Though the odds seem big and strong.
Every obstacle will vanish
As the swift days roll along
If you set your jaws and say,
"Well, I'll do it anyway."
556. Would we know that the major chords were sweet,
If there were no minor key?
Would the painter's work be fair to our eyes,
Without shade on land or sea?
Would we know the meaning of happiness,
Would we feel that the day was bright,
If we'd never known what it was to grieve,
Nor gazed on the dark of night?
557. Diamonds are only chunks of coal
That stuck to their jobs, you see;
If they'd petered out, as most of us do,
Where would the diamonds be?
It isn't the fact of making a start,
It's the sticking that counts. I'll say,
It's the fellow that knows not the meaning of fall,
But hammers and hammers away.
Whenever you think you've come to the end,
And you're beaten as bad as can be,
Remember that diamonds are chunks of coal,
That stuck to their jobs, you see.
--Virginia Call
558. I saw a way-worn trav'ler
In tatter'd garments clad,
And struggling up the mountain
It seemed that he was sad;
His back was laden heavy,
His strength was almost gone,
Yet he shouted as he journeyed,
Deliverance will come.
The summer sun was shining,
The sweat was on his brow,
His garments worn and dusty,
His step seem'd very slow;
But he kept pressing onward,
For he was wending home;
Still shouting as he journeyed,
Deliverance will come.
The songsters in the arbor
That stood beside the way
Attracted his attention,
Inviting his delay:
His watchword being "Onward!"
He stopped his ears and ran,
Still shouting as he journeyed,
Deliverance will come.
I saw him in the evening,
The sun was bending low,
He overtopped the mountain,
And reached the vale below;
He saw the golden City
His everlasting home
And shouted loud, Hosanna,
Deliverance will come!
While gazing on that city,
Just o'er the narrow flood
A band of holy angels
Came from the throne of God;
They bore him on their pinions
Safe o'er the dashing foam;
And joined him in his triumph
Deliverance has come!
I heard the song of triumph
They sang upon that shore,
Saying, Jesus has redeemed us
To suffer nevermore;
Then casting his eyes backward
On the race which he had run,
He shouted loud, Hosanna,
Deliverance has come!
559. If I had a grapevine tender and green
Growing taller and taller each day,
And a little fox tried to spoil that vine,
I'd drive that fox away.
If I had a life all clean and pure,
Growing sweeter and sweeter each day,
And a little fault tried to spoil that life,
I'd drive that fault away.
--Florence Harrel
560. The thickest clouds bring the heaviest shower of blessing.
561. When we look within we are depressed, when we look around we are impressed, but when we look at Jesus Christ we are blessed.
562. "Two men were looking at the sea
But one saw only quantity.
The other soul was filled with awe,
The handiwork of God is what he saw.
"And then the singing of a bird
A noise is all the first one heard.
The other felt uplifted all day long,
And loved the Lord more dearly for the song.
Eyes see when opened by His touch,
And ears unstopped can hear so much."
563. My soul, be on thy guard;
Ten thousand foes arise;
The hosts of sin are pressing hard
To draw thee from the skies.
Oh watch, and fight, and pray;
The battle ne'er give o'er;
Renew it boldly ev'ry day,
And help divine implore.
Ne'er think the vict'ry won,
Nor lay thine armor down;
The work of faith will not be done
Till thou obtain the crown.
Fight on, my soul, till death
Shall bring thee to thy God;
He'll take thee, at thy parting breath,
To His divine abode.
564. Cross of Christ! lead onward, thro' the Holy War;
In this sign we conquer, now and evermore.
Not of man the power, not to man the fame;
We are victors only in our Leader's name.
Cross of Christ! lead onward,
Thro' the Holy War;
In this sign we conquer
Now and evermore.
Not with pomp and pageant, not in earthly pride;
We must fight our battles like the Crucified.
Overcome by suff'ring, conquer thro' defeat;
Tried and tested daily in the furnace heat.
Panoplied in graces, bold, yet humbly meek;
Resting while we're working strong, but ever weak
Timid, tho' courageous, gaining as we give;
Crucified with Jesus, yet in Him, we live.
By a cloud encompassed, witnesses above;
Saints, Apostles, Prophets, precious ones we love;
While "advance!" is sounding, mounts the battle thrill.
Cross of Christ! lead onward where the Captain will.
Marching in the pathway that the Master trod,
Walks One daily with us like the Son of God.
To the end enduring, armor ne'er laid down
Till the Cross leads upward to the blood-bought Crown.
565. "Go to the ant, ... consider her ways, and be wise." (Prov.6:6)
"GO TO THE ant." Tammerlane used to relate to his friends an anecdote of his early life. "I once was forced to take shelter from my enemies in a ruined building, where I sat alone many hours," he said. "Desiring to divert my mind from my hopeless condition, I fixed my eyes on an ant that was carrying a grain of corn larger than itself up a high wall. I numbered the efforts it made to accomplish this object. The grain fell sixty-nine times to the ground; but the insect persevered, and the seventieth time it reached the top! This sight gave me courage at the moment, and I never forgot the lesson."
566. "Uncle Joe," said Albert Edward Wiggam, the author, meeting an old Negro who was always cheerful in spite of having had more than his share of life's troubles, "how have you managed to remain so cheerful and calm?"
"Well, I'll tell yo," replied Uncle Joe. "I'se jus' learned to cooperate wid de inevitable."
567. Should Sorrow lay her hand upon thy shoulder,
And walk with thee in silence on life's way,
While Joy, thy bright companion once, grown colder,
Becomes to thee more distant day by day?
Shrink not from the companionship of Sorrow,
She is the messenger of God to thee;
And thou wilt thank Him in His great tomorrow--
For what thou knowest not now, thou then shalt see;
She is God's angel, clad in weeds of night,
With 'whom we walk by faith and not by sight.'
568. I have nothing to do with tomorrow,
My Saviour will make that His care;
Its grace and strength I can't borrow,
So why should I borrow its care.
--Major D. W. Whittle
569. There is just something about saying the words that really crystallises your resistance and causes the devils to flee. They hate to hear the Word! Just saying it in your mind is good but sometimes it is just not quite enough! You need to say it out loud, because if others are listening, it is a declaration to them that you are trusting the Lord, that you have faith in His Word. It's a declaration of independence from the Devil! It shows your confidence in the Word & your belief in praise. "Thou shalt confess with thy mouth that Christ is Lord." (Rom.10:9) "With my mouth will I make known Thy faithfulness unto all generations."
You've got to put it into words & say it! Words are real things! They can either damn you or save you! "If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus & shalt believe in thy heart that God hast raised Him from the dead" (that's faith in His resurrection power, which is healing), "thou shalt be saved (or healed)."--Dad
570. A mighty Fortress is our God,
A Bulwark never failing;
Our Helper He amid the flood
Of mortal ills prevailing:
For still our ancient foe
Doth seek to work us woe;
His craft and power are great,
And, armed with cruel hate,
On earth is not his equal.
Did we in our own strength confide,
Our striving would be losing;
Were not the right Man on our side,
The Man of God's own choosing:
Dost ask who that may be?
Christ Jesus, it is He;
Lord Sabaoth His Name,
From age to age the same,
And He must win the battle.
And though this world, with devils filled,
Should threaten to undo us;
We will not fear, for God hath willed
His truth to triumph through us:
The Prince of Darkness grim,
We tremble not for him;
His rage we can endure,
For lo! his doom is sure,
One little Word shall fell him.
That Word above all earthly powers,
No thanks to them, abideth;
The Spirit and the gifts are ours
Through Him who with us sideth:
Let goods and kindred go,
This mortal life also;
The body they may kill:
God's truth abideth still,
His Kingdom is forever.
--Martin Luther
571. My food is but spare,
And humble my cot,
Yet Jesus dwells there
And blesses my lot:
Though thinly I'm clad,
And tempests oft roll,
He's raiment, and bread,
And drink to my soul.
His presence is wealth,
His grace is a treasure
His promise is health
And joy out of measure.
His word is my rest,
His spirit my guide:
In Him I am blest,
Whatever betide.
Since Jesus is mine,
Adieu to all sorrow;
I ne'er shall repine,
Nor Think of to-morrow:
The lily so fair,
And raven so black,
He nurses with care,
Then how shall I lack?
Each promise is sure
That shines in His word,
And tells me, though poor,
I'm rich in my Lord.
Hence! Sorrow and Fear!
Since Jesus is nigh
I'll dry up each tear
And stifle each sigh.
The trials which frown,
Applied by His blood,
But plait me a crown
And work for my good.
In praise I shall tell,
When throned in my rest,
The things which befell
Were always the best.
--Patrick Bronte
572. Who would true valour see,
Let him come hither!
One here will constant be,
Come wind, come weather;
There's no discouragement
Shall make him once relent
His flint-avow'd intent
To be a Pilgrim.
Whoso beset him round
With dismal stories,
Do but themselves confound;
His strength the more is.
No lion can him fright;
He'll with a giant fight;
But he will have a right
To be a Pilgrim.
Nor enemy, nor friend,
Can daunt his spirit;
He knows he at the end
Shall Life inherit:--
Then, fancies, fly away;
He'll not fear what men say:
He'll labour, night and day,
To be a Pilgrim.
--John Bunyan
573. Once pledged by the Cross
As children of God,
To tread in the steps
Your Captain has trod,
Now, sealed by the Spirit
Of wisdom and might,
Go forward, Christ's soldiers,
Go forward and fight!
Your weapons of war
Are sent from above:
The spirit's good sword,
The breastplate of love;
Your feet with the Gospel
Of peace be well shod;
Put on the whole armour,
The armour of God.
574. Our fathers to their graves have gone;
Their strife is past, their triumph won;
But sterner trials await the race
Which rises in their honored place--
A moral warfare with the crime
And folly of an evil time.
So let it be. In God's own might
We gird us for the coming fight,
And strong in Him Whose cause is ours,
In conflict with unholy powers,
We grasp the weapons He has given--
The light and truth and love of Heaven.
--John Greenleaf Whittier
575. Queen Victoria said, "We are not interested in the possibilities of defeat. They do not exist!"
576. When you're lost in the wild, and you're scared as a child,
And death looks you bang in the eye.
And you're sore as a boil, it's according to Hoyle
To cock your revolver and ... die.
But the code of a man, says: "Fight all you can,"
And self-dissolution is barred.
In hunger and woe, oh, it's easy to blow ...
It's the hell-served for-breakfast that's hard.
You're sick of the game! "Well, now, that's a shame."
You're young and you're brave and you're bright.
"You've had a raw deal!" I know--but don't squeal.
Buck up, do your damnedest, and fight.
It's the plugging away that will win you the day,
So don't be a piker, old pard!
Just draw on your grit; it's so easy to quit:
It's the keeping-your-chin-up that's hard.
It's easy to cry that you're beaten--and die.
It's easy to crawfish and crawl;
But to fight and to fight when hope's out of sight,
Why, that's the best game of them all!
And though you come out of each gruelling bout
All broken and beaten and scarred,
Just have one more try--it's dead easy to die,
It's the keeping-on-living that's hard.
577. Give me the man who facing winter's blast,
Hails coming spring;
Sings of returning dawn
In darkest night;
Knows gloom must flee before
Triumphant light;
And still fights on,
Though crushed and beaten down,
Till he has won the fight
And gained the crown.
578. Be strong!
We are not here to play, to dream, to drift;
We have hard work to do and loads to lift;
Shun not the struggle--face it; 'tis God's gift.
Be strong!
Say not, "The days are evil. Who's to blame?"
And fold the hands and acquiesce--oh, shame!
Stand up, speak out, and bravely, in God's name.
Be strong!
It matters not how deep entrenched the wrong,
How hard the battle goes, the day how long;
Faint not--fight on! Tomorrow comes the song.
--Maltbie D. Babcock
579. Did you tackle that trouble that came your way
With a resolute heart and cheerful?
Or hide your face from the light of day
With a craven soul and fearful?
Oh, a trouble's a ton, or a trouble's an ounce,
Or a trouble is what you make it,
And it isn't the fact that you're hurt that counts,
But only how did you take it?
You are beaten to earth? Well, well, what's that?
Come up with a smiling face.
It's nothing against you to fall down flat,
But to lie there--that's disgrace.
The harder you're thrown, why the higher you bounce;
Be proud of your blackened eye!
It isn't the fact that you're licked that counts;
It's how did you fight--and why?
And though you be done to the death, what then?
If you battled the best you could;
If you played your part in the world of men,
Why, the Critic will call it good.
Death comes with a crawl, or comes with a pounce,
And whether he's slow or spry,
It isn't the fact that you're dead that counts,
But only, how did you die?
--Edmund Vance Cooke
580. Go on the attack & talk back to the Devil out loud! Go on the attack & start praising the Lord, quoting Scriptures, praying, talking in tongues, singing! The Devil hates song because it is praise to the Lord! Let others know that you are attacking so they can stand with you in faith! One can chase a thousand but two can put 10,000 to flight. (Deut.32:30)--Dad
581. Let's declare war on the Evil One! We've declared war on his works & his churchianity, his whore! Let's declare war on the Ol' Boy himself!--Dad
582. Lead on, O King Eternal,
The day of march has come;
Henceforth in fields of conquest
Thy tents shall be our home;
Through days of preparation
Thy grace has made us strong,
And now, O King Eternal,
We lift our battle song.
Lead on, O King Eternal,
Till sin's fierce war shall cease,
And holiness shall whisper
The sweet Amen of peace:
For not with swords loud clashing,
Nor roll of stirring drums,
With deeds of love and mercy,
The heav'nly kingdom comes.
Lead on, O King Eternal,
We follow, not with fears,
For gladness breaks like morning
Where'er Thy face appears;
Thy cross is lifted o'er us;
We journey in its light;
The crown awaits the conquest;
Lead on, O God of might.
--Ernest W. Shurtleff
583. If you can trust when everyone about you
Is doubting Him, proclaiming Him untrue;
If you can hope in Christ, tho' all forsake you
And say 'tis not the thing for you to do;
If you can wait on God, nor wish to hurry,
Or, being greatly used, keep humble still;
Or if you're tested, still refuse to worry,
And so remain within His sovereign will;
If you can say, 'tis well, when sorrow greets you,
And death has taken those you hold most dear;
If you can smile when adverse trials meet you,
And be content e'en tho' your lot be drear;
If you can be reviled and never murmur,
Or being tempted, not give way to sin;
If you fight for right and stand the firmer,
Or lose the battle when you ought to win--
If you can really long for His appearing,
And therefore set your heart on things above;
If you can speak for Christ in spite of sneering,
Or to the most unlovely one show love;
If you can hear the call of God to labour,
And answer, "Yes" in yieldedness and trust,
And go to tell the story of the Saviour
To souls in darkness o'er the desert dust;
If you can pray when Satan's darts are strongest,
And take the road of faith instead of sight;
Or walk with God, e'en tho' His way be longest,
And swerve not to the left nor to the right;
If you desire Himself alone to fill you,
For Him alone you care to live and be;
Then 'tis not you, but CHRIST Who dwelleth in you,
And that, O child of God, is victory!
584. If you can only whisper, then whisper these Scriptures aloud to yourself & to the Lord & to the Devil & to whoever else may be listening, all the hosts of Heaven & even Hell! The great cloud of witnesses who are watching us from the spirit world will be thrilled by your positiveness & your definite attack out loud in the Spirit!--Dad
585. In the name of Jesus we ask Thee, O God, to deliver us! O God, have mercy, deliver in Jesus' name. Not by might nor by power but by Thy Spirit, O God!--Dad
586. "On the gridiron, on the diamond,
On the link, or on the court,
It's when the game is hardest,
That you get your finest sport!
There's no joy in easy battles,
And no victory in a game,
That is won without a struggle,
And in life, it's just the same!
It is when the going is heavy,
And the pull is all uphill,
And you have to work to conquer,
That you get your finest thrill!"
587. As long as you keep thinking about your problems or your pains & concentrating on your headache or your backache or your toothache or your earache or your labour pains or your problems with your wife or husband or children or whatever it may be, then it is these problems you'll have! But if you get your mind on something else it won't be as bad! That's how my Mother got healed in the first place: Quoting Scripture out loud! She could only whisper it, but she whispered it. Gradually she noticed her voice was stronger & her hands were up praising the Lord!--Dad
588. On his voyage to discover America, as day after day no land appeared, and again and again his sailors threatened mutiny and tried to persuade him to turn back, Columbus refused to listen to their entreaties and entered each day in the ship's log-book the two words--'Sailed on'. (Exo.14.15; Num.13.30; Luke 9.62; Heb.6.2)
589. Speaking at the University of Glasgow in 1896 David Livingstone said: "Would you like me to tell you what supported me through all the years of exile among a people whose language I could not understand, and whose attitude toward me was always uncertain and often hostile? It was this: 'Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.' On these words I staked everything and they never failed."
590. Wilberforce was a diminutive edition of a man and never enjoyed good health. For twenty years he was under doctor's orders and had to take drugs to keep body and soul together. Yet he stopped the British slave trade. Boswell once went to hear him speak and said afterward: "I saw what seemed a mere shrimp and mounted upon the platform, but as I listened, he grew and grew till the shrimp became a whale."
The most stimulating successes in history have come from persons who, facing some kind of limitations and handicaps, succeeded in spite of all.
591. Nearly two hundred years ago there lived in England a man whose name was William Wilberforce. God seemed to say to him, "I want you to free all the slaves in the British Empire!" Humanly speaking, Wilberforce could not do it. He was a cripple, and a hunchback. His body was so twisted that a writer of that day said he looked like a human corkscrew. The majority of the leaders did not want the British Empire to stop the slave trade. Wilberforce believed that nothing was impossible with God. He believed he could do all things in Christ's strength. On the day of his funeral, when his worn-out body was put beneath the flagstones of Westminister Abbey, the British Parliament passed a law that every slave who lived beneath the British flag be freed.
592. Scars are the price which every believer pays for his loyalty to Christ.
593. In the Name of Jesus, O God, we demand the answer! We insist, O God, that Thou honour Thy Holy Name & Thy Holy Word Thou hast given unto Thy Prophet, O God! We command Thee, O God, to fulfil Thy Word, Lord, to fulfil the Word of Thy Prophet, O God, to honour Thy name & the name of Jesus Christ, that Thou wouldst help us that seek Thy help, O God, & deliver us from these attacks of the Evil One!--Dad
594. The Spartan mothers used to counsel their sons: "If your sword be too short, add a step to it."
595. "Strong are walls around me,
That hold me all the day;
But they who thus have bound me
Cannot keep God away:
My very dungeon walls are dear
Because the God I love is here.
"They know, who thus oppress me,
'Tis hard to be alone;
But know not One can bless me
Who comes through bars and stone.
He makes my dungeon's darkness bright
And fills my bosom with delight."
--Madam Guyon
596. Billy Sunday, the baseball evangelist and reformer, never spared himself nor those he wanted to help in the vigor of his attacks on sin. He thundered against evil from the Gay Nineties through the Great Depression. He preached Christ as the only answer to man's needs until his death in 1935.
"I'm against sin," he said. "I'll kick it as long as I've got a foot, and I'll fight it as long as I've got a fist. I'll butt it as long as I've got a head. I'll bite it as long as I've got a tooth. When I'm old and fistless and footless and toothless, I'll gum it till I go home to Glory and it goes home to perdition!"
597. Martin Luther was often very graphic in his description of the activities of the Devil. Asked one time how he overcame the Devil, he replied, "Well, when he comes knocking upon the door of my heart, and asks 'Who lives here?' the dear Lord Jesus goes to the door and says, "Martin Luther used to live here but he has moved out. Now I live here.' The Devil seeing the nail-prints in the hands, and the pierced side, takes flight immediately."
598. Days immediately after Dunkirk were darkest for the modern world. In supreme disaster, all seemed irrevocably lost and the invasion of England loomed imminent. England lay prostrate. Forty-seven warships had been sunk in the operations off Norway after Dunkirk. When the evacuation was completed, half the British destroyers were in the shipyards for repairs while the Royal Air Force had lost forty per cent of its bomber strength. Britain was on the brink of famine and her armies were without arms or equipment. They had left in France 50,000 vehicles.
Churchill spoke for the defenseless islanders, "We shall defend our island whatever the cost may be; we shall fight on the beaches; we shall fight in the fields; we shall fight in the streets; and we shall fight in the hill. We shall never surrender and if this island were subjugated and starving, our empire on the seas would carry on the struggle until in God's good time the New World with all its power and might steps forth to the rescue and liberation of the old."
599. David is a man of war! David is a man of power! David is a man of force! David is a man of violence, & I hate the Enemy with a perfect hatred! We have the power to resist all the devils in one continent with just the name of Jesus! Yet some of you are afraid of one little old evil spirit. The Devil says "Boo!" & you run! How can you expect to conquer a whole continent of evil spirits when you're afraid of one little spirit in one person!--Dad
600. The call to Christian commitment is not basically a call to enjoy happiness but to endure hardness.
601. Pliny, Roman Governor in Asia Minor in the early Second Century, was so puzzled about the Christians brought before him for trial that he wrote his famous letter to the Emperor Trajan asking for his advise. This was the kind of thing he found himself up against:
A certain unknown Christian was brought before him, and Pliny, finding little fault in him, proceeded to threaten him, "I will banish thee," he said.
"Thou canst not," was the reply, "for all the world is my Father's house."
"Then I will slay thee," said the Governor.
"Thou canst not," answered the Christian, "for my life is hid with Christ in God."
"I will take away thy possessions," continued Pliny.
"Thou canst not, for my treasure is in heaven."
"I will drive thee away from man & thou shalt have no friend left," was the final threat.
And the calm reply once more was, "Thou canst not, for I have an unseen Friend from Whom thou art not able to separate me."
What was a poor, harassed Roman Governor, with all the powers of life and death, torture and the stake at his disposal, to do with people like that?
602. The tree that never had to fight
For sun and sky and air and light,
That stood out in the open plain
And always got its share of rain,
Never became a forest king,
But lived and died a scrubby thing.
The man who never had to toil
To heaven from the common soil,
Who never had to win his share
Of sun and sky and light and air,
Never became a manly man,
But lived and died as he began.
Good timber does not grow in ease;
The stronger wind, the tougher trees;
The farther sky, the greater length;
The more the storm, the more the strength;
By sun and cold, by rain and snows,
In tree or man, good timber grows.
Where thickest stands the forest growth
We find the patriarchs of both;
And they hold converse with the stars
Whose broken branches show the scars
Of many winds and of much strife--
This is the common law of life.
---Douglas Malloch
603. When it comes to the Devil, WORDS are sort of like bullets or death rays & they just blast the Devil! Every word just zaps him. They're a part of our offensive weaponry, the Word. You need to wield it out loud so that at least YOU can hear it, & then that helps to occupy your mind & it helps to confirm your own faith!--Dad
604. No duty can be performed without wrestling. The Christian needs his sword as well as his trowel.
605. It is impossible to be a true soldier of Jesus Christ & not fight.
606. Onward, Christian soldiers,
Marching as to war,
With the cross of Jesus
Going on before:
Christ the royal Master
Leads against the foe;
Forward into battle,
See His banners go:
At the sound of triumph
Satan's host doth flee;
On, then, Christian soldiers,
On to victory!
Hell's foundations quiver
At the shout of praise;
Brothers lift your voices,
Loud your anthems raise.
Like a mighty army
Moves the Church of God;
Brothers, we are treading
Where the saints have trod;
We are not divided,
All one body, we,
One in hope and doctrine,
One in charity.
Crowns and thrones may perish,
Kingdoms rise and wane,
But the Church of Jesus
Constant will remain;
Gates of hell can never
'Gainst that Church prevail;
We have Christ's own promise,
And that cannot fail.
Onward, then, ye people,
Join our happy throng,
Blend with ours your voices
In the triumph-song;
Glory, laud and honor
Unto Christ the King;
This through countless ages
Men and angels sing.
--Sabine Baring-Gould
607. "All power is given unto Me in Heaven & in Earth!" The spirits are subject unto us! God hath not given us a spirit of fear, but of power & of Love, & of a sound mind! Perfect Love casts out all fear! In nothing be terrified by your adversary, the Devil! I resist you, Satan, in Jesus' name! We're commanded to resist the Enemy & he will flee from us! Get thee behind me, Satan! Greater is He that is in me than he that is in the World! When the Enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of God will raise up a standard against him! We must give no place to the Enemy! Whatsoever is bound on Earth shall be bound in Heaven & whatsoever is loosed on Earth, shall be loosed in Heaven!--Dad
608. "Only a baby's grave--
A foot or two at the most
Of tear-dewed sod;
But a loving God
Knows what the little grave cost.
"Only a baby's life,--
Brief as a perfumed kiss,
So fleet it goes;
But our Father knows
We are nearer to Him for this."
609. Love looked down with eyes
so tender
All the room was wrapt in gloom,
And I deemed him but a stranger,
Knowing naught of my sad doom--
"Who art thou?" I whispered, breathless.
"Child," Love said, "this is our tryst.
Only thus could'st thou have met me
In such sweetness ... I am Christ."
610. When I'm on top of the mountain,
He's the bright and morning star.
When I'm on the side of the mountain,
He is the Rose of Sharon.
When I'm in the valley,
His the lily of the valley.
611. Oh! there is never sorrow of heart
That shall lack a timely end,
If but to God we turn, and ask
Of Him to be our friend!
--William Wordsworth
612. When the storm is raging high,
When the tempest rends the sky,
When my eyes with tears are dim,
Then, my soul, "consider Him."
When my plans are in the dust,
When my dearest hopes are crushed,
When is passed each foolish whim,
Then, my soul, "consider Him."
When with dearest friends I part,
When deep sorrow fills my heart,
When pain racks each weary limb,
Then, my soul, "consider Him."
When I track my weary way,
When fresh trials come each day,
When my faith and hope are dim,
Then, my soul, "consider Him."
Clouds or sunshine, dark or bright,
Evening shades, or morning light,
When my cup flows o'er the brim,
Then, my soul, "consider Him."
613. I love to fight the Enemy!--Like a strong man that loves to run a race, & a strong man that rejoiceth & shouteth by reason of wine, & like a knight that loves the fray & arouseth himself to fight the Enemy! It is so ridiculous to think that the house of Baalzelbub can fight the house of David!--That the lord of the flies can fight the Lord of the Living! The flies only eat the dead, the dung, & the dying, & are killed by the living! I love to fight for the cause of David in the Name of Jesus! Be strong in the Lord & in the power of His might! Hallelujah! We haven't even begun to fight yet!--Dad
614. Sometimes, when nothing goes just right,
And worry reigns supreme,
When heartache fills the eyes with mist,
And all things useless seem,
There's just one thing can drive away
The tears that scald and blind--
Someone to slip a strong arm 'round
And whisper, "Never mind."
No one has ever told just why
Those words such comfort bring;
Nor why that whisper makes our cares
Depart on hurried wing.
Yet troubles say a quick "Good-day,"
We leave them far behind
When someone slips an arm around
And whispers, "Never mind."
But love must prompt that soft caress--
That love must, aye, be true
Or at that tender, clinging touch
No heart ease come to you,
But if the arm be moved by love,
Sweet comfort you will find
When someone slips an arm around,
And whispers, "Never mind!"
615. There are gems of wonderous brightness oftimes lying at our feet
And we pass them walking thoughtless down the busy, crowded street;
IF WE KNEW, our pace would slacken, we would step more oft with care
Lest our careless feet be treading to the earth some jewel rare.
If we knew what hearts are aching for the comforts we might bring,
If we knew what souls are yearning for the sunshine we could fling,
If we knew what feet are weary walking pathways roughly laid,
We would quickly hasten forward stretching forth our hands to aid.
If we knew what friends around us feel a want they never tell,
That some word which we have spoken, pained or wounded where it fell,
We would speak in accents tender to each friend we chanced to meet,
We would give to each one freely smiles of sympathy so sweet.
616.There is one characteristic of the Devil we ought to emulate--his persistence & stick-to-itiveness.
617. Be sure you're wrong before you quit.
618. When Charles G. Finney was asked how he could believe in a Devil, he retorted: "Why don't you try opposing him sometime & you'll find out whether he exists or not."
619. When you flee temptation be sure you don't leave a forwarding address.
620. While Charles Spurgeon was still a boy preacher, he was warned about a certain quarrelsome woman and told that she intended to give him a tongue-lashing. "All right," he replied, "but that's a game that two can play." Not long afterward she met him and assailed him with a flood of abuse. He smiled and said, "Yes, thank you, I am quite well. I hope you are the same."
Then came another burst of vituperation, pitched in a higher key to which he replied, still smiling, "Yes, it does look rather as if it might rain. I think I had better be getting on."
"Bless the man!" she exclaimed. "He's as deaf as a post. What's the use of storming at him!" And so her railing ceased and were never again attempted.
621. History is full of men who triumphed over handicaps. POPE was a hopeless invalid, unable to stand without the aid of a cruel brace. CERVANTES stuttered but he became a public speaker of remarkable power. Look at the two sickly, puny children with scarcely a chance for maturity who turned out to be CHOPIN and THEODORE ROOSEVELT. STEPHEN A. DOUGLAS, hunchback and statesman; EDISON, deaf and perfecting the phonograph; MILTON, blind and writing England's greatest poem; FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT, crippled by infantile paralysis and becoming President of the United States--all of them were victors over handicaps.
622. There is a couple in tiny Rock Grove, Illinois, who are indispensable. Joe and Leva Schofield operate the Rock Grove Farmer's Mutual Telephone Company and have the switchboard right in their two-story frame home. They take turns at the switchboard and know each of their 220 customers by voice. Rock Grove folks never use telephone numbers when they place a call. They just say, "Get me John Jones" or whoever they want to call.
Joe Schofield is a top-notch scout-master. His troop has produced eight Eagle Scouts, unusual because most small communities turn out only one Eagle Scout every decade or so.
And of course Joe takes them on hikes when he demonstrates camping techniques, lore of the outdoors, compass reading, handicrafts and so on.
The middle-aged couple also make brooms and weave rugs in their spare time. They produce attractive billfolds, belts, and purses. Joe specializes in antique furniture refinishing.
Joe and Leva are both active members of St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Rock Grove. Both say their faith has helped them more than anything else in finding a meaningful life.
Joe and Leva are blind.
623. As my Mother used to say, the Devil knocks on your door and you go to the door & throw it wide open & say, "Come in Mr. Devil, come in Mrs. Devil & all the little devils, here are some chairs! Now sit down, & all you doubts sit down & talk to me & let's have a nice visit, let's hear all that you have to say!"--When at the first knock & you saw who it was, you should have slammed the door in his face so quick it would've cut his nose off! You shouldn't have listened to the first doubt or the first lie!--Dad
624. You can save yourself a lot of trouble by not borrowing any.
625. When to the front you cannot go
Be faithful under cover;
God needs a secret service, too,
The one to help the other.
It may be in the engine-room,
Just firing the old boiler
Where it's dark & lonely, lad;
Be faithful under cover.
First, find the place of secret prayer;
Be faithful under cover;
Fast close the door & linger there--
It is the place of power.
If in the home & kitchen, lass,
Your calling you discover,
In woman's hand is destiny;
Be faithful under cover.
Elijah, in the wilderness,
Was faithful under cover;
God's hidden man was sent to warn
Of dearth, the country over.
Then, if like him to Cherith sent,
To wait the coming shower,
He'll keep & feed & cherish you
Be faithful under cover.
Perchance, you've been at battle's front;
Now, faithful under cover;
Your health is gone, you cannot work,
You feel your day is over.
Look up! Cheer up! You're not thro' yet,
God is your gracious Lover;
'Tis in the heart man serves Him best,
Be faithful under cover.
--Mrs. E. W. Grossman
626. When I was a little boy & the big bullies threatened to beat me up, I'd say, "You gotta catch me first!"--And I'd start runnin' as fast as I could for my house! So you just say to the ol' Devil, "You gotta catch me first!"--And run!--Dad
627. "The Devil doesn't start shooting till you go over the top!"--Which is an illustration of the old WW 1 trench warfare. Not until you came out of your trench & started attacking his territory does the enemy really let go & let you have it with all his big guns!--Dad
628. He always wins who sides with God
To him no chance is lost:
God's will is sweetest to him when
It triumphs at his cost.
Ill that God blesses is our good,
And unblest good is ill;
And all is right that seems most wrong,
If it be His dear will!
--Frederick William Faber
629. An anonymous author has expressed it this way:
"He knows the bitter, weary way;
He knows the endless striving day by day;
He knows how hard the fight has been;
The clouds that come our lives between,
The wounds the world hath never seen,
He knows.
He knows! O thought so full of bliss!
For though our joys on earth we miss,
We still can bear it, feeling this,
HE KNOWS!"
630. During a public "reception," a farmer from one of the border counties of Virginia told President Lincoln, that the Union soldiers, in passing his farm, had helped themselves not only to hay, but to his horse, and he hoped the President would urge the proper officer to consider his claim immediately.
Mr. Lincoln said that this reminded him of an old acquaintance of his, "Jack" Chase, a lumberman on the Illinois, a steady, sober man and the best raftsman on the river. It was quite a trick to take the logs over the rapids; but he was skilful with a raft and always kept her straight in the channel. Finally a steamer was put on, and Jack was made captain of her. He always used to take the wheel, going through the rapids. One day, when the boat was plunging and wallowing along the boiling current, and Jack's utmost vigilance was being exercised to keep her in the narrow channel, a boy pulled his coat-tail and hailed him with:
"Say, Mr. Captain! I wish you would just stop your boat a minute--I've lost my apple overboard!"
631. I cannot do it alone;
The waves run fast and high,
And the fogs close chill around,
And the light goes out in the sky;
But I know that We Two shall win--in the end,
--Jesus and I.
I cannot row it myself
The boat on the raging sea -
But beside me sits Another,
Who pulls or steers with me;
And I know that We Two shall
come safe into port,
--His child and He.
Strong and tender and true,
Crucified once for me:
Ne'er will He change, I know,
Whatever I may be!
But all He says I must do,
Ever from sin to keep free;
We shall finish Our courses,
and reach Home at last,
--His child and He.
632. It's common knowledge that men who have struggled valiantly all their lives & have something to live for & fight for, it's kept them alive! But that when forced to retire they had not much left to live for or fight for & they kind of lost their fight & their fighting spirit & their will to live & they just died. Take the Presidents of the United States for example, very few of them have lived very many years beyond their retirement or defeat from the job. Nearly all the Presidents of the U.S. died shortly after being in office. It's a killer job & it's only that fighting spirit that usually keeps them alive. Then when they lose the job & thereby lose that spirit, it often kills them.
As MacArthur said, "Old soldiers never die, they just fade away." And like him, when he lost his job he just faded away. It's the job that keeps them alive, & the grace of the strength that God gives them to keep it! When they lose it they have very little reason to keep on living, so they just sort of fade away & soon die after retirement. So beware!--When you stop fighting, when you leave the game, when you sit down & decide to take it easy, you'll die!--Dad
633. The use of the surprise attack is why the commando raids of WWII were so successful!--Tiny raids against tremendous strongholds of the enemy on the coast of Norway & Germany! One tiny little boatload of men & explosives in the fog of dark & night, would cross the North Sea, then suddenly without notice, without warning, sneaking right past the enemy's line of defense, would blow up some of his major installations--power plants, fortifications, bunkers, big guns, even battle ships, which they'd sink right in the port's mouth, bottling up his fleet--all this damage inflicted by a mere handful of men against almost innumerable numerical odds of the enemy in manpower & fire power--all because they were quick, unexpected, surprising, sudden attacks, taking the initiative & the offensive, choosing the time & the place & the enemy knew not where or when, so he could never be prepared!--And they were extremely successful! It caused him to have to spread out his forces & be prepared to defend himself in so many places at one time that he weakened his whole operation!
--Because the enemy never knows what you're going to do next! He doesn't know what kind of a shenanigan you're going to pull next, & you've put him on the defensive! He rocks & reels from sudden blow after sudden blow, so that he has no time to organise an attack on you, he's too busy defending himself! In this way, tiny guerrilla forces & commando units can keep an entire numerically superior conventional army at bay, & an army continually on the defensive will never get anywhere!
There's no such thing as a war which is not won or lost! You're either winning or losing! And if you're not winning it, you're losing it, as the U.S. did in Vietnam, all because of their defensive warfare--their containment policy & their refusal to attack the enemy's main strongholds & bases, & their sitting there most of the time & letting him attack them!--Dad
634. My Grandmother used to say about temptations & evil thoughts, "You can't keep the birds from flying over your head nor those thoughts from going through your mind. It's the voice of the Devil. But you can sure keep them from building a nest in your hair!"--In other words, you can keep them from roosting there & entertaining them full time & letting them take over. You just have to keep resisting & fighting until they see you're not going to surrender or give up, & they give up, & go away & leave.--Dad
635. You may not always get results the first time, Beloved, but don't quit trying! Keep screaming, keep yelling, keep pounding away! Keep fighting for your rights & for what you think is right & what you want to get done, & eventually a constant dropping sometimes wears away the stone, & by your importunity--like the old lady in the Bible who kept pestering the judge until she finally got what she wanted just to get rid of her (Luke 18:2-5)--you may finally convince somebody & a few more & a few more until finally there's such a demand that the System will just have to yield & make some slight changes.--Dad
636. "Sticks & stones can break my bones, but words can never harm me!" Well, that's not always true, but usually it should be true. You shouldn't let these little words & little lies & little names the Devil cooks up for you bother you. Take it on the chin or on the cheek, then maybe on the other cheek, but then sock'm back!--Dad
637. As my brother said once as he was trying to climb out of bed, after being prayed for, & my mother was trying to make him stay in bed, "I'm having enough trouble fighting the Devil, without fighting you too!--Dad
638. I'll never forget when I was a kid about 12 delivering handbills, & I had to go into a certain yard to get to a house in the rear, & out from the back yard came this huge Great Dane, barking & growling furiously & coming at me full speed, leaping & bounding, & I thought, "This is it!" But I knew I didn't dare turn my back on him, or he would bite me for sure, yet, on the other hand, he was a little too big for me to face, & I was invading his territory! He was just too big for me!
So I thank God I remembered to cry out to the Lord, & I did something that I've even tried since then with people!--I suddenly jutted my hand out toward him & I yelled, "I rebuke you in Jesus' Name!--And did he put on the brakes!--He skidded to a stop & looked absolutely startled!--And turned tail & ran!
So it not only pays to face your fears & to acknowledge them--even confess them--but to take a positive stand against them, especially in the power & Spirit of the Lord with the promises from His Word!--Dad
639. Lord we're just fulfilling Thy Word & we're doing what you told us to do. We're obeying, we're believing, we're laying on hands, we're praying prayers of faith, Lord, fulfilling Thy Word! We're claiming Thy Promises that You have promised that we have quoted, & now the rest is up to You, Lord, YOU have to fulfil them & do the job.
Cleanse this Thy Son, Lord, from every disease & any foul thing the Enemy has tried to lay upon him! Rebuke this infection, in Jesus' name, & deliver him & drive it out & away! We command you, Satan, to take your hands off this body of this son of God & deliver him completely in the name of Jesus! We claim it, Lord! Fulfil Thy Word, keep Thy promise! In Jesus' name we ask that he gets over it completely, in Jesus' name!
He's Thy child, busy for Thee, he needs his strength, he needs his health, Lord, he needs his fellowship with others, so we do ask Thee to give him faith for complete deliverance, in Jesus' name. Purify & cleanse like You cleansed the lepers, Lord! If You could do that, You can cleanse this, in Jesus' name. PTL! We know You can give complete deliverance, Lord, & protect also Thy Family, Lord.--Dad
640. There are no losers with Jesus & no winners with the Devil.
641. When you flee temptation, always turn to the right.
642. On the battlefront! Every moment's a moment of action, every moment is a moment of both suspense & danger & excitement & we don't know what's going to happen next!
643. A real soldier likes the battle like an athlete likes the athletic trial. He likes the fight, he likes to be right there on the battlefront, he likes the excitement, he likes the exhilarating thrill of victory!--Dad
644. Once I worked for one of the greatest saints of God I have ever known, Dr. A. U. Michelson, this nation's most famous missionary to the Jews, himself a converted Jewish judge, & founder of the World's first Hebrew-Christian Synagogue & a Gospel program for Jews, which is still heard on hundreds of stations around the World--a man undoubtedly with thousands of souls to his credit & a glorious reward!
I never knew a humbler, sweeter, more compassionate, more loving, more hardworking man, & yet he was pitifully club-footed, & hobbled around all of his life on crutches, in constant suffering. Maybe this is one reason he had such pity on others. We comfort others with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted! How can we be more than conquerors?--By being good losers!--And even praising God in our affliction!--Dad
645. One poor lady was really suffering after her operation & felt so low & lonely & asked the nurse to please stay a while & hold her hand, but she just laughingly took it & then rushed off right away again. The Lord spoke to my heart to go over there instead of the nurse. It was three days after the operation & I had only been out of bed a couple of times.
So it was with staggering steps that I managed to make my way across the room to her bed & sit down & hold her hand. It really touched her heart since she knew it took an effort on my part to do so. I sat there for a while talking to her before returning to bed & she never forgot it, so that before going home I was able to pray with her to receive the Lord. "We comfort others with the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God." (2Cor.1:4)
I was able to comfort another lady before her operation with the same verses that had been a comfort to me & she also asked Jesus to come into her heart! After her operation she said that she had been thinking of me, how I had said I would be praying for her. Even though I was a complete stranger to her, I had been closer to her in a hard situation than even her relatives, because I brought her the Lord. (That is one thing I experienced when I was going through the worst part; in a situation like that everything else loses value but two things: the Lord & His Word & our loving Family.)
646.When Sergeant York in World War 1 was asked why he, a conscientious objector to war, had destroyed a group of enemy machine-gunners & captured over 600 soldiers single-handed, he replied: "The Lord told me it was better to destroy a FEW to save HUNDREDS!"
647. I believe Satan to exist for two reasons: First, the Bible says so; & second, I've done business with him.
It is one thing to be tempted, another thing to fall.
648. Disappointments should be cremated, not embalmed.
649. The gruff, blustery, colourful, dramatic, outspoken but highly successful General Patton is credited to have once said, "It is not the duty of every good soldier to die for his country, but to see to it that the other damned bastard dies for his country!" If you HAVE to go die for your country, well, fine, but it's better to get out there & live for your country & conquer the World!--Dad
650. They say they can tell you're getting old when you start living in the past, instead of the future! At that rate, we have quite a few oldsters around who are still bragging about past glories, when they ought to be forging fiercely into the future & letting the dead bury the dead. They also say you can tell how old people are by the way they quit struggling! At that rate, neither my Mother, Father or Grandfather ever grew old, 'cause they were all doing battle to the very end, "There's no discharge in this war!" (Ecc.8:8)--No actual retirement! Nobody ever arrives to where they can start coasting on or boasting of past achievements! If you're not out there with the youngest of them in the thick of the battle, you're a has-been!--Dad
651. One day Bob was given definite instruction by his mother not to go in swimming in the nearby pond. Shortly afterward, Bob was to pass the pond enroute to the ball park. He took along with him his bathing suit, just in case he was tempted! This was making provision for the flesh! How different it was with the aged Negro who said, "When I pass a watermelon patch, I can't keep my mouth from 'watering,' but I CAN RUN!"
652. You need to declare you faith & just fling it in the face of the Devil! Just throw fiery darts of Scripture at him out loud in prayer & praise!--Dad
653. Say it! Do it! Hear it! See it! Speak it! Quote all the Scriptures you can think of about the Word, the mouth, the tongue, speaking, confessing! It's extremely important! It's a part of your witness, your testimony! It's your words, & they can save, they can heal, they can resist the Devil, especially if they're the Lord's Words! But you've got to use our OWN words to say them!--Dad
654. All the water in the world,
However hard it tried,
Could never sink a ship
Unless it got inside.
All the evil in the world,
The wickedness and sin,
Can never sink the soul's craft
Unless it got inside.
655. Psychologists say that if you put a frog into a pail of hot water he will jump out, but if you put him in a pail of cool water and then gradually heat it up, the frog will permit himself to be cooked. Apparently he is unable to decide when the water is so hot as to be unbearable. When sudden heinous temptations rear their ugly heads, most people instinctively shrink back; but the thing that causes many to get away from God is the almost imperceptible day-by-day drifting. The best protection is to get out of the pot when the water even begins to get warm.
656. Full well do ye know
The foe must be met,
Full well do ye feel
That Satan has set
His powers of darkness
In battle array;
But those who are for you
Are stronger than they.
The fight may be long,
But triumph is sure,
And rest comes at last
To those who endure:
The rest that remaineth,
The victory won,
And (dearer than all things)
Your Captain's "Well done."
Then, on to the fight
'Gainst sin and the world!
Stand fast in His strength,
His banner unfurled;
And, sealed by the Spirit
Of wisdom and might,
Go forward, Christ's soldiers,
Go forward and fight!
--Alice M. Bode
657. At the close of the first day of the battle of Shiloh, a day of severe Union reverses, Gen. Grant was met by his much discouraged chief of staff, McPherson, who said: "Things look bad, General. We have lost half our artillery and a third of the infantry. Our line is broken, and we are pushed back nearly to the river." Grant made no reply, and McPherson asked impatiently what he intended to do. "Do? Why, reform the lines and attack at daybreak. Won't they be surprised?"
Surprised they were, and routed before nine o'clock. Every man that succeeds meets just such crises, and must avert disaster with a prompt reforming of lines and early attack.
658. Keep your mind & your mouth & your ears so busy they don't even have time to listen to the Devil or even feel his pain. Whatever you do, keep your mouth busy & your ears busy & your mind busy & your heart busy praying & praising & quoting & singing & talking in tongues so the Devil hasn't got a chance to get a word or a pain in edgewise! Just out-talk him, drown him out because you can't be thinking about two things at once.--Dad
659. In the interesting life of A. McLay of Cardiff, the following is given as typical of his testimony.
'On one occasion the dining-room of a hotel was full of business men taking lunch, including a person well known as an inveterate blasphemer and specialist in all that is unsavoury. A. McLay was also of the company, and was silently partaking of his meal. Opportunity was taken by the foul-mouthed infidel to break forth into a prolonged harangue in which exceptionally vile things were said about the Lord Jesus Christ. The atmosphere became tense, whilst the effect was electrical. No one responded, & there was a dead silence. Presently, and probably to break the spell, someone said, "Mr. McLay, haven't you anything to say to all this?"
The company almost breathlessly awaited the reply. It came gently and with restrained emotion. He said, "Well, gentlemen, with yourselves I have been obliged to listen to these blasphemous and scurrilous remarks, and I have been thinking of what I could say. May I put it in a few words this way? Many of you know me intimately; you know my wife. You know her worth and what I owe to her; you agree that I could not well exaggerate the felicity of our home life. You realise what my feelings would be, dared anyone utter scandal regarding her. Yet this man in his ignorance and blindness presumes to speak these untrue words against the One Who is infinitely more to me than the closest earthly friend, One Who has died for me, which no on else could have done. My reply is that I declare my heart's allegiance to my Lord Jesus Christ, crucified for sinners, now made both Lord and Christ at the right hand of the throne of God."
"There was such character behind those words and such grace, that these men rose as one man and with gusto shouted, "Hurrah, Mr. McLay!" Someone called for "three cheers for Jesus Christ!'"
(1Pet. 2.7; Rev.5.9,10)
660. "Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong." (1Cor.16:13)
661. Stand up, stand up for Jesus,
Ye soldiers of the cross!
Lift high His royal banner,
It must not suffer loss.
From victory unto victory
His army shall He lead,
Till every foe is vanquished,
And Christ is Lord indeed.
Stand up, stand up for Jesus!
The trumpet call obey;
Forth to the mighty conflict
In this His glorious day.
Ye that are men, now serve Him
Against unnumbered foes;
Let courage rise with danger,
And strength to strength oppose.
Stand up, stand up for Jesus!
Stand in His strength alone;
The arm of flesh will fail you,
Ye dare not trust your own.
Put on the gospel armour,
And, watching unto prayer,
Where duty calls, or danger,
Be never wanting there.
Stand up, stand up for Jesus!
The strife will not be long;
This day the noise of battle,
The next the victor's song.
To him that overcometh
A crown of life shall be:
He with the King of glory
Shall reign eternally.
662. I had a dream that I was able to witness to my brother who had died in a parachute accident four years ago. In the dream he received Jesus & that is a real miracle as he was an atheist while alive! Afterwards while praying we got "This is the day of Salvation," which was so encouraging as I have been praying for him a lot since his death.--Luke & Lovelight
662b. You have no enemies, you say?
Alas! my friend, the boast is poor--
He who has mingled in the fray
Of duty, that the brave endure,
Must have made foes! If you have none,
Small is the work that you have done;
You've hit no traitor on the hip;
You've dashed no cup from perjured lip;
You've never turned the wrong to right--
You've been a coward in the fight!
--Charles Mackay
663. We rebuke the Devil, in Jesus' name! We claim power over Satan in the name of Jesus Christ! Get thee behind us, Satan! Flee from us! Depart from this property & this place & stop throwing those lightning bolts until we get done with God's business here! In Jesus' name, we ask it for Thy glory, Lord Jesus Christ! Show Thy power, Thy mighty power, over the Devil, Lord, & chase him away from this place & our electrical system & this equipment! We ask Thee, in Jesus name to rebuke him & resist him! You promised that if we'd resist the Enemy he'd flee from you. When the Enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of God will raise a standard against him. Hallelujah! TYJ! "So shall I defend these thy children as I have defended their father!"
We have a mighty, wonderful God! He's more powerful than the Devil! The Devil IS powerful--he's the Prince of the power of the air, God's Word says. (Eph.2:2) God has given him dominion over the atmosphere & the storms & the clouds & the lightning bolts & the thunder, but God has dominion over HIM & can CONTROL him & stop the storm in a moment, & stop the thunder & the lightning bolts!
--Dad
664. An old Negro preacher, wearied of the many complaints he heard about the temptations placed in the paths of members of his congregation by Satan: "Folks is all de time making out dat Satan is runnin' after them fo' to tempt them. De truth is, dere is so many people pulling at the Debil's coattails, he ain't got de time to chase nobody."
665. One time when we were living on the East Coast of Sri Lanka, my wife and I took our 3 children by canoe to a small coral island about 100 yards off shore! Only a few square meters of the coral actually stuck out of water, and on this we landed the canoe! The children were able to look through masks at some of the amazingly beautiful tropical fish and fabulously coloured corals which were abundant in the clear blue water all around!
It was late afternoon and the huge red sun was already beginning to dip down over the horizon of the sea, so we began to load the children into the canoe to get back safely to the beach before dark!
However, the water around the coral rock was now a good deal more choppy than when we had landed, and due to the shallowness of the water and the sharpness of the coral, it was not easy to get everyone on board with the canoe swaying this way and that, and the two younger children were getting a little bit frightened!
All of a sudden, literally it seemed from nowhere, a swimmer appeared in the water beside us! He got up onto the rock, and calmly held the back of the boat steady while we all clambered safely inside! I remember studying his face and it was radiant with a sort of heavenly glow of peace and strength and quiet assurance! His face was much like the face of Jesus, as pictured in our Komix, except with shorter hair! It's a thrilling and unique sensation when you're pretty sure you're staring face to face with an angel!
Then with a kindly smile and a wave he pushed us off from the rock, and we started back towards the shore! After paddling for about 10 seconds I thought, "I'm going to turn around right now, and if he really was an angel I have a feeling that he will have disappeared!"--So I did! And he HAD! He was GONE! Not only had he vanished from the rock but neither was there any trace of him swimming in the water anywhere around!
Night falls so swiftly in the Tropics and by the time we arrived back at the beach it was almost dark! There was NO other way for him to swim back to the shore except by the way that we had come! We watched for at least half-an-hour but he never set foot on that beach!
This convinced us that we had indeed had a close encounter with a guardian angel whom the Lord had sent to help in our time of need!
666. At one point during the early days of the Family in India, there were 28 of us living in a small two bedroom ground floor flat in Bombay! As you can imagine living conditions were very crowded and there was no storage place for our belongings, which we had to keep stacked on the porch outside our front door! The porch was protected from intruders by a very thin wire screen. In the screen was a gate which we would keep locked up at night, as well as the front door!
Our home was situated within a small compound, on the other side of which lived a couple of old spinsters who were sisters! Their favourite way to pass the time was to sit out on the balcony of their second floor flat and watch the World go by!
One morning, as we were on our way out of the gate to go litnessing, the two sisters hailed us from their balcony!
"Which one of you was out sleeping on the porch last night?" one of them asked.
"NONE of us," we replied. "We always sleep inside the flat and lock the front door!"
"But someone WAS sleeping out there guarding your belongings!" the old lady insisted! "You see, my sister and I found it hard to get to sleep last night, so at about 2 a.m. we sat out on our balcony to catch a breath of the fresh night air!"
"Yes!" the other sister excitedly continued, "And while we were both watching a robber sneaked over the compound wall and began to cut the wire on your screened porch, trying to get inside! But suddenly a man got up from where he had been sleeping on the floor by your luggage and chased the robber away! He was terrified and ran off into the night! Then the man laid back down again on the floor of the porch where he was guarding your luggage!"
We all praised God for this miracle of His angelic protection--and felt the goosebumps all over!
667. Anyone who is discouraged at the lack of results being yielded by his efforts should take heart with the point of view of the country lad who hailed the city fisherman by the creek and asked, "How many fish yer got, Mister?"
"None yet," he was told.
"That ain't bad," replied the boy, "there was a feller fished here for two weeks and he didn't get any more than you got in half an hour."
668. When Thomas Hart Benton's house in Washington was burned Benton left Congress and came to the ruin of his house. As he looked at it he said, "It makes dying easier. There is so much less to leave."
669. You may others from sadness to gladness beguile,
If you carry your cross with a smile.
670. The fruitful life seeks showers as well as sunshine.
671. God always sends His staff with His rod.
672. The Christian belongs to a better Kingdom than any earthly kingdom. When a man is born again, he becomes a citizen of Heaven. All Heaven is interested in the success of the Christian. God gave His Son to redeem man. He gives His Grace to save and keep him. Angels rejoice when any sinner is saved. All Heaven stands back of the child of God. The Lord will do more for His own than any earthly power can do for any of its subjects.
673. Are you worsted in a fight?
Are you cheated of your right?
Laugh it off.
Don't make tragedies of trifles,
Don't shoot butterflies with rifles--
Laugh it off.
Does your work get into kinks?
Are you near all sorts of brinks?
Laugh if off.
If it's sanity you're after,
There's no recipe like laughter--
Laugh it off.
674. Charles Wesley was conducting one of his many open-air meetings, this one near Killyleagh, Ireland. During the course of his preaching, a number of persons who took exception to his views assaulted him. Unable to withstand the mob, Wesley fled for his life.
He took refuge in a farmhouse nearby. Jane Moore, a kind-hearted wife of a farmer, hid the panting evangelist in the milkhouse. She was barely in time, because at that moment some of Wesley's assailants rushed up.
Mrs. Moore tried to divert their attention by preparing refreshments. Fearful that they might search the premises and discover the harried evangelist, she went to the milkhouse on the pretext of getting a cold drink for her visitors.
"Quickly," she bade him, "get through the rear window, and hide under the hedge." He clambered through the window and found a little brook flowing beside the hedge, forming a pool with overhanging branches that afforded a pleasant and safe retreat.
While waiting for the vindictive Irishmen to give up the search and leave, Wesley pulled a pencil and paper from his pocket and wrote out the immortal hymn, "Jesus, Lover of My Soul."
Dr. George Duffield, author of "Stand up for Jesus," another of our famous songs, once said of Wesley's hymn, "If there is anything in Christian experience of joy and sorrow, of affliction and prosperity, of life and death--that hymn truly is the hymn of the ages."
675. When the novelist, Dr. A.J. Cronin, was a practicing physician in a small Welsh mining community, he worked with a remarkable nurse. For more than twenty years Oliven Davies had served the people with competence, patience, and cheerfulness. Her friend, the doctor, resented the inadequate salary with which her selfless work was rewarded.
"Late one night after a particularly strenuous case, I ventured to protest to her as we drank a cup of tea together. 'Nurse,' I said, 'why don't you make them pay you more? It's ridiculous that you should work for so little.' She raised her eyebrows slightly. But she smiled, 'I have enough to get along.' 'No really,' I protested and persisted, 'you ought to have an extra pound a week at least. God knows you're worth it.'
There was a pause. Her smile remained but her gaze held a gravity, an intensity, that startled me. 'Doctor!' she said, 'if God knows I'm worth it, that's all that matters!'"
676. God loves to smile most upon His people when the World frowns most.
677. He giveth more grace when the burdens grow greater,
He sendeth more strength when the labours increase;
To added affliction He addeth His mercy,
To multiplied trials, His multiplied peace.
--Annie Johnson Flint
678. Seek Christ, & you will find Him, & with Him everything else thrown in.
679. One of the early founders of the Rothschild House, in his younger days borrowed a small amount of money from a friend to help him start in business. Without security to give, he got it on the ground of his need. He went to a distant part of Germany, and many years rolled on. After nearly half a century, when the name of the family and the firm had become world-wide, his old benefactor did not even know it was the same youth he had once befriended. But one day, when he was an old man and his health had broken, his fortune gone and his family dependent upon him, and the darkest shadows gathering about his life, he received a letter from the Rothschild House in Frankfurt, summoning him to the bank for an important interview. As he entered the private office of the great banker, he was greeted with a welcome he had little expected. After the old acquaintance had been renewed, the great banker went to his desk and took out a draft for an enormous amount of money, amounting to some hundred thousand dollars, handed it to his old friend, and said, "I have sent for you to pay you the dividends on the stock you entrusted to my banking nearly fifty years ago." Astounded, the friend refused to take the money, saying that he had no such claim, and could not accept such a gift. "It is not a gift," said the banker, "it is simply the actual profit on the money you gave me, wisely turned over a great many times, until it has actually accumulated this compound interest ..." As A.B. Simpson said, "There is a day coming when the trust that we have committed to His keeping will be returned to us a millionfold more. We shall find what a good investor of our treasures God is."
680. A small boy sat quietly in a seat of the day coach on a train running between two of the Western cities in the United States. It was a hot, dusty day, very uncomfortable for traveling, and that particular ride was perhaps the most uninteresting day's journey in the whole land. But the little fellow sat patiently watching the fields and the fences hurrying by, until a motherly old lady, leaning forward, asked sympathetically, "Aren't you tired of the long ride, dear, and the dust and the heat?"
The lad looked up brightly, and replied, with a smile, "Yes, ma'am, a little. But I don't mind it much, because my father is going to meet me when I get to the end of it." What a beautiful thought it is that when life seems wearisome and monotonous, as it sometimes does, we can look forward hopefully and trustingly, and like the lonely little lad, not "mind it much" because our Father, too, will be waiting to meet us at our journey's end! Father will meet us at the end of the journey -- thank God!
681. Life asks no questions that faith cannot answer.
682. Christ understands loneliness; He's been through it.
683. The soul hardly ever realises it, but whether he is a believer or not, his loneliness is really a homesickness for God.
684. Poverty is a friend to prayer.--George Swinnock
685. I am mended by my sickness, enriched by my poverty, & strengthened by my weakness.
686. All real evil is averted from the people of God, or is so controlled as in the end to do them good.--William S. Plumer
687. Though we may have little of this world's goods we have much for which to praise God. A woman was dying in the poorhouse. The doctor bent over her and heard her whisper, "Praise the Lord."
"Why, auntie," he said, "how can you praise God when you are dying in a poorhouse?"
"Oh, doctor," she replied, "it's wonderful to go from the poorhouse to a mansion in the skies!"
688. Not to the priest in the temple of old,
Not to the king in his palace of gold,
Not to the famous -- the men of the hour,
Not to the great with their might and their power;
But to the shepherds alone in the night
God sent His glorious angels of light,
Bearing their tidings, so blessed and true,
"Fear not! a Saviour is born unto you."
Not to the men who in arrogant pride
March ever on over life's surging tide;
Not to the boastful who make their life's aim
Only to seek after worldly acclaim;
But to the humble, the meek, and the low,
When in the night of great trial and woe,
God sends His Spirit to whisper anew,
"Fear not! Your Saviour abideth with you!"
--James A. Dillon
689. One little hour of watching for the Master,
Eternal years to walk with Him in white;
One little hour to bravely meet life's duties,
Eternal years to reign with Him in light.
One little hour for weary toils and trials,
Eternal years for calm and peaceful rest;
One little hour for patient self-denials,
Eternal years of life where life is blest.
690. Not a drop of rain falls in vain.
691. We turn to God when our foundations are shaking, only to learn that it is God who is shaking them.
692. God is not defeated by human failure.
693. There is no such thing as chance or accident; the words merely signify our ignorance of some real & immediate cause.
694. The calm which puts us to sleep may be more fatal than a storm which keeps us wide awake.
695. Life is like a mirror--we get the best results when we smile.
696. Said Dr. Will Mayo:
"I have seen patients that were dead by all standards. We knew they could not live. But I have seen a minister come to the bedside and do something for him that I could not do, although I have done everything in my professional power. But something touched some immortal spark in him and in defiance of medical knowledge and materialistic common sense, that patient LIVED!"
--The Mayo Brothers, Doctors Will and Charles were founders of the world-famed Mayo Clinics.
697. Sir Walter Scott once said, "Give me my imagination and I can be happy in a prison." Sir Walter Raleigh on the death of Queen Elizabeth came into disfavor in court and was imprisoned in the Tower of London for thirteen years. But they could not shut up or chain his active mind and spirit. He wrote a remarkable history of the world which was considered a classic in the century that followed.
They shut up John Bunyan in Bedford jail that he might not preach the gospel. His tireless soul refused to be enchained. He wrote what was for centuries the most popular book written in the English language, "Pilgrim's Progress". Paul himself, when a prisoner at Rome and chafing because he could not go and preach to the churches, wrote letters which have immortalized his name and have been carrying his message to all generations since.
698. When a man is determined, what can stop him?" Cripple him and you have a SIR WALTER SCOTT; put him in a prison cell and you have JOHN BUNYAN; bury him in the snows of Valley Forge any you have a GEORGE WASHINGTON. Have him born in abject poverty and you have a LINCOLN. Load him with bitter racial prejudice and you have a DISRAELI.
Afflict him with asthma until as a boy he lies choking in his father's arms and you have a THEODORE ROOSEVELT; stab him with rheumatic pains until for years he cannot sleep without an opiate and you have a STEINMETZ; put him in a grease pit of a locomotive roundhouse and you have a WALTER CHRYSLER; make him a second fiddle in an obscure South American orchestra and you have a TOSCANINI.
699. Life's most difficult problem is to keep clean of debt, dirt, & the Devil all at the same time.
700. If God now seems far away, who make the first move?
701. Security is not the absence of danger, but the presence of God, no matter what the danger.
702. Prosperity is a great mercy, but adversity is a greater one, if it brings us to Christ.
703. What is corrupt, though of God's permitting, is not of His planting.
704. After the crosses -- a crown of life;
After weeping -- a song;
After the night of sorrow -- a bright and glorious dawn.
After the heartaches -- the comforting;
After the storm -- a calm;
After suff'ring and sighing -- God's love a healing balm.
After the longing -- reality;
After wand'ring -- the way;
After the pain of parting -- the glad reunion day.
After the mourning -- the oil of joy;
After darkness -- the light;
After earth's toil and trials -- the blessed face of Christ.
--Eda A. Reid
705. George Matheson who, engaged to be married, learned he would soon be totally blind. His fianc said, "I cannot marry a blind man." He left her with his dreams shattered. He thought of taking his life, but instead took hold of himself as he wrote the moving hymn, "O Love That Wilt Not Let Me Go."
O Love that wilt not let me go.
I rest my weary soul in Thee;
I give Thee back the life I owe,
That in Thine ocean depths its flow
May richer, fuller be.
O Light that follow'st all my way,
I yield my flick'ring torch to Thee;
My heart restores its borrowed ray,
That in Thy sunshine's glow its day
May brighter, fairer be.
O Joy that seekest me through pain,
I cannot close my heart to Thee;
I trace the rainbow through the rain,
And feel the promise is not vain
That morn shall tearless be.
O Cross that liftest up my head,
I dare not ask to fly from Thee;
I lay in dust, life's glory dead,
And from the ground there blossoms red
Life that shall endless be.
706. An enemy I had whose mien
I stoutly strove to know,
For hard he dogged my steps, unseen,
Wherever I might go.
My plans he balked, my aims he foiled,
He blocked my onward way.
When for some lofty goal I toiled,
He grimly said me nay.
"Come forth!" I cried, "lay bare thy guise!
Thy features I would see!"
But always to my straining eyes
He dwelt in mystery.
One night I seized and held him fast,
The veil from him did draw,
I gazed upon his face at last ...
And lo! myself I saw.
--Edwin L. Sabin
Which reminds us that D. L. Moody once made this confession: "I have more trouble with myself than any other person."
707. Nothing is or can be accidental with God.--Henry W. Longfellow
708. God would never permit evil if He could not bring good out of it.
709. A man can no more take in a supply of grace for the future than he can eat enough for the next six months or take sufficient air into his lungs at one time to sustain life for a week. We must draw upon God's boundless store of grace from day to day as we need it.
710. The following sentences ring like jewels of gold falling down stairways of pearl. From these we get a glimpse of Helen Keller's happy heart:
"Is it not true that my life, with all its limitations, touches at many points the life of the World Beautiful? Everything has its wonders, even darkness and silence, and I learn whatever state I may be in therein to be content. Sometimes, it is true, a sense of isolation enfolds me like a cold mist as I sit alone and wait at life's shut gate. Beyond there is light and music and sweet companionships, but I may not enter...Silence sits immense upon my soul. Then comes Hope with a smile and whispers, 'There is joy in self-forgetfulness.' So I try to make the light in others' eyes my sun, the music in others' ears my symphony, the smile on others' lips my happiness."
711. An Atlantic liner was caught in a storm. For two days the wind raged. Passengers were frightened. At last an anxious passenger climbed by great effort to where he could see the pilot. Coming back down among the passengers, he spread the glad tidings of peace. Said he, "We are all right. The ship will make port; for I have seen the pilot, and he is smiling." With the great Pilot directing our life we can smile on through every storm and smiling, be at peace.
712. God never imposes a duty without giving time to do it.--John Ruskin
713. God dries up the channels, that you may be compelled to plunge into an infinite ocean of happiness.
714. It is doubtful if God can bless a man greatly without hurting him deeply.
715. A beautiful heart more than offsets the handicap of a homely face.
716. Let us be as watchful after the victory as before the battle.
717. They borrowed a bed to lay His head
When Christ the Lord came down;
They borrowed the ass in the mountain pass
For Him to ride to town;
But the crown He wore
And the cross He bore
Were His own.
He borrowed the bread when the crowd He fed
On the grassy mountain side;
He borrowed the dish of broken fish
With which He satisfied;
But the crown He wore
And the cross He bore
Were His own.
He borrowed the ship in which to sit
To teach the multitude;
He borrowed a bed to lay his head,
He had never a home so rude;
But the crown He wore
And the cross He bore
Were His own.
He borrowed a room on the way to the tomb
The passover lamb to eat;
They borrowed the cave; For Him a grave;
They borrowed the winding sheet.
But the crown He wore
And the cross He bore
Were His own.
The thorns on His head were worn in my stead,
For me the Saviour died.
For guilt of my sin the nails drove in
When Him they crucified;
Though the crown He wore
And the cross He bore
Were His own
They rightly were mine.
718. Perhaps today my Lord will come
To bear me to my much loved Home:
Before the evening shadows fall
May sound the longed-for clarion call;
Then out of sorrow, tears and strife,
I'll rise to realms of joy and life.
Perhaps today will be the last,
And time shall be forever past.
My light affliction will be o'er,
Then Glory! Glory! evermore!
These days of toil and pain will cease
And joyful, I shall rest in peace.
Perhaps today mine eyes shall see
The Lamb of God who died for me:
Oh, nothing else will matter then,
If unto Him I've faithful been.
Live for that day, O soul of mine,
And joy eternal shall be thine.
--Annie Lind Woodworth
719. Laughter is the remedy for many little ills. It can cure more quickly than the doctor's tiny pills.
720. The average man can stand adversity better than prosperity.
721. When things get rough, remember: It's the rubbing that brings out the shine.
722. Character, like sweet herbs, should give off its finest fragrance when pressed.
723. There are two ways of meeting difficulties: Alter the difficulties, or alter yourself to meet them.
724. The City National Bank of Binghamton, N.Y., sent flowers to the management of the Binghamton Savings Bank congratulating the latter institution upon the opening of its new facilities. But, unfortunately, the card accompanying the flowers read: "Deepest Sympathy."
Later, the florist who made the mistake called the bank to apologize. What really worried him, he added, was the other bouquet, intended for a funeral, and carrying the message intended for the bank--"Congratulations on your new location."
725. "I closely held within my arms
A jewel rare;
Never had one so rich and pure
Engaged my care;
'Twas my own, my precious jewel,
God gave it me;
'Twas mine, who else could care for it,
So tenderly?
"But the Master came one day
My gem to take;
'I cannot let it go,' I cried,
'My heart would break':
'Nay, but the Master comes for it,
To bear above
To deck His royal diadem,
He comes in love.'
"'But, Master, it is my treasure,
My jewel rare,
I'll safely guard and keep it pure,
And very fair';
'If Thou keep'st my gem,' He said,
'It may be lost;
The threshold of My home, no thief
Has ever crossed.
"'And where the heart's rich treasure is,
The heart will be;
Thy jewel will be safe above,
Gone before Thee.'
The Master said these words and gazed
With pitying look,
While in the early hush of morn
My gem He took.
"Close to my heart that morn I held,
Tears falling fast,
An empty casket--the bright gem
Was safe at last.
'Yes, Master, Thou may'st keep my own,
For it is Thine;
Safe in the house not made with hands,
'Tis Thine and Mine.'"
726. There's one thing about baldness--it's neat.
727. There is only one answer to defeat & that is victory.
728. There is no more dangerous moment in our lives than that which follows a great victory.
729. There can be no victory where there is no combat.
730. The more terrible the storm, the more necessary the anchor.
731. Not long ago I saw a little bird lying still and cold on the ground. I thought to myself, I barely missed seeing God, for He has just been here to a funeral.
732. O Lord Jesus, because being full of foolishness we often sin and have to ask pardon: help us to forgive as we would be forgiven, neither mentioning old offences committed against us, nor dwelling on them in thought, nor being influenced by them in heart; but loving each other freely as Thou lovest us, for Thy Name's sake. Amen.
733. It is said that when the knights of King Arthur's court returned from the field of battle, if they did not bear in their bodies some scar of the battle, they were thrust forth by the king, with the command, "Go, get your scar!"
734. How would a person ever know whether his faith was weak or strong unless it has been tried & tested?
735. Prosperity makes friends; adversity tries them.
736. God often tries us with a little to see what we would do with a lot.
737. When you're up to your ears in trouble, try using the part that isn't submerged.
738. The triumphal song of life would lose its melody without its minor keys.
739. Love is a fabric which never fades, no matter how often it is washed in the water of adversity & grief.
740. You can usually determine the calibre of a man by ascertaining the amount of opposition it takes to discourage him.
741. The heaviest burdens in life are the things that might happen but don't.
742. When God allows a burden to be put upon you, He will put His arms underneath you to help you carry it.
743. Trees which stand on top of a cliff need to send their roots deep.
744. The chief care of a sick man should be for his soul.
745. Responsibility is my response to God's ability.
746. Strong people make as many mistakes as weak people. The difference is that strong people admit them, laugh at them, learn from them. That is how they became strong.
747. It's not the failures he may meet
That keep a man from winnin'
It's the discouragement complete
That blocks a new beginnin';
When things all seem to go awry,
You can't chew all you've bitten,
That's when you've really got to try
An' quit those thoughts of quittin'.
You want to quit a-layin' down
An' sayin' hope is over,
Because the fields are bare an' brown
Where once we lived in clover.
When jolted from the water cart
It's painful to be hittin'
The earth; but make another start.
Cheer up, an' quit your quittin'.
Although the game seems rather stiff
Don't be a doleful doubter;
There's always one more innin' if
You're not a down-&-outer.
But fortune's pretty sure to soar
From folks content with sittin'
Around an' sayin' life's a bore.
You've got to quit your quittin'.
--Edgar Guest.
748. When the weather suits you not,
Try smiling.
When your coffee isn't hot,
Try smiling.
When your neighbours don't do right,
Or your relatives they fight,
Sure 'tis hard, but then you might
Try smiling.
Doesn't change the things, of course--
Just smiling.
But it cannot make them worse--
Just smiling.
And it seems to help your case,
Brightens up a gloomy place,
Then, it sort o' rests your face--
Just smiling.
749. For a child of God, death is simply the angel waiting on the threshold of the unseen to disrobe the soul of its earthly garments, preparatory to its passing into the presence of the King.
750. You have no enemies, you say?
Alas! my friend, the boast is poor-
He who has mingled in the fray
Of duty, that the brave endure,
Must have made foes! if you have none,
Small is the work that you have done;
You've hit no traitor on the hip;
You've dashed no cup from perjured lip;
You've never turned the wrong to right-
You've been a coward in the fight!
--Charles Mackay
751. Defeat is nothing but the first step to something better.
752. Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, only more intelligently.
753. Maturity is the ability to rejoice with another who has succeeded when you have failed.
754. Men who try something & fail are infinitely better than those who try nothing & succeed.
755. There is no such thing as failure inside the will of God. There is no such thing as real success outside the will of God.
756. Stone walls do not a prison make,
Nor iron bars a cage;
Minds innocent and quiet take
That for an hermitage:
If I have freedom in my love,
And in my soul am free,
Angels alone, that soar above,
Enjoy such liberty.
--Richard Lovelace
757. Trouble is what gives a fellow a chance to discover his strength--or lack of it.
758. The burdens that appear easiest to carry are those borne by others.
759. Few burdens are heavy when everybody lifts.
760. Some people find happiness by making the most of what they don't have.
761. How a man plays the game shows something of his character. How he loses shows all of it.
762. God's love does not always keep us from trials, but it is a love that always keeps us through trials.
763. It is far safer to be in the storm with Christ, than to be in still water without Him.
764. When you are down in the mouth, remember Jonah. He came out all right.
765. Trials when very heavy kill little people, but they make great ones.
766. The only ladder to Heaven is the cross.
767. Lord please forgive me
For trying to hurry
And wanting to worry.
For faithless decision
And losing the vision.
For foolish man-pleasing.
And jerking not squeezing.
For not waxing valiant,
For burying my talent.
For not being wise
Nor pressing for the prize.
Nor loving nor sharing.
And chasing red herrings.
For an unbridled tongue
And a job left undone
For wood, hay and stubble
And looking for trouble.
For not taking care
And no desperate prayer.
And being a fool
By thinking I'm cool.
And not wanting to admit
That I ever blow it.
Help me try 'til I win
In Jesus' name, amen.
--By Anthony (Laban)
768. There's no such thing as a little trouble--especially if you're the one that's in it.
769. With God's strength behind you, His love within you, & his arms underneath you, you are more than sufficient for the days ahead of you.
770. If you have Christ on the inside, you can stand up to any crisis on the outside.
771. It's not the load that breaks you down, it's the way you carry it.
772. One of Henry Ward Beecher's favorite stories was about a young man who was applying for a job in a New England factory. Asking for the owner, he found himself in the presence of a nervous, fidgety man who looked hopelessly dyspeptic. "The only vacancy here," he told the applicant, "is a vice-presidency. The man that takes the job must shoulder all my cares."
"That's a tough job," said the applicant.
"What's the salary?"
"I'll pay you ten thousand a year if you will really take over all my worries."
"Where is the ten thousand coming from?" asked the applicant, suspiciously.
"That my friend," replied the owner, "is your first worry."
773. I was a wandering sheep,
I did not love the fold;
I did not love my Shepherd's voice,
I would not be controlled.
I was a wayward child,
I did not love my Home;
I did not love my FATHER'S Voice,
I loved afar to roam.
The Shepherd sought His sheep,
The FATHER sought His child;
They followed me o'er vale and hill,
O'er deserts waste and wild:
They found me nigh to death,
Famished, and faint, and lone;
They bound me with the bands of love
They saved the wandering one!
774. Things could be worse--suppose your errors were published every day like those of baseball players?
775. I do not pray for a lighter load, but for a stronger back.
776. I'd rather have lots of chastening from the Lord...& be usable, than to live a life of ease...& be powerless.
777. If you can see a work which you have begun taken from you & given to another without feeling bitterness, that is maturity.
778. If you can see others chosen for a job which you are better qualified to do & not feel hurt, that is maturity.
779. O HAPPY band of pilgrims,
If onward ye will tread
With JESUS as your Fellow,
To JESUS as your Head!
Oh, happy, if ye labour
As JESUS did for men:
Oh, happy, if ye hunger
As JESUS hungered then!
The Faith by which ye see Him,
The Hope in which ye yearn,
The Love that through all troubles
To Him alone will turn:
What are they but His heralds
To lead you to His sight?
What are they save the effluence
Of uncreated Light?
The trials that beset you,
The sorrows ye endure,
The manifold temptations
That death alone can cure:
What are they but His jewels
Of right celestial worth?
What are they but the ladder
Set up to Heaven on earth?
The Cross that JESUS carried,
He carried as your due;
The Crown that Jesus weareth,
He weareth it for you.
O happy band of pilgrims,
Look upward to the skies,
Where such a light affliction
Shall win you such a prize.
--Rev. J.M. Neale
780. On a little church in Germany stands a stone lamb which has an interesting history: When some workmen were building the roof, one workman fell to the ground. His companions hastened down expecting to see him killed. But he was unhurt. A lamb was grazing below when he fell on it, crushing the lamb. He was so grateful that he made an image of the lamb in stone and placed it on the building as memorial.
781. The Christian dies to live.--D.L. Moody
782. A farmer wrote in to the paper & said, "I'm not even a Christian, I don't go to church: I plow on Sunday, I plant on Sunday, & look at all the great crops I've got! I'm getting along great! My poor Christian neighbour is having all kinds of trouble. He goes to church on Sunday, & he does not plow & work on Sunday--& he's a lot worse off than I am!" The wise old newspaper editor wrote back in the letters column: "God doesn't pay all of His accounts in the Fall!" In other words, "You just wait, Brother!"
783. If at first you don't succeed--you are about average.
784. God hath not promised
Skies always blue,
Flower-strewn pathways,
All our lives thru';
God hath not promised
Sun without rain,
Joy without sorrow,
Peace without pain.
God hath not promised
That we shall not know
Toil and temptation,
Trouble and woe;
He hath not told us
We shall not bear
Many a burden,
Many a care.
God hath not promised
Smooth roads and wide,
Swift, easy travel,
Needing no guide;
Never a mountain,
Rocky and steep,
Never a river
Turbid and deep:
But God hath promised
Strength for the day,
Rest for the labor,
Light for the way,
Grace for the trials,
Help from above,
Unfailing sympathy,
Undying love.
--Annie Johnson Flint.
785. O heart of mine, we shouldn't worry so!
What we've missed of calm we couldn't have, you know!
What we've met of stormy pain,
And of sorrow's driving rain,
We can better meet again,
If it blow!
We have erred in that dark hour we have known,
When our tears fell with the shower,
All alone!--
Were not shine & shower blent
As the gracious Master meant?--
Let us temper our content
With His own.
For, we know, not every morrow can be sad;
So, forgetting all the sorrow we have had,
Let us fold away our fear,
And put by our foolish tears,
And through all the coming years
Just be glad.
--James Whitcomb Riley
786. The Great Wall of China is a gigantic structure which cost an immense amount of money & labour. When it was finished, it appeared impregnable. But the enemy breached it. Not by breaking it down or going around it. They did it by bribing the gatekeepers.
787. When Charles Spurgeon lay on his deathbed, he testified to a friend, "My theology now is found in four little words: 'JESUS died for ME.' I don't say this is all I would preach if I were to be raised up again, but it is more than enough for me to die upon."
788. The best answer to self-consciousness is God-consciousness!
789. No one is beat till he quits,
No one is through till he stops,
No matter how hard Failure hits,
No matter how often he drops,
A fellow's not down till he lies
In the dust & refuses to rise.
Fate can slam him & bang him around
And batter his frame till he's sore,
But she never can say that he's downed
While he bobs up serenely for more.
A fellow's not dead till he dies.
Nor beat till no longer he tries.
--Edgar Guest
790. LINES WRITTEN AFTER THE DISCOVERY OF THE GERM OF YELLOW FEVER:
This day relenting God
Hath placed within my hand
A wondrous thing; & God
Be praised. At His command,
Seeking His secret deeds
With tears & toiling breath,
I find thy cunning seeds,
O million-murdering Death.
I know this little thing
A myriad men will save.
O Death, where is thy sting?
Thy victory, O Grave?
--Ronald Russ
791. 'Tis better to have tried in vain,
Sincerely striving for a goal,
Than to have lived upon the plain
An idle & a timid soul.
'Tis better to have fought & spent
Your courage, missing all applause,
Than to have lived in smug content
And never ventured for a cause.
For he who tries & fails may be
The founder of a better day;
Though never sees he victory,
From him shall others learn the way.
--Edgar Guest
792. The very proof that God loves you is that He does not spare you, but lays upon you the cross of Jesus Christ.
793. It is when God appears to have abandoned us that we must abandon ourselves most wholly to God.
794. If disappointment, trouble, frustration or failure have influenced our decision, we should be doubly careful before acting on it. Had Paul & Silas allowed their reception in Philippi to sway them in their guidance Europe might still have been without the Gospel.
795. The wind is such an optimist
That we can learn from him
How we can turn into a tune
A grief, however grim.
For even in a broken fence,
A crack, however long,
Will make him pucker up his lips
And whistle through a song!
--Louis Ginberg
796. What we call life is a journey to death. What we call death is the gateway to life.
797. If you would like to do or die,
Then here's the fight. Come, draw nigh!
But if you don't like smell of smoke,
To join THIS army's quite a joke;
'Cause we've got LOTS of battles now!
When time's so short, I wonder how
You'll do when things get harder still,
When food is scarce & funds are nil.
Then you may REALLY moan & howl,
If that's the case, throw in the towel!
And WASTE your life then, if you will;
But we can not be biding still!
For we can now no longer wait
While you lag so & hesitate;
We just can't stand here all day long
While you bemoan how things go wrong.
The army waits to MARCH!--To FIGHT!
The battles raging day & night!
The foe is just outside the GATE;
My Lord! How can you hesitate?!
--And stay here in your juice and stew,
And chat with doubts & doubtlets too?
It's hard enough to fight the Devil,
Without YOU getting on his level!
We're OFF! We've really GOT to go!
Lord help us, we've just been too slow!
If you won't join us as a FIGHTER,
We'll leave you HERE & travel lighter!
That SOUND!--HARK!--The BATTLE cry!
Rise up!--And bid your woes goodbye!
And if you'd like to come along,
Don't moan, but sing the BATTLE song!
And leave BEHIND each doubt & fear,
'Cause if you can't, then just stay here!
--And find a place to serve the Lord,
Where you don't find the way so hard!
I hear the Captain's call!--CAN'T WAIT!
LOST are those who hesitate!
Lord, help us all to be on guard,
And get in step with YOU, dear Lord.
We'll follow You, in YOU we'll trust;
Or we may ALL just bite the dust!
--And that would be an awful shame!
Could we really bear the blame.
For failing in the work we do?
Christ ALONE can see us through!
Know what you joined us for!--And FIGHT!
The GOAL we strive for is in SIGHT!
--Seek
798. Mr. & Mrs. Lamb--Scottish martyrs of the 16th century. Both were condemned by the authorities--he to be hanged, she to be tied in a sack & drowned in a pool. The wife on parting said to her husband: "Husband, be glad we have lived together many joyful days, & this day, on which we are to die, we ought to esteem the most joyful of all--because now we shall have joy forever. Therefore, I shall not bid you 'Goodnight,' for we shall meet in Heaven."
799. If a Christian has to change his plans, it is always because God has something better in store.
800. There's a wayward side to the best of men
That pulls them from the track;
With some it's things they own & love,
With some it's things they lack.
There's a fearful side to each warrior's heart
That keeps him from the fray
And a lazy streak that hinders men
When they're kneelin' down to pray.
But there's a spear-pierced side in our Lord Who died
And the cat-'o-nine-tails whipped;
And the scars of thorns that pierced his brow,
And the knees cut when He slipped.
An' it makes you think...Lord! It makes you think,
Can I give less than my all?
His only concern's that I stay on the track,
'Cause He knows what it's like to fall.
There's a hope held out to the worst of men
That keeps them on the track;
An' it helps'm know that it's worth it all,
In spite of the load on their back!
There's a Spirit-fire that makes men strong,
That're weak like you & me,
That can bring you back, when you're off the track
And the goal's been hard to see.
There's a better side to each wayward soul
That keeps them on the track;
It's the side that strives to give its all,
An' takes no end of flak,
There's some poor weak souls wearin' glory-crowns,
As they fight to stay on track
'Cause their eyes are glued to the end of the road,
And they're not a'lookin' back!
--Hart
801. When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you're trudging seems all up hill,
When the funds are low & the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest, if you must--but don't you quit.
Life is queer with its twists & turns,
As everyone of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about
When he might have won had he stuck it out;
Don't give up, though the pace seems slow--
You might succeed with another blow.
Often the goal is nearer than
It seems to a faint & faltering man,
Often the struggler has given up
When he might have captured the victor's cup.
And he learned too late, when the night slipped down,
How close he was to the golden crown.
Success is failure turned inside out--
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt--
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems afar;
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit--
It's when things seem worst that you mustn't quit.
--Frank Stanton
802. Oh, wonderful story of deathless love;
Each child is dear to that Heart above.
He fights for me when I cannot fight,
He comforts me in the gloom of night,
He lifts the burden, for He is strong,
He stills the sigh & awakes the song;
The sorrow that bows me down He bears,
And loves & pardons, because He cares.
Let all who are sad take heart again;
We are not alone in our hours of pain;
Our Father stoops from His throne above
To soothe & quiet us with His Love.
He leaves us not when the storm is high,
And we have safety, for He is nigh.
Can it be trouble that He doth share?
Oh, rest in peace, for the Lord doth care!
--Susan Coolidge
803. If never a sorrow came to us, & never a care we knew;
If every hope were realised, & every dream came true;
If only joy were found on earth, & no one ever sighed,
And never a friend proved false to us, & never a loved one died,
And never a burden bore us down, soul-sick & weary, too,
We'd yearn for tests to prove our worth & tasks for us to do.
--Edgar Guest
804. There is healing in the Promise,
There is healing in the Blood,
There is strength for all our weakness
In the Risen Son of God.
And the feeblest of His children
All His glorious life may share,
He has better balm in Gilead;
He's the Great Physician there.
Would you prove this Great Physician,
You must do what He commands;
Carefully obey His orders;
Lie submissive in His hands.
You must trust without a question;
Cast upon Him ev'ry care,
And you'll find there's balm in Gilead,
There's a great Physician there.
805. So he died for his faith. That is fine-
More than most of us do.
But say, can you add to that line
That he lived for it, too?
In his death he bore witness at last
As a martyr to truth.
Did his life do the same in the past
From the days of his youth?
It is easy to die. Men have died
For a wish or a whim-
From bravado or passion or pride.
Was it harder for him?
But to live - every day to live out
All the truth that he dreamt,
While his friends met his conduct with doubt,
And the world with contempt-
Was it thus that he plodded ahead,
Never turning aside?
Then we'll talk of the life that he led.
Never mind how he died.
--Ernest H. Crosby
806. After having been in bed for nearly five years almost totally paralysed, Grandmother cried out to God & was instantly, miraculously healed! This powerful testimony of God's healing won many souls & inspired many Christians to have more faith in the Lord. But almost every time before she was to give it, the Devil would put her through a terrible test: She'd either get terribly sick or break her glasses or fall & hurt herself or something. She used to say, "The Devil tries to stop me because he FEARS my witness!"
One time as she was sitting waiting to speak, all of a sudden she felt the paralysis strike again, & she couldn't move her legs or budge from her chair. She thought, "Lord, what is the matter?" Immediately the Lord answered her, "It is lying vanities!" (Psa.31:6; Jonah 2:8)--In other words, it was only a LIE of the DEVIL! He was trying to make her BELIEVE that she was paralysed, but it wasn't really true! So she rebuked the Devil & just then they called her name & she shot out of her chair & into the pulpit & gave her testimony in greater power than she had ever done before! Years later she said, "Had I believed & accepted the Devil's lie, I'd probably be paralysed to this day!"--Dad
807. This story is said to have happened in Russia during the early days after the Communist Revolution when they were persecuting Christians so badly. They sent a group of 40 Christians out on the ice of a frozen lake naked to die because they wouldn't deny their faith. The guards told them that if any of them wanted to save themselves, all they had to do was run back to the guards & renounce their faith. They all froze & dropped one by one, till finally the last man couldn't take it. He saw all the others dying & he was left alone, & he turned coward & ran toward the guards screaming that he'd deny his faith.
But suddenly one of the soldiers said, "Here, take my gun, put on my uniform! I'm going out there to die in your place! I was standing here watching & as each Christian dropped I saw a crown placed on his head! But just as the hand was coming down from Heaven to place a crown on YOUR head, you RAN! So here, take my uniform, my gun! I want to take your place! I want that crown!" And he went out on the ice & died for Christ!--Dad
"Be thou faithful unto death, & I will give thee a crown of life." (Rev.2:10)
808. He placed me in a little cage,
Away from gardens fair;
But I must sing the sweetest songs
Because He placed me there.
Not beat my wings against the cage
If it's my Maker's will,
But raise my voice to heaven's gate
And sing the louder still!
809. A youthful Mexican convert who had escaped the bondage of a false religion was listening to a missionary as she told of her visit to the Tower of London where the crown jewels are kept. She had seen the famous Kohinoor diamond which adorns the crown of the British King at his coronation. The crown is set with the most precious gems! They dazzle! They sparkle! They are priceless! Following this description, the process of polishing these gems was enlarged upon, and the words in Malachi 3 were quoted. Every word was being absorbed by this earnest, dark-eyed lad. At the close of the service he came to the missionary saying, "Pray for me that I may endure the polishing and be worthy of being even the smallest gem in my Saviour's crown. I do not want to wear a cheap crown." A few months later he suffered martyrdom.
810. A certain daughter of a streetcar conductor had to learn a lesson the hard way. She longed to be a singer. But her face was her misfortune. She had a large mouth & protruding buck teeth. When she first sang in public--in a New Jersey night club--she tried to pull down her upper lip to cover her teeth. She tried to act "glamorous." The results? She made herself ridiculous. She was headed for failure.
However, there was a man in this night club who heard the girl sing & thought she had talent. "See here," he said bluntly, "I've been watching your performance & I know what it is you're trying to hide. You're ashamed of your teeth!" The girl was embarrassed, but the man continued, "What of it? Is there any particular crime in having buck teeth? Don't try to hide them! Open your mouth, & the audience will love you when they see you're not ashamed. Besides," he said shrewdly, "those teeth you're trying to hide may make your fortune!"
Cass Daley took his advice & forgot about her teeth. From that time on, she thought only about her audience. She opened her mouth wide & sang with such gusto & enjoyment that she became a top star in movies & radio. Other comedians are now trying to copy her!
811. When George Bernard Shaw was asked how he learned to speak so compellingly in public, he replied: "I did it the same way I learned to skate--by doggedly making a fool of myself until I got used to it." As a youth, Shaw was one of the most timid persons in London. He often walked up & down the Embankment for twenty minutes or more before venturing to knock at a door. "Few men," he confessed, "have suffered more from simple cowardice or have been more horribly ashamed of it."
Finally, he hit upon the best & quickest & surest method ever yet devised to conquer timidity, cowardice, & fear. He determined to make his weak point his strongest asset. He joined a debating society. He attended every meeting in London where there was to be a public discussion, & he always arose & took part in the debate. By throwing his heart into the cause of socialism, & by going out & speaking for that cause, George Bernard Shaw transformed himself into one of the most confident & brilliant speakers of the first half of the twentieth century.
812. Death isn't death--it's glory
It isn't dark--it's light
It isn't stumbling, groping or
even faith--it's sight!
It isn't grief--it's having the
last tear wiped away;
It's sunrise, it's the morning
of my eternal day!
813. Victories that are easy are cheap. The victories worth having are those gained in a difficult struggle.
814.There are some defeats more triumphant than victories.
815. My soul, thou art receiving a music lesson from thy Father. Thou art being educated for the choir invisible. There are parts in the symphony that none can take but thee. My Father is training thee for the part the angels cannot sing, & the school is sorrow. In the night He is preparing thy song. In the valley he is tuning thy voice. In the cloud He is deepening thy chords. In the rains He is sweetening thy melody. In the cold He is molding thy expression. Despise not the school of sorrow.--George Matheson
816. The ideal environment does not guarantee perfect performance. Remember, Adam was in Paradise when he fell.
817. God will not give any soldier ammunition who is not willing to go into battle.
818. Sometimes God lets people fail if He knows it will drive them to Him.
819. Albert Durer's pictures representing Satan as a monster with horns and a tail are not true to the Scriptural representations of the Adversary. Satan is portrayed as 'a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour' but is often 'transformed as an angel of light.' A Scotsman, seeing Schaefer's painting of the 'Temptation of the Lord', said, pointing to Satan, 'If that chiel cam' tae me in such an ugly shape, I think he'd hae a teugh job wi' me too.'
(Mat.4.1-11; 2Cor.11.14)
820. Full half a hundred times I've sobbed,
I can't go on! I can't go on!
And yet full half a hundred times
I've hushed my sobs, and gone.
My answer, if you ask me how,
May seem presumptuously odd,
But I think that what kept keeping on
When I could not, was God.
--Jane Merchant
821. The Devil may wall you round
But he cannot roof you in;
He may fetter your feet and tie your hands
And try to hamper your soul with bands
As his way has ever been.
But he cannot hide the face of God
And the Lord shall be your light,
And your eyes and your thoughts can rise to the sky
Where His clouds and winds and birds go by,
And His stars shine out at night.
The Devil may wall you round;
He may rob you of all things dear,
He may bring his hardest and roughest stone,
And think to cage you and keep you alone,
But he may not press too near;
For the Lord has planted a hedge inside,
And has made it strong and tall,
A hedge of living and growing green;
And ever it mounts and keeps between
The trusting soul and the Devil's wall.
The Devil may wall you round,
But the Lord's hand covers you,
And His hedge is a thick and thorny hedge,
And the Devil can find no entering wedge
Nor get his finger through.
He may circle about you all day long;
But he cannot work as he would,
For the will of the Lord restrains his hand,
And he cannot pass the Lord's command
And his evil turns to good.
The Devil may wall you round,
With his grey stones, row on row,
But the green of the hedge is fresh and fair,
And within its circle is space to spare,
And room for your soul to grow;
The wall that shuts you in
May be hard and high and stout,
But the Lord is sun and the Lord is dew,
And His hedge is coolness and shade for you,
And no wall can shut Him out.
--Annie Johnson Flint (Job 1.6-12; Ps.104.9)
822. Whatever gets your goat gets your attention. Whatever gets your attention gets your time. Whatever gets your time gets you. Whatever gets you becomes your master. Take care, lest a little thing horn in and get your goat.
823. I have been reflecting on the inestimable value of "broken things." Broken pitchers gave ample light for victory (Judges 7:9-21); broken bread was more than enough for all the hungry (Mat.14:19-21); broken box gave fragrance to all the world (Mark 14:3,9); and broken body is salvation to all who believe and receive the Saviour (Isaiah 53;5,6,12; 1Cor.11:24). And what cannot the Broken One do with our broken plans, projects, and hearts?
824. A pastor visited a family whose son had been killed in an automobile accident. The mother railed out at him: "Where was your God when my boy was killed?"
He quietly said, "The same place He was when His Son was killed."
825. Maybe the Lord lets some people get into trouble because that is the only time they ever think of Him.
826. Only once in the history of Scotland was the Old Edinburgh castle captured. This is how it happened. The castle had a weak spot which defenders guarded. But it was thought the steepness of the castle made it inaccessible, impregnable, so no sentries were put there. An attacking party crept up that unguarded slope & surprised the garrison into surrender ... here the castle was strong, there it was weak.
That is so often the story of human life. Whenever a man falls, it is usually at the point where he thinks he is strong.
827. I thank God for my handicaps, for, through them, I have found myself, my work, & my God.
--Helen Keller
828. The soul hardly ever realises it, but whether he is a believer or not, his loneliness is really a homesickness for God.
829. Although today He prunes my twigs with pain,
Yet doth His blood nourish & warm my root:
Tomorrow I shall put forth buds again
And clothe myself with fruit.
--Christina Rossetti
830. If Christ is with us, who is against us? You can fight with confidence where you are sure of victory. With Christ & for Christ victory is certain.--St. Bernard of Clairvaux
831. Even victors are by victory undone.--John Dryden
832. He conquers twice who upon victory overcomes himself.--Publius Syrus
833. I never knew a night so black,
Light failed to follow on its track;
I never knew a storm so gray,
It failed to have its clearing day.
I never knew such bleak despair,
That there was not a rift, somewhere;
I never knew an hour so drear,
Love could not fill it full of cheer.
834. There is no sickness but there is a balm;
There is no storm but soon must come a calm;
No bitter wail but shall give way to a song;
No way so dark but light shall break e'er long.
835. Light after darkness, gain after loss;
Strength after weakness, crown after cross;
Sweet after bitter, hope after fears;
Home after wandering, praise after tears;
Sheaves after sowing, sun after rain;
Sight after mystery, peace after pain;
Joy after sorrow, calm after blast;
Rest after weariness, sweet rest at last;
Near after distant, gleam after gloom;
Love after loneliness, life after tomb;
After long agony, rapture of bliss;
Right was the pathway, leading to this.
836. If you've tried to smile when the heat's up high,
But you still can't seem to take it,
And you want to stand & face the test
But each time you fail to make it,
Then remember there are those to come,
Who will read your life's short book
When they look to you for hope that day,
Will they find you worth the look?
Did you break down fast in the furnace blast?
Or sink like a cart in the mire?
Or endure the shame & the heat & the pain,
Like a vessel tried in the fire?
Did you come forth pure like a worthwhile work
--And to hell with the pain you bore!
'Cause you knew someday one would look to you
Who was suffering even more!
Did you come from the flames too hot to touch,
With your dross all burned in the pyre?
--But shining like gold with a radiant glow
Like a vessel that stood to the fire!
Then maybe some soul will courage take
When they see what you've gone through,
If you'll only hang on through the fiery blast
They'll know there's hope for them too!
837. Art thou sunk in depths of sorrow
Where no arm can reach so low?
There is One whose arms almighty
Reach beyond thy deepest woe.
God th' Eternal is thy refuge,
Let it still thy wild alarms;
Underneath thy deepest sorrow,
Are the everlasting arms.
Other arms grow faint and weary,
THESE can NEVER faint, nor fail;
OTHERS reach our mounts of blessing,
THESE our lowest, loneliest vale.
O that ALL might know His friendship!
O that ALL might see His charms!
O that ALL might have beneath them
Jesus' everlasting arms.
Underneath us, O how easy!
We have not to mount on high,
But to sink into His fullness,
And in trustful weakness lie.
And we find our humbling failures
Save us from the strength that harms;
We may fail, but underneath us
Are the everlasting arms.
Arms of Jesus! fold me closer
To Thy strong and loving breast,
Till my spirit on Thy bosom
Finds its everlasting rest;
And when time's last sands are sinking,
Shield my heart from all alarms,
Softly whisp'ring, "Underneath thee
Are the everlasting arms."
--A.B. Simpson
838. Despair may tangle darkly at your feet,
Your faith be dimmed, & hope--once cool & sweet,
Be lost!--But suddenly, above a hill,
A Heavenly lamp set on a Heavenly sill
Will shine for YOU & point the way to go!
--How well I know!
For I have waited through the dark, & I
Have seen a star rise in the blackest sky,
Repeatedly--it has not failed me yet!
And I have learned God never will forget
To light His lamp! If we but wait for it,
It will be lit!
839. There is always the hope of tomorrow to brighten the clouds of today,
There's always a corner for turning no matter how weary the way.
So just look ahead to tomorrow & trust that you'll find waiting there,
The sunlight that seemed to be hidden by yesterday's clouds of despair.