April 9
Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation.—MATT. xxvi. 41.
I want a sober mind,A self-renouncing will,That tramples down and casts behindThe baits of pleasing ill;A spirit still prepared,And armed with jealous care,Forever standing on its guard,And watching unto prayer.
When you say, "Lead us not into temptation," you must in good earnest mean to avoid in your daily conduct those temptations which you have already suffered from. When you say, "Deliver us from evil," you must mean to struggle against that evil in your hearts, which you are conscious of, and which you pray to be forgiven. To watch and pray are surely in our power, and by these means we are certain of getting strength. You feel your weakness; you fear to be overcome by temptation; then keep out of the way of it. This is watching. Avoid society which is likely to mislead you; flee from the very shadow of evil; you cannot be too careful; better be a little too strict than a little too easy,—it is the safer side. Abstain from reading books which are dangerous to you. Turn from bad thoughts when they arise.
April 10
Not with eye-service, as men-pleasers; but in singleness of heart, fearing God. Whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men.—COL. iii. 22, 23.
Teach me, my God and King,In all things Thee to see,And what I do in anything,To do it as for Thee.
There is no action so slight nor so mean but it may be done to a great purpose, and ennobled thereby; nor is any purpose so great but that slight actions may help it, and may be so done as to help it much, most especially, that chief of all purposes—the pleasing of God.
Every duty, even the least duty, involves the whole principle of obedience. And little duties make the willdutiful, that is, supple and prompt to obey. Little obediences lead into great. The daily round of duty is full of probation and of discipline; it trains the will, heart, and conscience. We need not to be prophets or apostles. The commonest life may be full of perfection. The duties of home are a discipline for the ministries of heaven.
April 11
Wherefore, beloved… be diligent that ye may be found of Him in peace, without spot, and blameless,—2 PETER iii. 14.
His conscience knows no secret stings,While grace and joy combineTo form a life whose holy springsAre hidden and divine.
Even the smallest discontent of conscience may render turbid the whole temper of the mind; but only produce the effort that restores its peace, and over the whole atmosphere a breath of unexpected purity is spread; doubt and irritability pass as clouds away; the withered sympathies of earth and home open their leaves and live; and through the clearest blue the deep is seen of the heaven where God resides.
The state of mind which is described as meekness, or quietness of spirit, is characterized in a high degree by inward harmony. There is not, as formerly, that inward jarring of thought contending with thought, and conscience asserting rights which it could not maintain.
April 12
Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you.—2 COR. xiii. 11.
He that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?—I JOHN iv. 20.
Lord! subdue our selfish will;Each to each our tempers suit,By Thy modulating skill,Heart to heart, as lute to lute.
It requires far more of the constraining love of Christ to love our cousins and neighbors as members of the heavenly family, than to feel the heart warm to our suffering brethren in Tuscany or Madeira. To love the whole Church is one thing; to love—that is, to delight in the graces and veil the defects—of the person who misunderstood me and opposed my plans yesterday, whose peculiar infirmities grate on my most sensitive feelings, or whose natural faults are precisely those from which my natural character most revolts, is quite another.
April 13
In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us.—ROM. viii. 37.
Thus my soul before her GodLieth still, nor speaketh more,Conqueror thus o'er pain and wrong,That once smote her to the core;Like a silent ocean, brightWith her God's great praise and light.
My mind is forever closed against embarrassment and perplexity, against uncertainty, doubt, and anxiety; my heart against grief and desire. Calm and unmoved, I look down on all things, for I know that I cannot explain a single event, nor comprehend its connection with that which alone concerns me. In His world all things prosper; this satisfies me, and in this belief I stand fast as a rock. My breast is steeled against annoyance on account of personal offences and vexations, or exultation in personal merit; for my whole personality has disappeared in the contemplation of the purpose of my being.
April 14
All thing are yours; whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours; and ye are Christ's; and Christ is God's.—I COR. iii. 21, 22, 23.
As having nothing, and yet possessing all things,—2 COR. vi. 10.
Old friends, old scenes, will lovelier be,As more of heaven in each we see:Some softening gleam of love and prayerShall dawn on every cross and care.
Out of love and hatred, out of earnings, and borrowings, and lendings, and losses; out of sickness and pain, out of wooing and worshipping; out of travelling, and voting, and watching, and caring; out of disgrace and contempt, comes our tuition in the serene and beautiful laws. Let him not slur his lesson; let him learn it by heart. Let him endeavor exactly, bravely, and cheerfully, to solve the problem of that life which is set beforehim. And this, by punctual action, and not by promises or dreams. Believing, as in God, in the presence and favor of the grandest influences, let him deserve that favor, and learn how to receive and use it, by fidelity also to the lower observances.
April 15
We know that all things work together for good to them that love God.—ROM. viii. 28.
As for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good.—GEN. 1. 20.
Ill that He blesses is our good,And unblest good is ill;And all is right that seems most wrong,If it be His sweet Will.
To those who know themselves, all things work together for good, and all things seem to be, as they are to them, good. The goods which God gives seem "very good," and God Himself in them, because they know that they deserve them not. The evils which God allows and overrules seem also "very good," because they see in them His loving hand, put forth to heal them of what shuts out God from the soul. They love God intensely, in that He is so good to them in each, and every, the least good, because it is more than they deserve: how much more in the greatest! They love God for every, and each, the very greatest of what seem evils, knowing them to be, from His love, real goods. For He by whom "all the hairs of our head are numbered," and who "knoweth whereof we are made," directs everything which befalls us in life, in perfect wisdom and love, to the well-being of our souls.
April 16
The very God of peace sanctify you wholly, and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless. Faithful is He that calleth you, who also will do it.—I THESS. v. 23, 24.
Be still, my soul!—the Lord is on thy side;Bear patiently the cross of grief and pain;Leave to thy God to order and provide,—In every change He faithful will remain.
It was no relief from temporal evils that the Apostle promised. No; the mercy of God might send them to the stake, or the lions; it was still His mercy, if it but kept them "unspotted from the world." It might expose them to insult, calumny, and wrong; they received it still as mercy, if it "established them in every good word and work." O brethren! how many ofyouare content withsuchfaithfulness as this on the part of your heavenly Father? Is this, indeed, the tone and tenor of your prayers?
The highest pinnacle of the spiritual life is not happy joy in unbroken sunshine, but absolute and undoubting trust in the love of God.
April 17
Blessed is that man that maketh the Lord his trust.—PS. xl. 4.
That we may lead a quiet and peaceable life.—I TIM. ii. 2.
Just to let thy Father doWhat He will;Just to know that He is true,And be still;Just to trust Him, this is all!Then the day will surely bePeaceful, whatsoe'er befall,Bright and blessed, calm and free.
Every morning compose your soul for a tranquil day, and all through it be careful often to recall your resolution, and bring yourself back to it, so to say. If something discomposes you, do not be upset, or troubled; but having discovered the fact, humble yourself gently before God, and try to bring your mind into a quiet attitude. Say to yourself, "Well, I have made a false step; now I must go more carefully and watchfully." Do this each time, however frequently you fall. When you are at peace use it profitably, making constant acts of meekness, and seeking to be calm even in the most trifling things. Above all, do not be discouraged; be patient; wait; strive to attain a calm, gentle spirit.
April 18
What doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all His ways, and to love Him, and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul?—DEUT. x. 12.
What asks our Father of His children saveJustice and mercy and humility,A reasonable service of good deeds,Pure living, tenderness to human needs,Reverence, and trust, and prayer for light to seeThe Master's footprints in our daily ways?No knotted scourge, nor sacrificial knife,But the calm beauty of an ordered lifeWhose every breathing is unworded praise.
Give up yourself to God without reserve; in singleness of heart meeting everything that every day brings forth, as something that comes from God, and is to be received and gone through by you, in such an heavenly use of it, as you would suppose the holy Jesus would have done in such occurrences. This is an attainable degree of perfection.
We ought to measure our actual lot, and to fulfil it; to be with all our strength that which our lot requires and allows. What is beyond it, is no calling of ours. How much peace, quiet, confidence, and strength, would people attain, if they would go by this plain rule.
April 19
The hand of our God is upon all them for good that seek Him.—EZRA viii. 22.
Into Thy hand I commit my spirit.—PS. xxxi. 5.
Thou layest Thy hand on the fluttering heart,And sayest, "Be still!"The silence and shadow are only a partOf Thy sweet will;Thy presence is with me, and where Thou artI fear no ill.
Be still and cool in thy own mind and spirit from thy own thoughts, and then thou wilt feel the principle of God, to turn thy mind to the Lord God, from whom life comes; whereby thou mayest receive His strength, and power to allay all blustering storms and tempests. That is it which works up into patience, into innocency, into soberness, into stillness, into stayedness, into quietness, up to God with His power. Therefore be still awhile from thy own thoughts, searching, seeking, desires, and imaginations, and be stayed in the principle of God in thee, that it may raise thy mind up to God, and stay it upon God; and thou wilt find strength from Him, and find Him to be a God at hand, a present help in the time of trouble and need.
April 20
I waited patiently for the Lord; and He inclined unto me, and heard my cry.—PS. xl. 1.
Tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope,—ROM. v. 3, 4.
Lord, we have wandered forth through doubt and sorrow,And Thou hast made each step an onward one;And we will ever trust each unknown morrow,—Thou wilt sustain us till its work is done.
It is possible, when the future is dim, when our depressed faculties can form no bright ideas of the perfection and happiness of a better world,—it is possible still to cling to the conviction of God's merciful purpose towards His creatures, of His parental goodness even in suffering; still to feel that the path of duty, though trodden with a heavy heart, leads to peace; still to be true to conscience; still to do our work, to resist temptation, to be useful, though with diminished energy, to give up our wills when we cannot rejoice under God's mysterious providence. In this patient, though uncheered obedience, we become prepared for light. The soul gathers force.
April 21
Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.—MATT. v. 48.
As for me, I will behold Thy face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with Thy likeness.—PS. xvii. 15.
The righteousness he marks in TheeHis will to right doth win;Delighting in Thy purity,He deeply drinks it in.
To love God is to love His character. For instance, God is Purity. And to be pure in thought and look, to turn away from unhallowed books and conversation, to abhor the moments in which we have not been pure, is to love God. God is Love; and to love men till private attachments have expanded into a philanthropy which embraces all,—at last even the evil and enemies with compassion,—that is to love God. God is Truth. To be true, to hate every form of falsehood, to live a brave, true, real life,—that is to love God. God is Infinite; and to love the boundless, reaching on from grace to grace, adding charity to faith, and rising upwards ever to see the Ideal still above us, and to die with it unattained, aiming insatiably to be perfect even as the Father is perfect,—that is to love God.
April 22
Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see Him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.—I PETER i. 8.
If our love were but more simple,We should take Him at His word;And our lives would be all sunshineIn the sweetness of our Lord.
What would it be to love absolutely a Being absolutely lovely,—to be able to give our whole existence, every thought, every act, every desire, to that adored One,—to know that He accepts it all, and loves us in return as God alone can love? This happiness grows forever. The larger our natures become, the wider our scope of thought, the stronger our will, the more fervent our affections, the deeper must be the rapture of such God-granted prayer. Every sacrificeresolved onopens wide the gate; every sacrificeaccomplishedis a step towards the paradise within. Soon it will be no transitory glimpse, no rapture of a day, to be followed by clouds and coldness. Let us but labor, and pray, and wait, and the intervals of human frailty shall grow shorter and less dark, the days of our delight in God longer and brighter, till at last life shall be nought but His love, our eyes shall never grow dim, His smile never turn away.
April 23
These were the potters, and those that dwelt among plants and hedges: there they dwelt with the king for his work.—I CHRON. iv. 23.
A lowlier task on them is laid,With love to make the labor light;And there their beauty they must shedOn quiet homes, and lost to sight.Changed are their visions high and fair,Yet, calm and still, they labor there.
Anywhere and everywhere we may dwell "with the King for His work." We may be in a very unlikely or unfavorable place for this; it may be in a literal country life, with little enough to be seen of the "goings" of the King around us; it may be among hedges of all sorts, hindrances in all directions; it may be, furthermore, with our hands full of all manner of pottery for our daily task. No matter! The King who placed us "there" will come and dwell there with us; the hedges are all right, or He would soon do away with them; and it does not follow that what seems to hinder our way may not be for its very protection; and as for the pottery, why, that is just exactly what He has seen fit to put into our hands, and therefore it is, for the present, "His work."
April 24
Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.—GAL. vi. 2.
Is thy cruse of comfort wasting?Rise and share it with another,And through all the years of famine,It shall serve thee and thy brother.Is thy burden hard and heavy?Do thy steps drag heavily?Help to bear thy brother's burden;God will bear both it and thee.
However perplexed you may at any hour become about some question of truth, one refuge and resource is always at hand: you can do something for some one besides yourself. When your own burden is heaviest, you can always lighten a little some other burden. At the times when you cannot see God, there is still open to you this sacred possibility, toshowGod; for it is the love and kindness of human hearts through which the divine reality comes home to men, whether they name it or not. Let this thought, then, stay with you: there may be times when you cannot find help, but there is no time when you cannot give help.
April 25
Surely, I have behaved and quieted myself, as a child that is weaned of his mother: my soul is even as a weaned child.—PS. cxxxi. 2.
Quiet, Lord, my froward heart,Make me teachable and mild,Upright, simple, free from art,Make me as a weaned child;From distrust and envy free,Pleased with all that pleaseth Thee.
Oh! look not after great things: small breathings, small desires after the Lord, if true and pure, are sweet beginnings of life. Take heed of despising "the day of small things," by looking after some great visitation, proportionable to thy distress, according to thy eye. Nay, thou must become a child; thou must lose thy own will quite by degrees. Thou must wait for life to be measured out by the Father, and be content with what proportion, and at what time, He shall please to measure.
"When Israel was a child, then I loved him" (Hosea xi. 1). Aim to be ever this little child, contented with what the Father gives of pleasure or of play; and when restrained from pleasure or from play, and led for a season into the chamber of sorrow, rest quiet on His bosom, and be patient, and smile, as one who is nestled in a sweet and secure asylum.
April 26
If we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.—ROM. viii. 25.
One day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.—2 PETER iii. 8.
Lord! who Thy thousand years dost waitTo work the thousandth partOf Thy vast plan, for us createWith zeal a patient heart.
I believe that if we could only see beforehand what it is that our heavenly Father means us to be,—thesoulbeauty and perfection and glory, the glorious and lovely spiritual body that this soul is to dwell in through all eternity,—if we could have a glimpse ofthis, we should not grudge all the trouble and pains He is taking with us now, to bring us up to that ideal, which is His thought of us. We know that it is God's way to work slowly, so we must not be surprised if He takes a great many years of discipline to turn a mortal being into an immortal, glorious angel.
April 27
Speak ye every man the truth to his neighbor,—ZECH. viii. 16.
For our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity… we have had our conversation in the world.—2 COR. i. 12.
Appear I always what I am?And am I what I am pretending?Know I what way my course is bending?And sound my word and thought the same?
Am I acting in simplicity, from a germ of the Divine life within, or am I shaping my path to obtain some immediate result of expediency? Am I endeavoring to compass effects, amidst a tangled web of foreign influences I cannot calculate; or am I seeking simply to do what is right, and leaving the consequences to the good providence of God?
Let it not be in any man's power to say truly of thee that thou art not simple, or that thou art not good; but let him be a liar whoever shall think anything of this kind about thee; and this is altogether in thy power. For who is he that shall hinder thee from being good and simple?
April 28
The Lord is thy keeper: the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand.—PS. cxxi. 5.
Great peace have they which love Thy law: and nothing shall offend them.—PS. cxix. 165.
I rest beneath the Almighty's shade,My griefs expire, my troubles cease;Thou, Lord, on whom my soul is stayed,Wilt keep me still in perfect peace.
One great sign of the practical recognition of the "divine moment," and of our finding God's habitation in it, is constant calmness and peace of mind. Events and things come with the moment; but God comes with them too. So that if He comes in the sunshine, we find rest and joy; and if He comes in the storm, we know He is King of the storms, and our hearts are not troubled. God Himself, though possessing a heart filled with the tenderest feelings, is, nevertheless, an everlasting tranquillity; and when we enter into His holy tabernacle, our souls necessarily enter into the tabernacle of rest.
My soul was not only brought into harmony with itself and with God, but with God's providences. In the exercise of faith and love, I endured and performed whatever came in God's providence, in submission, in thankfulness, and silence.
April 29
I will arise and go to my Father.—LUKE xv. 18.
O my God, my Father! hear,And help me to believe;Weak and weary I draw near;Thy child, O God, receive.I so oft have gone astray;To the perfect Guide I flee;Thou wilt turn me not away,Thy love is pledged to me.
O child, hast thou fallen? arise, and go, with childlike trust, to thy Father, like the prodigal son, and humbly say, with heart and mouth, "Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before Thee, and am no more worthy to be called Thy son; make me as one of Thy hired servants." And what will thy heavenly Father do but what that father did in the parable? Assuredly He will not change His essence, which is love, for the sake of thy misdoings. Is it not His own precious treasure, and a small thing with Him to forgive thee thy trespasses, if thou believe in Him? for His hand is not shortened that it cannot make thee fit to be saved.
April 30
Speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward.—EX. xiv. 15.
No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.—LUKE ix. 62.
Be trustful, be steadfast, whatever betide thee,Only one thing do thou ask of the Lord,—Grace to go forward wherever He guide thee,Simply believing the truth of His word.
The soul ceases to weary itself with planning and foreseeing, giving itself up to God's Holy Spirit within, and to the teachings of His providence without. He is not forever fretting as to his progress, or looking back to see how far he is getting on; rather he goes steadily and quietly on, and makes all the more progress because it is unconscious. So he never gets troubled and discouraged; if he falls he humbles himself, but gets up at once, and goes on with renewed earnestness.
May 1
I will bless the Lord at all times: His praise shall continually be in my mouth.—PS. xxxiv. I.
I will praise Thee, O Lord, with my whole heart; I will show forth all Thy marvellous works.—PS. ix. I.
Thrice blest will all our blessings be,When we can look through them to Thee;When each glad heart its tribute paysOf love and gratitude and praise.
That which befits us, embosomed in beauty and wonder as we are, is cheerfulness, and courage, and the endeavor to realize our aspirations. Shall not the heart which has received so much, trust the Power by which it lives? May it not quit other leadings, and listen to the Soul that has guided it so gently, and taught it so much, secure that the future will be worthy of the past?
I have experienced that the habit of taking out of the hand of our Lord every little blessing and brightness on our path, confirms us, in an especial manner, in communion with His love.
May 2
The ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.—I PETER iii. 4.
To present you holy, and unblameable, and unreproveable in His sight.—COL. i. 22.
Thy sinless mind in us reveal,Thy spirit's plenitude impart!Till all my spotless life shall tellThe abundance of a loving heart.
Holiness appeared to me to be of a sweet, pleasant, charming, serene, calm nature. It seemed to me, it brought an inexpressible purity, brightness, peacefulness, and ravishment to the soul; and that it made the soul like a field or garden of God, with all manner of pleasant flowers, that is all pleasant, delightful, and undisturbed; enjoying a sweet calm, and the gently vivifying beams of the sun. The soul of a true Christian appeared like such a little white flower, as we see in the spring of the year, low and humble on the ground, opening its bosom to receive the pleasant beams of the sun's glory; rejoicing, as it were, in a calm rapture; diffusing around a sweet fragrancy; standing peacefully and lovingly in the midst of other flowers round about, all in like manner opening their bosoms to drink in the light of the sun.
May 3
The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and He knoweth them that trust in Him.—NAHUM i. 7.
Leave God to order all thy ways,And hope in Him, whate'er betide;Thou 'It find Him in the evil daysThy all-sufficient strength and guide;Who trusts in God's unchanging love,Builds on the rock that nought can move.
Our whole trouble in our lot in this world rises from the disagreement of our mind therewith. Let the mind be brought to the lot, and the whole tumult is instantly hushed; let it be kept in that disposition, and the man shall stand at ease, in his affliction, like a rock unmoved with waters beating upon it.
How does our will become sanctified? By conforming itself unreservedly to that of God. We will all that He wills, and will nothing that He does not will; we attach our feeble will to that all-powerful will which performs everything. Thus, nothing can ever come to pass against our will; for nothing can happen save that which God wills, and we find in His good pleasure an inexhaustible source of peace and consolation.
May 4
Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, out of weakness were made strong.—HEB xi. 33, 34.
She met the hosts of Sorrow with a lookThat altered not beneath the frown they wore,And soon the lowering brood were tamed, and took,Meekly, her gentle rule, and frowned no more.Her soft hand put aside the assaults of wrath,And calmly broke in twainThe fiery shafts of pain,And rent the nets of passion from her path.By that victorious hand despair was slain;With love she vanquished hate, and overcameEvil with good, in her great Master's name.
As to what may befall us outwardly, in this confused state of things, shall we not trust our tender Father, and rest satisfied in His will? Shall anything hurt us? Can tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, or sword, come between the love of the Father to the child, or the child's rest, content, and delight in His love? And doth not the love, the rest, the peace, the joy felt, swallow up all the bitterness and sorrow of the outward condition?
May 5
If thou hast run with the footmen, and they have wearied thee, then how canst thou contend with horses? and if in the land of peace, wherein thou trustedst, they wearied thee, then how wilt thou do in the swelling of Jordan?—JER. xii. 5.
How couldst thou hang upon the cross,To whom a weary hour is loss?Or how the thorns and scourging brook,Who shrinkest from a scornful look?
A heart unloving among kindred has no love towards God's saints and angels. If we have a cold heart towards a servant or a friend, why should we wonder if we have no fervor towards God? If we are cold in our private prayers, we should be earthly and dull in the most devout religious order; if we cannot bear the vexations of a companion, how should we bear the contradiction of sinners? if a little pain overcomes us, how could we endure a cross? if we have no tender, cheerful, affectionate love to those with whom our daily hours are spent, how should we feel the pulse and ardor of love to the unknown and the evil, the ungrateful and repulsive?
May 6
Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love.—ROM. xii. 10.
In her tongue is the law of kindness.—PROV. xxxi. 26.
Since trifles make the sum of human things,And half our misery from our foibles springs;Since life's best joys consist in peace and ease,And though but few can serve, yet all can please;Oh, let the ungentle spirit learn from hence,A small unkindness is a great offence.
All usefulness and all comfort may be prevented by an unkind, a sour, crabbed temper of mind,—a mind that can bear with no difference of opinion or temperament. A spirit of fault-finding; an unsatisfied temper; a constant irritability; little inequalities in the look, the temper, or the manner; a brow cloudy and dissatisfied—your husband or your wife cannot tell why—will more than neutralize all the good you can do, and render life anything but a blessing.
You have not fulfilled every duty, unless you have fulfilled that of being pleasant.
May 7
He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds. He telleth the number of the stars; He calleth them all by their names.—PS. cxlvii. 3, 4.
Teach me your mood, O patient stars!Who climb each night the ancient sky,Leaving on space no shade, no scars,No trace of age, no fear to die.
I looked up to the heavens once more, and the quietness of the stars seemed to reproach me. "We are safe up here," they seemed to say; "we shine, fearless and confident, for the God who gave the primrose its rough leaves to hide it from the blast of uneven spring, hangs us in the awful hollows of space. We cannot fall out of His safety. Lift up your eyes on high, and behold! Who hath created these things—that bringeth out their host by number? He calleth them all by names. By the greatness of His might, for that He is strong in power, not one faileth. Why sayest thou, O Jacob! and speakest, O Israel! my way is hid from the Lord, and my judgment is passed over from my God?"
May 8
This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.—PS. cxviii. 24.
Why stand ye here all the day idle?—MATT. xx. 6.
So here hath been dawning another blue day;Think, wilt thou let it slip useless away?Out of eternity this new day is born;Into eternity at night will return.
Small cares, some deficiencies in the mere arrangement and ordering of our lives, daily fret our hearts, and cross the clearness of our faculties; and these entanglements hang around us, and leave us no free soul able to give itself up, in power and gladness, to the true work of life. The severest training and self-denial,—a superiority to the servitude of indulgence,—are the indispensable conditions even of genial spirits, of unclouded energies, of tempers free from morbidness,—much more of the practised and vigorous mind, ready at every call, and thoroughly furnished unto all good works.
True, we can never be at peace till we have performed the highest duty of all,—till we have arisen, and gone to our Father; but the performance of smaller duties, yes, even of the smallest, will do more to give us temporary repose, will act more as healthful anodynes, than the greatest joys that can come to us from any other quarter.
May 9
The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.—JOB i. 21.
What Thou hast given, Thou canst take,And when Thou wilt new gifts can make.All flows from Thee alone;When Thou didst give it, it was Thine;When Thou retook'st it, 't was not mine.Thy will in all be done.
We are ready to praise when all shines fair; but when life is overcast, when all things seem to be against us, when we are in fear for some cherished happiness, or in the depths of sorrow, or in the solitude of a life which has no visible support, or in a season of sickness, and with the shadow of death approaching,—then to praise God; then to say, This fear, loneliness, affliction, pain, and trembling awe are as sure tokens of love, as life, health, joy, and the gifts of home: "The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away;" on either side it is He, and all is love alike; "blessed be the name of the Lord,"—this is the true sacrifice of praise. What can come amiss to a soul which is so in accord with God? What can make so much as one jarring tone in all its harmony? In all the changes of this fitful life, it ever dwells in praise.
May 10
The Lord redeemeth the soul of His servants; and none of them that trust in Him shall be desolate.—PS. xxxiv. 22.
Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him.—JOB xiii. 15.
I praise Thee while my days go on;I love Thee while my days go on:Through dark and dearth, through fire and frost,With emptied arms and treasure lost,I thank Thee while my days go on.
The sickness of the last week was fine medicine; pain disintegrated the spirit, or became spiritual. I rose,—I felt that I had given to God more perhaps than an angel could,—had promised Him in youth that to be a blot on this fair world, at His command, would be acceptable. Constantly offer myself to continue the obscurest 'and loneliest thing ever heard of, with one proviso,—His agency. Yes, love Thee, and all Thou dost, while Thou sheddest frost and darkness on every path of mine.
May 11
Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?—JOB ii. 10.
Thou hast dealt well with Thy servant, O Lord, according to Thy word.—PS. cxix. 65.
Whatsoe'er our lot may be,Calmly in this thought we'll rest,—Could we see as Thou dost see,We should choose it as the best.
It is a proverbial saying, that every one makes his own destiny; and this is usually interpreted, that every one, by his wise or unwise conduct, prepares good or evil for himself: but we may also understand it, that whatever it be that he receives from the hand of Providence, he may so accommodate himself to it, that he will find his lot good for him, however much may seem to others to be wanting.
Evil, once manfully fronted, ceases to be evil; there is generous battle-hope in place of dead, passive misery; the evil itself has become a kind of good.
May 12
Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer:… ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.—REV. ii. 10.
Then, O my soul, be ne'er afraid,On Him who thee and all things madeDo thou all calmly rest;Whate'er may come, where'er we go,Our Father in the heavens must knowIn all things what is best.
Guide me, O Lord, in all the changes and varieties of the world; that in all things that shall happen, I may have an evenness and tranquillity of spirit; that my soul may be wholly resigned to Thy divinest will and pleasure, never murmuring at Thy gentle chastisements and fatherly correction. Amen.
Thou art never at any time nearer to God than when under tribulation; whichHe permits for the purification and beautifying of thy soul.
Prize inward exercises, griefs, and troubles; and let faith and patience have their perfect work in them.
May 13
I pray not that Thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that Thou shouldest keep them from the evil.—JOHN xvii. 15.
In busy mart and crowded street,No less than in the still retreat,Thou, Lord, art near, our souls to bless,With all a Father's tenderness.
Only the individual conscience, and He who is greater than the conscience, can tell where worldliness prevails. Each heart must answer for itself, and at its own risk. That our souls are committed to our own keeping, at our own peril, in a world so mixed as this, is the last reason we should slumber over the charge, or betray the trust. If only that outlet to the Infinite is kept open, the inner bond with eternal life preserved, while not one movement of this world's business is interfered with, nor one pulse-beat of its happiness repressed, with all natural associations dear and cherished, with all human sympathies fresh and warm, we shall yet be near to the kingdom of heaven, within the order of the Kosmos of God—in the world, but not of the world—not taken out of it, but kept from its evil.
May 14
And what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?—MICAH vi. 8.
Put on therefore… kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffering.—COL. iii. 12.
Plant in us an humble mind,Patient, pitiful, and kind;Meek and lowly let us be,Full of goodness, full of Thee.
There is no true and constant gentleness without humility; while we are so fond of ourselves, we are easily offended with others. Let us be persuaded that nothing is due to us, and then nothing will disturb us. Let us often think of our own infirmities, and we shall become indulgent towards those of others.
Endeavor to be patient in bearing with the defects and infirmities of others, of what sort soever they be; for that thyself also hast many failings which must be borne with by others. If thou canst not make thyself such an one as thou wouldest, how canst thou expect to have another in all things to thy liking?
May 15
My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest.—EX. xxxiii. 14.
Thou wilt show me the path of life: in Thy presence is fulness of joy; at Thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.—PS. xvi. 11.
Thy presence fills my mind with peace,Brightens the thoughts so dark erewhile,Bids cares and sad forebodings cease,Makes all things smile.
How shall we rest in God? By giving ourselves wholly to Him. If you give yourself by halves, you cannot find full rest; there will ever be a lurking disquiet in that half which is withheld. Martyrs, confessors, and saints have tasted this rest, and "counted themselves happy in that they endured." A countless host of God's faithful servants have drunk deeply of it under the daily burden of a weary life,—dull, commonplace, painful, or desolate. All that God has been to them He is ready to be to you. The heart once fairly given to God, with a clear conscience, a fitting rule of life, and a steadfast purpose of obedience, you will find a wonderful sense of rest coming over you.
May 16
Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might.—EPH. vi. 10.
No man can serve two masters.—MATT. vi. 24.
Oh, there are heavenly heights to reachIn many a fearful place,Where the poor timid heir of GodLies blindly on his face;Lies languishing for grace divineThat he shall never seeTill he go forward at Thy sign,And trust himself to Thee.
Reservations lie latent in the mind concerning some unhallowed sentiments or habits in the present, some possibly impending temptations in the future; and thus do we cheat ourselves of inward and outward joys together. We give up many an indulgence for conscience' sake, but stop short at that point of entire faithfulness wherein conscience could reward us. If we would but give ourselves wholly to God,—give up, for the present and the future, every act, and, above all, every thought and every feeling, to be all purified to the uttermost, and rendered the best, noblest, holiest we can conceive,—then would sacrifice bear with it a peace rendering itself, I truly believe, far easier than before.
May 17
Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.—I THESS. v. 11.
Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.—MATT. xix. 19.
So others shallTake patience, labor, to their heart and hand,From thy hand, and thy heart, and thy brave cheer,And God's grace fructify through thee to all.The least flower with a brimming cup may stand,And share its dewdrop with another near.
What is meant by our neighbor we cannot doubt; it is every one with whom we are brought into contact. First of all, he is literally our neighbor who is next to us in our own family and household; husband to wife, wife to husband, parent to child, brother to sister, master to servant, servant to master. Then it is he who is close to us in our own neighborhood, in our own town, in our own parish, in our own street. With these all true charity begins. To love and be kind to these is the very beginning of all true religion. But, besides these, as our Lord teaches, it is every one who is thrown across our path by the changes and chances of life; he or she, whosoever it be, whom we have any means of helping,—the unfortunate stranger whom we may meet in travelling, the deserted friend whom no one else cares to look after.
May 18
We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren.—I JOHN iii. 14.
He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.—I JOHN iv. 8.
Mutual love the token be,Lord, that we belong to Thee;Love, Thine image, love impart;Stamp it on our face and heart;Only love to us be given;Lord, we ask no other heaven.
Oh, how many times we can most of us remember when we would gladly have made any compromise with our consciences, would gladly have made the most costly sacrifices to God, if He would only have excused us from this duty of loving, of which our nature seemed utterly incapable. It is far easier to feel kindly, to act kindly, toward those with whom we are seldom brought into contact, whose tempers and prejudices do not rub against ours, whose interests do not clash with ours, than to keep up an habitual, steady, self-sacrificing love towards those whose weaknesses and faults are always forcing themselves upon us, and are stirring up our own. A man may pass good muster as a philanthropist who makes but a poor master to his servants, or father to his children.
May 19
Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him.—PS. xxxvii. 7.
Trust in Him at all times.—PS. lxii. 8.
Dost thou ask when comes His hour?Then, when it shall aid thee best.Trust His faithfulness and power,Trust in Him, and quiet rest.
I had found [communion with God] to consist, not only in the silencing of the outward man, but in the silencing also of every thought, and in the concentration of the soul and all its powers into a simple, quiet watching and waiting for the food which its heavenly Father might see fit either to give or to withhold. In no case could it be sent empty away; for, if comfort, light, or joy were withheld, the act of humble waiting at the gate of heavenly wisdom could not but work patience in it, and thus render it, by humility and obedience, more "meet to be a partaker of the inheritance of the saints in light," and also more blessed in itself.
"REST IN THE LORD; WAIT PATIENTLY FOR HIM." In Hebrew, "be silent to God, and let Him mould thee." Keep still, and He will mould thee to the right shape.
May 20
To be spiritually minded is life and peace.—ROM. viii. 6.
Stilled now be every anxious care;See God's great goodness everywhere;Leave all to Him in perfect rest:He will do all things for the best.
We should all endeavor and labor for a calmer spirit, that we may the better serve God in praying to Him and praising Him; and serve one another in love, that we may be fitted to do and receive good; that we may make our passage to heaven more easy and cheerful, without drooping and hanging the wing. So much as we are quiet and cheerful upon good ground, so much we live, and are, as it were, in heaven.
Possess yourself as much as you possibly can in peace; not by any effort, but by letting all things fall to the ground which trouble or excite you. This is no work, but is, as it were, a setting down a fluid to settle that has become turbid through agitation.
May 21
The beloved of the Lord shall dwell in safety by Him; and the Lord shall cover him all the day long.—DEUT. xxxiii. 12.
Whate'er events betide,Thy will they all perform;Safe in Thy breast my head I hide,Nor fear the coming storm.
I have seemed to see a need of everything God gives me, and want nothing that He denies me. There is no dispensation, though afflictive, but either in it, or after it, I find that I could not be without it. Whether it be taken from or not given me, sooner or later God quiets me in Himself without it. I cast all my concerns on the Lord, and live securely on the care and wisdom of my heavenly Father. My ways, you know, are, in a sense, hedged up with thorns, and grow darker and darker daily; but yet I distrust not my good God in the least, and live more quietly in the absence of all by faith, than I should do, I am persuaded, if I possessed them.
May 22
He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.—PS. xci. I.
They who on the Lord rely,Safely dwell though danger's nigh;Lo! His sheltering wings are spreadO'er each faithful servant's head.When they wake, or when they sleep,Angel guards their vigils keep;Death and danger may be near,Faith and love have nought to fear.
"There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling," is a promise to the fullest extent verified in the case of all "who dwell in the secret place of the Most High." To them sorrows are not "evils," sicknesses are not "plagues;" the shadow of the Almighty extending far around those who abide under it, alters the character of all things which come within its influence.
It is faith's work to claim and challenge loving-kindness out of all the roughest strokes of God.
Be content with such things as ye have.—HEB. xiii. 5.
I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therein to be content.—PHIL. iv. 11 ( R. V.).
No longer forward nor behindI look in hope or fear;But, grateful, take the good I find,The best of now and here.
If we wished to gain contentment, we might try such rules as these:—
1. Allow thyself to complain of nothing, not even of the weather.
2. Never picture thyself to thyself under any circumstances in which thou art not.
3. Never compare thine own lot with that of another.
4. Never allow thyself to dwell on the wish that this or that had been, or were, otherwise than it was, or is. God Almighty loves thee better and more wisely than thou dost thyself.
5. Never dwell on the morrow. Remember that it is God's, not thine. The heaviest part of sorrow often is to look forward to it. "The Lord will provide."
May 24
Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.—HEB. xii. I1.
I cannot say,Beneath the pressure of life's cares to-day,I joy in these;But I can sayThat I had rather walk this rugged way,If Him it please.
The particular annoyance which befell you this morning; the vexatious words which met your ear and "grieved" your spirit; the disappointment which was His appointment for to-day; the slight but hindering ailment; the presence of some one who is "a grief of mind" to you,—whatever this day seemeth not joyous, but grievous, is linked in "the good pleasure of His goodness" with a corresponding afterward of "peaceable fruit," the very seed from which, if you only do not choke it, this shall spring and ripen.
May 25
O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as Thou wilt.—MATT. xxvi. 39.
O Lord my God, do Thou Thy holy will,—I will lie still.I will not stir, lest I forsake Thine arm,And break the charmWhich lulls me, clinging to my Father's breast,In perfect rest.
Resignation to the will of God is the whole of piety; it includes in it all that is good; and is a source of the most settled quiet and composure of mind. Our resignation to the will of God may be said to be perfect, when our will is lost and resolved up into His; when we rest in His will as our end, as being itself most just, and right, and good. And where is the impossibility of such an affection to what is just and right and good, such a loyalty of heart to the Governor of the universe, as shall prevail over all sinister indirect desires of our own?
There are no disappointments to those whose wills are buried in the will ofGod.
Lord, Thy will be done in father, mother, child, in everything and everywhere; without a reserve, without a BUT, an IF, or a limit.
May 26
The Lord beareth your murmurings, which ye murmur against Him.—EX. xvi. 8.
Without murmur, uncomplainingIn His hand,Leave whatever things thou canst notUnderstand.
One great characteristic of holiness is never to be exacting—never to complain. Each complaint drags us down a degree, in our upward course. If you would discern in whom God's spirit dwells, watch that person, and notice whether you ever hear him murmur.
When we wish things to be otherwise than they are, we lose sight of the great practical parts of the life of godliness. We wish, and wish—when, if we have done all that lies on us, we should fall quietly into the hands of God. Such wishing cuts the very sinews of our privileges and consolations. You are leaving me for a time; and you say that you wish you could leave me better, or leave me with some assistance: but, if it is right for you to go, it is right for me to meet what lies on me, without a wish that I had less to meet, or were better able to meet it.
May 27
He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much.—LUKE xvi, 10.
The Lord preserveth the faithful.—PS. xxxi. 23
The trivial round, the common task,Would furnish all we ought to ask;Room to deny ourselves; a roadTo bring us, daily, nearer God.
Exactness in little duties is a wonderful source of cheerfulness.
The unremitting retention of simple and high sentiments in obscure duties is hardening the character to that temper which will work with honor, if need be, in the tumult or on the scaffold.
We are too fond of our own will. We want to be doing what we fancy mighty things; but the great point is, to do small things, when called to them, in a right spirit.
It is not on great occasions only that we are required to be faithful to the will of God; occasions constantly occur, and we should be surprised to perceive how much our spiritual advancement depends on small obediences.
May 28
Strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, unto all patience and long-suffering with joyfulness.—COL. I. 11.
God doth not needEither man's works or His own gifts; who bestBear His mild yoke, they serve Him best; His stateIs kingly; thousands at His bidding speed,And post o'er land and ocean without rest;They also serve who only stand and wait.
We cannot always be doing a great work, but we can always be doing something that belongs to our condition. To be silent, to suffer, to pray when we cannot act, is acceptable to God. A disappointment, a contradiction, a harsh word, an annoyance, a wrong received and endured as in His presence, is worth more than a long prayer; and we do not lose time if we bear its loss with gentleness and patience, provided the loss was inevitable, and was not caused by our own fault.
May 29
Be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.—HEB. vi. 12.
Where now with pain thou treadest, trodThe whitest of the saints of God!To show thee where their feet were set,The light which led them shineth yet.
LET us learn from this communion of saints to live in hope. Those who are now at rest were once like ourselves. They were once weak, faulty, sinful; they had their burdens and hindrances, their slumbering and weariness, their failures and their falls. But now they have overcome. Their life was once homely and common-place. Their day ran out as ours. Morning and noon and night came and went to them as to us. Their life, too, was as lonely and sad as yours. Little fretful circumstances and frequent disturbing changes wasted away their hours as yours. There is nothing in your life that was not in theirs; there was nothing in theirs but may be also in your own. They have overcome, each one, and one by one; each in his turn, when the day came, and God called him to the trial. And so shall you likewise.