Daily Strength for Daily Needs Part 61

_I have taught thee In the way of wisdom; I have led thee in right paths_.--PROV. iv. 11.

We know not what the path may be As yet by us untrod; But we can trust our all to Thee, Our Father and our G.o.d.

WM. J. IRONS.

We have very little command over the circ.u.mstances in which we may be called by G.o.d to bear our part--unlimited command over the temper of our souls, but next to no command over the outward forms of trial. The most energetic will cannot order the events by which our spirits are to be perilled and tested. Powers quite beyond our reach--death, accident, fortune, another's sin--may change in a moment all the conditions of our life. With to-morrow's sun existence may have new and awful aspects for any of us.

J. H. THOM.

Oh, my friend, look not _out_ at what stands in the way; what if it look dreadfully as a lion, is not the Lord stronger than the mountains of prey?

but look _in_, where the law of life is written, and the will of the Lord revealed, that thou mayest know what is the Lord's will concerning thee.

I. PENINGTON.

November 24

_Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord_.--PS. x.x.xi. 24.

_Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid_.--JOHN xiv. 27.

In heavenly love abiding, No change my heart shall fear; And safe is such confiding, For nothing changes here.

A. L. WARING.

A true Christian, that hath power over his own will, may live n.o.bly and happily, and enjoy a clear heaven within the serenity of his own mind perpetually. When the sea of this world is most rough and tempestuous about him, then can he ride safely at anchor within the haven, by a sweet compliance of his will with G.o.d's will. He can look about him, and with an even and indifferent mind behold the world either to smile or frown upon him; neither will he abate of the least of his contentment for all the ill and unkind usage he meets withal in this life. He that hath got the mastery over his own will feels no violence from without, finds no contests within; and when G.o.d calls for him out of this state of mortality, he finds in himself a power to lay down his own life; neither is it so much taken from him, as quietly and freely surrendered up by him.

DR. JOHN SMITH.

November 25

_And the Lord, He it is that doth go before thee; He will be with thee, He will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed_.--DEUT. x.x.xi. 8.

Know well, my soul, G.o.d's hand controls Whatever thou fearest; Round Him in calmest music rolls Whate'er thou hearest.

J. G. WHITTIER.

The lessons of the moral sentiment are, once for all, an emanc.i.p.ation from that anxiety which takes the joy out of all life. It teaches a great peace.

It comes itself from the highest place. It is that, which being in all sound natures, and strongest in the best and most gifted men, we know to be implanted by the Creator of men. It is a commandment at every moment, and in every condition of life, to do the duty of that moment, and to abstain from doing the wrong.

R. W. EMERSON.

Go face the fire at sea, or the cholera in your friend's house, or the burglar in your own, or what danger lies in the way of duty, knowing you are guarded by the cherubim of Destiny.

R. W. EMERSON.

November 26

_Behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou guest_.--GEN. xxviii. 15.

Be quiet, soul: Why shouldst thou care and sadness borrow, Why sit in nameless fear and sorrow, The livelong day?

G.o.d will mark out thy path to-morrow In His best way.

ANON.

I had hoped, Madame, to find you here, and was rejoicing in that hope; but G.o.d has sent you elsewhere. The best place is wherever He puts us, and any other would be undesirable, all the worse because it would please our fancy, and would be of our own choice. Do not think about distant events.

This uneasiness about the future is unwholesome for you. We must leave to G.o.d all that depends on Him, and think only of being faithful in all that depends upon ourselves. When G.o.d takes away that which He has given you, He knows well how to replace it, either through other means or by Himself.

FRANcOIS DE LA MOTHE FeNELON.

November 27

_The Lord hath been mindful of us: He will bless us_.--PS. cxv. 12.

My Father! what am I, that all Thy mercies sweet like sunlight fall So constant o'er my way?

That Thy great love should shelter me, And guide my steps so tenderly Through every changing day?

ANON.

What a strength and spring of life, what hope and trust, what glad, unresting energy, is in this one thought,--to serve Him who is "my Lord,"

ever near me, ever looking on; seeing my intentions before He beholds my failures; knowing my desires before He sees my faults; cheering me to endeavor greater things, and yet accepting the least; inviting my poor service, and yet, above all, content with my poorer love. Let us try to realize this, whatsoever, wheresoever we be. The humblest and the simplest, the weakest and the most enc.u.mbered, may love Him not less than the busiest and strongest, the most gifted and laborious. If our heart be clear before Him; if He be to us our chief and sovereign choice, dear above all, and beyond all desired; then all else matters little. That which concerneth us He will perfect in stillness and in power.

H. E. MANNING.

November 28

_Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with loving kindness have I drawn thee_.--JER. x.x.xi. 3.

On the great love of G.o.d I lean, Love of the Infinite, Unseen, With nought of heaven or earth between.

This G.o.d is mine, and I am His; His love is all I need of bliss.

H. BONAR.

If ever human love was tender, and self-sacrificing, and devoted; if ever it could bear and forbear; if ever it could suffer gladly for its loved ones; if ever it was willing to pour itself out in a lavish abandonment for the comfort or pleasure of its objects; then infinitely more is Divine love tender, and self-sacrificing, and devoted, and glad to bear and forbear, and to suffer, and to lavish its best of gifts and blessings upon the objects of its love. Put together all the tenderest love you know of, the deepest you have ever felt, and the strongest that has ever been poured out upon you, and heap upon it all the love of all the loving human hearts in the world, and then multiply it by infinity, and you will begin, perhaps, to have some faint glimpse of what the love of G.o.d is.