Part 89

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? God 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 God 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 God all that depends on Him, and think only of being faithful in all that depends upon ourselves. When God takes away that which He has given you, He knows well how to replace it, either through other means or by Himself.

FRANÇOIS DE LA MOTHE FÉNELON.

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 encumbered, 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. xxxi. 3.

On the great love of God I lean, Love of the Infinite, Unseen, With nought of heaven or earth between. This God 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 God is.

H. W. SMITH.

November 29

My sons, be not now negligent: for the Lord hath chosen you to stand before Him, to serve Him.--2 CHRON. xxix. 11.

Bright be my prospect as I pass along;-- An ardent service at the cost of all,-- Love by untiring ministry made strong, And ready for the first, the softest call.

A. L. WARING.

There are many things that appear trifles, which greatly tend to enervate the soul, and hinder its progress in the path to virtue and glory. The habit of indulging in things which our judgment cannot thoroughly approve, grows stronger and stronger by every act of self-gratification, and we are led on by degrees to an excess of luxury which must greatly weaken our hands in the spiritual warfare. If we do not endeavor to do that which is right in every particular circumstance, though trifling, we shall be in great danger of letting the same negligence take place in matters more essential.

MARGARET WOODS.

The will can only be made submissive by frequent self-denials, which must keep in subjection its sallies and inclinations. Great weakness is often produced by indulgences which seem of no importance.

M. DE MOLINOS.

November 30

Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God; for I shall yet praise Him for the help of His countenance.--PS. xlii. 5.

We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed.--2 COR. iv. 8.