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in The Gospel Messenger vol.6 no.1 (Jan. 1884)
MY MIND SEEMS CLOUDED in darkness this morning from
some cause, best known to our great Mediator. Some have made
use of expressions to me similar to this: “If I were a child of
God I would not have so many dark seasons to pass through;”
but if a christian is always in the light, I am not one. But I
think it just as necessary for us to have winter as summer, for if
we had summer all the time we would not know how to appreciate
it; but, after we have a long cold spell, until everything
freezes up, O how glad we are to see warm, pleasant weather; we
know how to appreciate it; so it is when we have a long, cold,
and dark nights, we know how to appreciate day; thence, find it
to be experimentally true concerning those dark and cold seasons
which we have to pass through; then we can say with the
apostle, that all things work together for good to them that love
God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
Hence, we believe that those seasons are all for our good;
but when we are passing through those seasons they are very
painful to us at the time, and we cannot see how they will work
out for our good, but we learn more while we are in that condition
than any other time. We are taught where our dependence
or help lies; that it does not lie in an arm of flesh, but in God,
and him alone. For David says, “The Lord is our refuge and
strength, a very present help in trouble.”
What a blessed thought to the child of God, that the Lord is
his refuge, his strength and keeper, for we are kept by the power
of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the
last time, but sometimes we almost feel that the Lord has forsaken
us; but bless his holy name, he says he will never leave us
nor forsake us. Then how can we fall with such a prop as our
redeemer God? For the christian is fenced in on every hand from
the snares of Satan; they are fenced with the WILLS and SHALLS of
JEHOVAH. Hence, we conclude that all of our chastisements are for
our good—for he says, “As many as I love I rebuke and chasten. |
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