the wonder and
miracle o f
by E. Frederick Mertens
“C< ilent night / Holy night! All is calm, all is bright!” Was this just for the long ago when a lowly manger cradled the King, or can we still hear that rapturous song this Christmas of 1963 when sometimes it seems that heaven itself is silent, hearts bend low with pain and the pressure of burdens almost unbearable, and wrestle hopelessly with fear? Yes, there are those whose eyes still scan the heavens and whose eager spirits listen with hushed expectancy for angelic anthems. To these a blessed assurance shines through the darkness and their hearts sing, “All IS calm, all IS bright!” Now and again we have observed someone who seem ingly is buried beneath a cold, smothering blanket of frustration, trial, suffering and sorrow. Yet, instead of the shattered wreckage of a blasted life, before our wondering gaze unfolds the strange beauty and fragrance of the Lord’s grace and peace. We hear—not a funeral dirge—but an angel’s song of praise to God’s glory. A devoted man cared for his invalid wife for thirty years. The heavy burden of her suffering increased with each passing day despite the anguish of his ceaseless prayers in her behalf. With heart bleeding and tom he watched her slowly dying before his agonized eyes; then, at last, she was gone. Stepping out under the stars in the impenetrable blackness of his night, he lifted his heart to his Lord. “Oh Christ! I know that all Thou dost send is in Thy wisdom and love. I thank Thee. I thank Thee! Do with me as Thou wilt. I abandon my life to Thee. Take me. I am Thy man—now and forever!” A heavenly mantle of peace seemed to clothe him completely, and a great wonderment of praise welled up within him. “I stand amazed at the love of God!” was his simple testimony. Friends and neighbors, who had long stood by while he kept vigil with faith in the character of his God burnished and bright in the midst of the bleak hopeless ness of the never-ending years, whispered with misty eyes and choked voices, “There is a man who knows God!” A woman of noble birth, who had graced courts of royalty in Europe, found God in a lowly mission and consecrated her all to Him. Renouncing wealth, vain glory, and pleasure, she traveled the highways and by ways witnessing to His love and mercy. One day she
was suddenly smitten with an incurable illness from which she endured incessant pain. Kneeling by her bed, she cried, “Dear Father, Thou knowest that I am wholly Thine. I was Thine when I had strength, health, and beauty, and could serve Thee freely. I am still Thine now that I have lost all of these and can serve Thee only by manifesting the joy and peace of Thy light and love!” Through the long years that held her fast as a prisoner of pain, she bore testimony to all of her love and faith in God. Her glowing face and joyous spirit gave indis putable evidence of His life within, and chords were struck in a multitude of hearts that soon blended with hers in a symphony of praise and glory to the Name of Him Who delights to give songs in the night. But these alone are not specially favored to hear the angel’s song; God would have us all come to know the love and faithfulness of our Lord and Saviour. He does not promise to spare us suffering and sorrow, but He does promise to be with us—“They 'hall call His name Emmanuel, GOD WITH US!” “Fear not, for I have redeemed thee . . . when thou passest through the waters I will be with thee, and through the rivers they shall not overflow thee . . . for I am the Lord, thy God, thy Saviour.” A beloved child of God whose life had been one long succession of tragedy, now alone and bereft of family and friends, was suddenly stricken with a severe heart attack. Struggling to reach the phone, he called a doctor who rushed him to the hospital where his life hung by a worn thread for many days. When he was able to hold a pencil, he wrote these few lines: “I have never had any fears, cares, or anxieties since they put me in the ambulance. Jesus has been my constant Companion. I have felt His very Presence. There has been nothing but peace and a resting in His wonderful arms!” Through long days of weakness he eagerly proclaimed the love and grace of God to fellow-sufferers sharing his ward, and a dying man grasped the Good News of the Gospel to his hungry heart and found peace and light and eternal life. “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee, because he trusteth in Thee.” How very (continued on next page)
14
THE KING'S BUSINESS
Made with FlippingBook Annual report