November, 1934
T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
383
joyfu l beyond one’s fondest dreams. But should she be destined to wait a few more years in this Valley o f Humili ation, although many o f us, like Christian, shall find our selves “ hard put to it,” yet still will there be the song of rejoicing on our lips and in our hearts, perhaps as never before. W e shall be giving thanks because our blessed Lord has proved Himself the same yesterday and today and forever. Why do we ever forget how beautiful and sufficient He is ? W e can say o f this trying experience, even as Julian of Norwich wrote five hundred years ago o f her first “ Reve lation o f Divine Love” : “ This Shewing was . . . horri fying and dreadful, sweet and lovely. And o f all the sight it was most comfort to me that our God and Lord that is so reverend and dreadful, is so homely and courteous; and
this most filled me with comfort and assured ness o f soul.” Verily, He is the same today that He was five hun dred or five thousand years ago. Sometimes in our prosperous self- sufficiency, sometimes in the rush o f doing th in g s th e w o r ld ’s way, s om e tim e s for the heaviness o f sor r ow , o u r ey e s are holden that we know Him not; then He gra ciously comes in to sup with us, and as He breaks the bread, our
T R U S T "Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines* the labor of the olive [4 shall fail. and the fields shal yield no meat; Ifie flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: Yet 1 will re- ¡oice in the Lord, 1 will joy in the So d of my salvation" (Hab. 3:17, 18]
smoldering hearts leap into a glad flame to greet our risen L o rd ; and the things o f earth, its wealth and poverty and hurry and bustle, become like dreams o f the night. He is- our all in all. W e shall be giving thanks because we have learned afresh that none o f the obstacles He permits to be placed in our path are insurmountable. Often and often the only possible road ahead has looked as if it were leading into a blind alley; then, just before the moment o f despair, a narrow opening has appeared. So exuberant has been our joy at help so obviously providential, that we have said in our hearts that poverty which leans on Him is sweeter far than self-sufficient wealth. G iving T hanks for T esting On the opening page o f a beautiful little volume pub lished by the China Inland Mission and but recently off the press, memorializing Emil Fischbacher, who was called Home within sixteen brief months after beginning his work in China, is to be found this significant quotation: “ As long as Christianity lasts, the heroic ideal must be the standard o f all human life. Christianity can accept no other; whatever it may tolerate, its standard is irremovable. . . There is plenty o f temptation to give up the heroic standard. It often fails. It is easily counterfeited. Its failure is scandalous. And not only our self-indulgence, but our suspicion and hatred of insincere pretense, our moderation and common sense, bid us content ourselves with something short o f it, and take our aim by what we call our nature. But the New Testament will not meet us here. The heroic standard is the only one it will coun tenance for its own, as proportionate to the greatness of its disclosures.” “ Our moderation and common sense,” how they bid us be content with the low, well-watered plain! What have we to do with the steeps? Would it not be a pose for us
to attempt the difficult climb? The Careys and the John G. Patons, the Bunyans and the Wesleys— they were men of heroic stature. W e are just everyday folk. So we build our neat nests and live our comfortable little lives until one day the tempest wrecks it all. I think it was F. B. Meyer who said, “ God’s plan for us is so much larger than our own that the two naturally come into col lision. . . . God’s plans value bur ease and comfort but little, and our growth in goodness and usefulness a great deal.” Perhaps we have especial cause for thanksgiving for the very period o f depression and drought through which we have been passing. Very possibly it is the good hand of our God upon us that “ wrecks the neat nests we have made for ourselves, drives us out to new flights, constrains us# to finer efforts.” Let us not fail to remember that always with the call comes the enabling. His grace is suf ficient for anything His will permits. [Continued on page 386]
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