THE KING’S BUSINESS A Time to Trust God and Rest in Him
594
T HERE has been no time within the experience o f most of us when calamity, distress, apprehension, agony and fear were so widespread and common as to-day. Everything is unsettled; no one knows what is coming next. Though most of the readers of THE KING’S BUSINESS are outside of the war zone, we are all affected by the war, and most of us have friends and loved ones who are within the war zone. But, if we really believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Word of God, it is our privilege to possess our souls in perfect peace. We cannot trust man but we can trust God. During the past weeks, there has been to us a new sweetness in passages of Scripture that have been'precious to us for years—the opening verses of the 46th Psalm have had a deeper meaning and significance than ever before: “ God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof.” And with our hearts singing a song of trust, we go on toward the later verses of the Psalm, “ The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved: he uttered his voice, the earth melted. The LORD of Hosts is with us; the God o f Jacob is our refuge.” Trium phantly we go on still further, “ He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth: he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; he burneth the chariot in the fire. Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth. The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.” And our Lord’s own words to His fear- stricken disciples have new preciousness, “ Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many man sions : if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” Over and over again as letters have poured in upon us from friends in places of peril in China, in Africa and elsewhere, and as letters have come to us from people filled with apprehension and fear, bur Lord’s own words of comfort and encouragement to His disciples in view of the distress that was coming upon nations have come to us with new force, “ And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress o f nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring, men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemp tion draweth nigh.” Let us note carefully the fact that it is when these things “ begin” to come to pass that we may lift up our heads. We do not have to wait until they have all come to pass. These are days for rest of heart, for abounding hope, but they are days also when we should improve every moment of the days of opportunity that are so swiftly sweeping by, never to return.
Made with FlippingBook - Online catalogs