WHAT DOES IT MEAN? (I Peter 4:12, 19) It does not matter what it means, dear heart; The good Lord knows, to bear it is your part; Nor think some strange thing hap pens unto you Which He would not allow so if He knew. He does know. In His all-wise Fatherhood He knows it, and allows it for your good. He is not hard; you do not think He is When in the dark you find your hand in His; When it was light, you tried to walk alone, And thought the strength He gave you all your own. You did not ask what the last blessing meant; Just smiled and took it, satisfied, content. You did not think it strange. You thought He knew And planned the sweet surprise which came to you. Tried one, then do you take life's sweet and good, Yet cannot trust that tender Father hood, But think He makes mistakes when e'er He sends Some hindrance which your eager haste offends? Or when He lets the wicked plot you harm. And stirs a whirlwind when you seek a calm; You think it strange, this trial swift and keen, And in your weakness ask, "What does it mean?" I think the language of God's heart would read: " I love M y child, I note his slightest need;
I long to prosper him in all his ways, To give him quiet nights and peace ful days. "But if I do, he'll lose himself from Me, M y outstretched hand he will not wait to see; I'll place a hindering wall before his feet; There he will wait, and there we two will meet. " I do it not in wrath for broken laws Or willful disobedience, but because I want him nearer, and I cannot wait For him to come for he might wander late. "M y child will wonder, will not understand, Still half in doubt he'll clasp My outstretched hand; But when at last upon M y heart he leans He will have ceased to wonder what it means." THE POWER OF PRAYER There is an eye that never sleeps Beneath the wing of night; There is an ear that never shuts, When sink the beams of light. There is an arm that never tires, When human strength gives way; There is a love that never fails, When earthly loves decay. That eye is fixed on seraph throngs, That arm upholds the sky, That ear is filled with angel songs, That love is throned on high. But there's a power which man can wield, When mortal aid is vain, That eye, that arm, that love to reach, That listening ear to gain. That power is prayer, which soars on high, Through Jesus to the throne, And moves the hand which move the world To bring aid to His own.
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