I know not what the future holds,
Of good or ill for me and mine;
I only know that God enfolds
Me in his loving arms divine.
So I shall walk the earth in trust
That He who notes the sparrow's fall
Will help me bear whate'er I must
And lend an ear whene'er I call.
It matters not if dreams dissolve
Like mists beneath the morning sun,
For swiftly as the worlds revolve
So swiftly will life's race be run.
It matters not if hopes depart,
Or life be pressed with toil and care.
If love divine shall fill my heart
And all be sanctified with prayer.
Then let me learn submission sweet
In every thought, in each desire,
And humbly lay at his dear feet
A heart aglow with heavenly fire.
"SOMETIME"
Sometime, when all life's lessons have been learned,
And sun and stars forevermore have set,
The things which our weak judgment here had spurned,
The things o'er which we grieve with lashes wet,
Will flash before us out of life's dark night,
As stars shine most in deeper tints of blue,
And we shall see how all God's plans were right,
And how what seemed reproof was love most true.
And we shall see how, while we frown and sigh,
God's plans go on as best for you and me;
How when we called he heeded not our cry,
Because his wisdom to the end could see;
And even as prudent parents disallow
Too much of sweet to crooning baby's hest,
So God perhaps is keeping from us now
Life's sweetest things because it seemeth best.
And if sometimes commingled with life's wine
We find the wormwood, and rebel and shrink,
Be sure a wiser hand than yours or mine
Poured out the potion for our lips to drink;
And if some one we love is lying low,
Where human kisses can not reach the face,
O do not blame the loving Father so,
But wear your sorrow with obedient grace,
And you will shortly know that lengthened breath
Is not the sweetest gift God gives his friend;
And that sometimes the sable pall of death
Conceals the fairest boon his love can send.
If we could push ajar the gates of life,
And stand within, and all God's workings see,
We could interpret all this doubt and strife,
And for each mystery could find a key.
But not to-day. Then be content, poor heart,
God's plans, like lilies pure and white, unfold;
We must not tear the close-shut leaves apart,
Time will reveal the calyxes of gold.
And if through patient toil we reach the land
Where tired feet with sandals loosed may rest,
When we shall clearly know and understand,
I think that we will say: "God knew the best."
--May Louise Riley Smith.
O why and whither? God knows all;
I only know that he is good,
And that whatever may befall,
Or here or there, must be the best that could.
For He is merciful as just;
And so, by faith correcting sight,
I bow before his will, and trust
Howe'er they seem he doeth all things right.
--John Greenleaf Whittier.