O Lord! how happy should we be
If we could leave our cares to thee;
If we from self could rest,
And feel at heart that One above,
In perfect wisdom, perfect love,
Is working for the best.
For when we kneel and cast our care
Upon our God, in humble prayer,
With strengthened souls we rise;
Sure that our Father, who is nigh
To hear the ravens when they cry,
Will hear his children's cries.
How far from this our daily life;
How oft disturbed by anxious strife,
By sudden wild alarm!
O could we but relinquish all
Our earthly props and simply fall
On thine Almighty arms!
We cannot trust him as we should,
So chafes weak nature's restless mood
To cast its peace away;
But birds and flowers around us preach
All, all, the present evil teach,
Sufficient for the day.
O may these anxious hearts of ours
The lesson learn from birds and flowers,
And learn from self to cease,
Leave all things to our Father's will,
And, in his mercy trusting, still
Find in each trial peace.
--Joseph Anstice.