_CALAMITY AS REVEALER_
"_In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord._"
--ISAIAH vi. 1-8.
He lost a hero, and he found the Lord. He feared because a great pillar
had fallen: and he found the Pillar of the universe. He thought everything
would topple into disaster, and lo! he felt the strength of the
everlasting arms. When Uzziah lived Isaiah had forgotten his Lord. He so
depended on the earthly that he had overlooked the heavenly. Uzziah
concealed his Lord as a thick veil can hide a face. And when Uzziah died,
when the earthly king passed away, the eternal King was revealed; as when
by the passing of an earth-born cloud the moon reigns radiant in the open
sky.
And thus it is that apparent calamity is often the minister of revelation.
The great storm clears the air, and luminous vistas come into view. The
howling wind of adversity drives away the earth-born clouds and we see the
face of God. Our sorrows prove the occasion of our visions. We see new
panoramas through our tears. Bereavement gives us spiritual surprises, and
death becomes the servant of life. And so it happens that days which began
in gloom end in revelation, and we keep their recurring anniversary with
deepening praise.