_ROUND-ABOUT WAYS_
ACTS vii. 1-7.
"Unto a land that I will show thee." But what mysterious windings there
often are before that land is reached! But God's windings are never
wasteful and purposeless. The apparent deviations are always gracious
preparations. We are taken out of the way in order that we may the more
richly reach our end. George Pilkington yearned to go to the foreign
field, and God sent him to a dairy farm in Ireland. But the Irish dairy
farm proved to be on the way to Uganda; and all the experience and
knowledge which Pilkington picked up in this strange business proved
invaluable when he reached his appointed field. "He bringeth the blind by
a way that they know not."
So I will remember that the "short cut" is not always the finest road.
God's round-about ways are filled with heavenly treasure. Every winding is
purposed for the discovery of new wealth. What riches we gather on the way
to God's goal!
"The hill of Zion yields
A thousand sacred sweets
Before we reach the heavenly fields
Or walk the golden streets."