_PLEASANTNESS AND PEACE_
"_Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace._"
--PROVERBS iii. 13-26.
In the ways of the Lord I shall have feasts of "pleasantness." But not
always at the beginning of the ways. Sometimes my faith is called upon to
take a very unattractive road, and nothing welcomes me of fascination and
delight. But here is a law of the spiritual life. The exercised faith
intensifies my spiritual senses, and hidden things become manifest to my
soul--hidden beauties, hidden sounds, hidden scents! Faith adds a
mysterious "plus" to my powers, and "all things become new."
And in the ways of the Lord I shall also find the gracious gift of peace.
Not that the road will be always smooth, but that I may be always calm. I
can be unperturbed when "all around tumultuous seems." I can journey in
holy serenity, because the Lord of the road is with me. For peace
consists, not in friendliness of circumstances, but in friendship with the
Lord.