One special mark of a sound mind is a readiness to take counsel
of God, and a bringing into subjection all notions of our own
or of others to His revealed will.
It is not by change of circumstances that we can be made happy,
but by submission to the will of God. This submission is manifested
by our steadfast purpose to mortify the will of the flesh, and
by our contending against everything that offends God.
Without confidence in the love of God we cannot cheerfully submit
to His discipline.
Let not the morrow be as a thief to rob you of this day's blessing.
We are apt to judge of things by present appearances; but the
Lord sees them in all their consequences.
Murmurers always extol times past as better than the present.
The people of Israel in Egypt groaned by reason of hard bondage.
Having passed the Red Sea they sang the song of redemption: but
how ready were they to say one to another, "Let us make a captain,
and let us return into Egypt" (Num. 14:4). Had Moses desired
to shame them, he might have asked: "What said you under Pharaoh's
yoke?"