you do? You would say to God, "I am Thine--if my trials are acceptable to
Thee, give me more and more." I have full confidence that this is what you
would say, and then you would not think more of it--at any rate, you would
not be anxious. Well, do the same now. Make friends with your trials, as
though you were always to live together; and you will see that when you
cease to take thought for your own deliverance, God will take thought for
you; and when you cease to help yourself eagerly, He will help you.
ST. FRANCIS DE SALES.
Ah, if you knew what peace there is in an accepted sorrow!
MADAME GUYON.
November 15
_Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I
will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with
the right hand of my righteousness_.--ISA. xli. 10.
Lord, be Thou near and cheer my lonely way;
With Thy sweet peace my aching bosom fill;
Scatter my cares and fears; my griefs allay,
And be it mine each day
To love and please Thee still.
P. CORNEILLE.
What if the wicked nature, which is as a sea casting out mire and dirt,
rage against thee? There is a river, a sweet, still, flowing river, the
streams whereof will make glad thy heart. And, learn but in quietness and
stillness to retire to the Lord, and wait upon Him; in whom thou shall feel
peace and joy, in the midst of thy trouble from the cruel and vexatious
spirit of this world. So, wait to know thy work and service to the Lord
every day, in thy place and station; and the Lord make thee faithful
therein, and thou wilt want neither help, support, nor comfort.
I. PENINGTON.
November 16
_Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee: because
he trusteth in Thee_.--ISA. xxvi. 3.
What comforts, Lord, to those are given,
Who seek in Thee their home and rest!
They find on earth an opening heaven,
And in Thy peace are amply blest.
W. C. DESSLER.
God is a tranquil Being, and abides in a tranquil eternity. So must thy
spirit become a tranquil and clear little pool, wherein the serene light
of God can be mirrored. Therefore shun all that is disquieting and
distracting, both within and without. Nothing in the whole world is worth
the loss of thy peace; even the faults which thou hast committed should
only humble, but not disquiet thee. God is full of joy, peace, and
happiness. Endeavor then to obtain a continually joyful and peaceful
spirit. Avoid all anxious care, vexation, murmuring, and melancholy, which
darken thy soul, and render thee unfit for the friendship of God. If thou
dost perceive such feelings arising, turn gently away from them.
G. TERSTEEGEN.
November 17
_Every day will I bless Thee; and I will praise Thy name for ever and
ever_.--PS. cxlv. 2.
_Commit thy works unto the Lord, and thy thoughts shall be
established_.--PROV. xvi. 3.
Lord, I my vows to Thee renew;
Disperse my sins as morning dew;
Guard my first springs of thought and will,
And with Thyself my spirit fill.
THOMAS KEN.
Morning by morning think, for a few moments, of the chief employments of
the day, any one thing of greater moment than others, thine own especial
trial, any occasions of it which are likely to come that day, and by one
short strong act commend thyself beforehand in all to God; offer all thy
thoughts, words, and deeds to Him--to be governed, guided, accepted by Him.
Choose some great occasions of the day, such as bring with them most trial
to thee, on which, above others, to commend thyself to God.
E. B. PUSEY.
Will you not, before venturing away from your early quiet hour, "commit thy
works" to Him definitely, the special things you have to do to-day, and the
unforeseen work which He may add in the course of it?
F. R. HAVERGAL.
November 18
_Hereby know we that we dwell in Him, and He in us, because He bath given
us of His Spirit_.--I JOHN iv. 13.
Within! within, oh turn
Thy spirit's eyes, and learn
Thy wandering senses gently to control;
Thy dearest Friend dwells deep within thy soul,
And asks thyself of thee,
That heart, and mind, and sense, He may make whole
In perfect harmony.
G. TERSTEEGEN.
Wait patiently, trust humbly, depend only upon, seek solely to a God of
Light and Love, of Mercy and Goodness, of Glory and Majesty, ever dwelling
in the inmost depth and spirit of your soul. There you have all the secret,
hidden, invisible Upholder of all the creation, whose blessed operation
will always be found by a humble, faithful, loving, calm, patient
introversion of your heart to Him, who has His hidden heaven within you,
and which will open itself to you, as soon as your heart is left wholly to
His eternal, ever-speaking Word, and ever-sanctifying Spirit within you.
Beware of all eagerness and activity of your own natural spirit and temper.
Run not in any hasty ways of your own. Be patient under the sense of your
own vanity and weakness; and patiently wait for God to do His own work, and
in His own way.
WM. LAW.
November 19
_If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue,
but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain_.--JAMES i. 26.
_I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue_.--PS.
xxxix. I.
No sinful word, nor deed of wrong,
Nor thoughts that idly rove;
But simple truth be on our tongue,
And in our hearts be love.
ST. AMBROSE.
Let us all resolve,--First, to attain the grace of SILENCE; Second, to deem
all FAULT-FINDING that does no good a SIN, and to resolve, when we are
happy ourselves, not to poison the atmosphere for our neighbors by calling
on them to remark every painful and disagreeable feature of their daily
life; Third, to practise the grace and virtue of PRAISE.
HARRIET B. STOWE.
Surrounded by those who constantly exhibit defects of character and
conduct, if we yield to a complaining and impatient spirit, we shall mar
our own peace without having the satisfaction of benefiting others.
T. C. UPHAM.
November 20
_Ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the--will of God, ye
might receive the promise_.--HEB. x. 36.
Sweet Patience, come:
Not from a low and earthly source,--
Waiting, till things shall have their course,--
Not as accepting present pain
In hope of some hereafter gain,--
Not in a dull and sullen calm,--
But as a breath of heavenly balm,
Bidding my weary heart submit
To bear whatever God sees fit:
Sweet Patience, come!
HYMNS OF THE CHURCH MILITANT.
Patience endues her scholars with content of mind, and evenness of temper,
preventing all repining grumbling, and impatient desires, and inordinate
affections; disappointments here are no crosses, and all anxious thoughts
are disarmed of their sting; in her habitations dwell quietness,
submission, and long-suffering, all fierce turbulent inclinations are
hereby allayed. The eyes of the patient fixedly wait the inward power of
God's providence, and they are thereby mightily enabled towards their
salvation and preservation.
THOMAS TRYON.
November 21
_Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out
of the mouth of God_.--MATT. iv. 4.
_A man's life conisteth not in the abundance of the things which he
possesseth_.--LUKE xii. 15.
Whate'er God does is well,
Whether He gives or takes!
And what we from His hand receive
Suffices us to live.
He takes and gives, while yet He loves us still;
Then love His will.
B. SCHMOLCK.
Is that beast better, that hath two or three mountains to graze on, than
a little bee, that feeds on dew or manna, and lives upon what falls every
morning from the storehouse of heaven, clouds, and providence?
JEREMY TAYLOR.
For myself I am certain that the good of human life cannot lie in the
possession of things which for one man to possess is for the rest to lose,
but rather in things which all can possess alike, and where one man's
wealth promotes his neighbor's.
B. SPINOZA.
Every lot is happy to a person who bears it with tranquillity.
BOETHIUS.
November 22
_Your Father knoweth what things ye have need of_.--MATT. vi. 8.
_Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these
things shall be added unto you_.--MATT. vi. 33.
Thy kingdom come, with power and grace,
To every heart of man;
Thy peace, and joy, and righteousness
In all our bosoms reign.
C. WESLEY.
God bids us, then, by past mercies, by present grace, by fears of coming
ill, by hopes in His goodness, earnestly, with our whole hearts, seek Him
and His righteousness, and all these things, all ye need for soul and body,
peace, comfort, joy, the overflowing of His consolations, shall be added
over and above to you.
E. B. PUSEY.
Grant us, O Lord, we beseech Thee, always to seek Thy kingdom and
righteousness, and of whatsoever Thou seest us to stand in need, mercifully
grant us an abundant portion. Amen.
Be content to be a child, and let the Father proportion out daily to thee
what light, what power, what exercises, what straits, what fears, what
troubles He sees fit for thee.
I. PENINGTON.
November 23
_I have taught thee In the way of wisdom; I have led thee in right
paths_.--PROV. iv. 11.
We know not what the path may be
As yet by us untrod;
But we can trust our all to Thee,
Our Father and our God.
WM. J. IRONS.
We have very little command over the circumstances in which we may be
called by God to bear our part--unlimited command over the temper of our
souls, but next to no command over the outward forms of trial. The most
energetic will cannot order the events by which our spirits are to be
perilled and tested. Powers quite beyond our reach--death, accident,
fortune, another's sin--may change in a moment all the conditions of our
life. With to-morrow's sun existence may have new and awful aspects for any
of us.
J. H. THOM.
Oh, my friend, look not _out_ at what stands in the way; what if it look
dreadfully as a lion, is not the Lord stronger than the mountains of prey?
but look _in_, where the law of life is written, and the will of the Lord
revealed, that thou mayest know what is the Lord's will concerning thee.
I. PENINGTON.
November 24
_Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope
in the Lord_.--PS. xxxi. 24.
_Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid_.--JOHN xiv. 27.
In heavenly love abiding,
No change my heart shall fear;
And safe is such confiding,
For nothing changes here.
A. L. WARING.
A true Christian, that hath power over his own will, may live nobly and
happily, and enjoy a clear heaven within the serenity of his own mind
perpetually. When the sea of this world is most rough and tempestuous
about him, then can he ride safely at anchor within the haven, by a sweet
compliance of his will with God's will. He can look about him, and with an
even and indifferent mind behold the world either to smile or frown upon
him; neither will he abate of the least of his contentment for all the ill
and unkind usage he meets withal in this life. He that hath got the mastery
over his own will feels no violence from without, finds no contests within;
and when God calls for him out of this state of mortality, he finds in
himself a power to lay down his own life; neither is it so much taken from
him, as quietly and freely surrendered up by him.
DR. JOHN SMITH.
November 25
_And the Lord, He it is that doth go before thee; He will be with thee,
He will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be
dismayed_.--DEUT. xxxi. 8.
Know well, my soul, God's hand controls
Whatever thou fearest;
Round Him in calmest music rolls
Whate'er thou hearest.
J. G. WHITTIER.
The lessons of the moral sentiment are, once for all, an emancipation from
that anxiety which takes the joy out of all life. It teaches a great peace.
It comes itself from the highest place. It is that, which being in all
sound natures, and strongest in the best and most gifted men, we know to be
implanted by the Creator of men. It is a commandment at every moment, and
in every condition of life, to do the duty of that moment, and to abstain
from doing the wrong.
R. W. EMERSON.
Go face the fire at sea, or the cholera in your friend's house, or the
burglar in your own, or what danger lies in the way of duty, knowing you
are guarded by the cherubim of Destiny.
R. W. EMERSON.
November 26
_Behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou
guest_.--GEN. xxviii. 15.
Be quiet, soul:
Why shouldst thou care and sadness borrow,
Why sit in nameless fear and sorrow,
The livelong day?
God will mark out thy path to-morrow
In His best way.
ANON.
I had hoped, Madame, to find you here, and was rejoicing in that hope; but
God has sent you elsewhere. The best place is wherever He puts us, and
any other would be undesirable, all the worse because it would please our
fancy, and would be of our own choice. Do not think about distant events.
This uneasiness about the future is unwholesome for you. We must leave to
God all that depends on Him, and think only of being faithful in all that
depends upon ourselves. When God takes away that which He has given you, He
knows well how to replace it, either through other means or by Himself.
FRANÇOIS DE LA MOTHE FÉNELON.
November 27
_The Lord hath been mindful of us: He will bless us_.--PS. cxv. 12.
My Father! what am I, that all
Thy mercies sweet like sunlight fall
So constant o'er my way?
That Thy great love should shelter me,
And guide my steps so tenderly
Through every changing day?
ANON.
What a strength and spring of life, what hope and trust, what glad,
unresting energy, is in this one thought,--to serve Him who is "my Lord,"
ever near me, ever looking on; seeing my intentions before He beholds my
failures; knowing my desires before He sees my faults; cheering me to
endeavor greater things, and yet accepting the least; inviting my poor
service, and yet, above all, content with my poorer love. Let us try to
realize this, whatsoever, wheresoever we be. The humblest and the simplest,
the weakest and the most encumbered, may love Him not less than the busiest
and strongest, the most gifted and laborious. If our heart be clear before
Him; if He be to us our chief and sovereign choice, dear above all, and
beyond all desired; then all else matters little. That which concerneth us
He will perfect in stillness and in power.
H. E. MANNING.
November 28
_Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with loving
kindness have I drawn thee_.--JER. xxxi. 3.
On the great love of God I lean,
Love of the Infinite, Unseen,
With nought of heaven or earth between.
This God is mine, and I am His;
His love is all I need of bliss.
H. BONAR.
If ever human love was tender, and self-sacrificing, and devoted; if ever
it could bear and forbear; if ever it could suffer gladly for its loved
ones; if ever it was willing to pour itself out in a lavish abandonment for
the comfort or pleasure of its objects; then infinitely more is Divine love
tender, and self-sacrificing, and devoted, and glad to bear and forbear,
and to suffer, and to lavish its best of gifts and blessings upon the
objects of its love. Put together all the tenderest love you know of, the
deepest you have ever felt, and the strongest that has ever been poured out
upon you, and heap upon it all the love of all the loving human hearts in
the world, and then multiply it by infinity, and you will begin, perhaps,
to have some faint glimpse of what the love of God is.
H. W. SMITH.
November 29
_My sons, be not now negligent: for the Lord hath chosen you to stand
before Him, to serve Him_.--2 CHRON. xxix. 11.
Bright be my prospect as I pass along;--
An ardent service at the cost of all,--
Love by untiring ministry made strong,
And ready for the first, the softest call.
A. L. WARING.
There are many things that appear trifles, which greatly tend to enervate
the soul, and hinder its progress in the path to virtue and glory. The
habit of indulging in things which our judgment cannot thoroughly approve,
grows stronger and stronger by every act of self-gratification, and we are
led on by degrees to an excess of luxury which must greatly weaken our
hands in the spiritual warfare. If we do not endeavor to do that which is
right in every particular circumstance, though trifling, we shall be in
great danger of letting the same negligence take place in matters more
essential.
MARGARET WOODS.
The will can only be made submissive by frequent self-denials, which must
keep in subjection its sallies and inclinations. Great weakness is often
produced by indulgences which seem of no importance.
M. DE MOLINOS.
November 30
_Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me?
hope thou in God; for I shall yet praise Him for the help of His
countenance_.--PS. xlii. 5.
_We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed_.--2 COR. iv. 8.
Oh, my soul, why art thou vexed?
Let things go e'en as they will;
Though to thee they seem perplexed,
Yet His order they fulfil.
A. H. FRANCKE.
The vexation, restlessness, and impatience which small trials cause, arise
wholly from our ignorance and want of self-control. We may be thwarted
and troubled, it is true, but these things put us into a condition for
exercising patience and meek submission, and the self-abnegation wherein
alone the fulness of God is to be found.
DE RENTY.
Every day deny yourself some satisfaction;--bearing all the inconveniences
of life (for the love of God), cold, hunger, restless nights, ill health,
unwelcome news, the faults of servants, contempt, ingratitude of friends,
malice of enemies, calumnies, our own failings, lowness of spirits, the
struggle in overcoming our corruptions;--bearing all these with patience
and resignation to the will of God. Do all this as unto God, with the
greatest privacy.
THOMAS WILSON.
December 1
_Charity envieth not, ... thinketh no evil_--I COR. xiii. 4, 5.
_Why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy
brother_?--ROM. xiv. 10.
_He that despiseth his neighbor sinneth_.--PROV. xiv. 21.
Look thou with pity on a brother's fall,
But dwell not with stern anger on his fault;
The grace of God alone holds thee, holds all;
Were that withdrawn, thou too wouldst swerve and halt.
J. EDMESTON.
If, on hearing of the fall of a brother, however differing or severed from
us, we feel the least inclination to linger over it, instead of hiding it
in grief and shame, or veiling it in the love which covereth a multitude
of sins; if, in seeing a joy or a grace or an effective service given to
others, we do not rejoice, but feel depressed, let us be very watchful; the
most diabolical of passions may mask itself as humility, or zeal for the
glory of God.
ELIZABETH CHARLES.
Love taketh up no malign elements; its spirit prompteth it to cover in
mercy all things that ought not to be exposed, to believe all of good that
can be believed, to hope all things that a good God makes possible, and to
endure all things that the hope may be made good.
J. H. THOM.
December 2
_Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest:
for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that
judgest doest the same things_.--ROM. ii. I.
Search thine own heart. What paineth thee
In others, in thyself may be;
All dust is frail, all flesh is weak;
Be thou the true man thou dost seek.
J. G. WHITTIER.
A saint's life in one man may be less than common honesty in another. From
us, whose consciences He has reached and enlightened, God may look for a
martyr's truth, a Christian's unworldly simplicity, before He will place us
on a level even with the average of the exposed classes. We perhaps think
our lives at least harmless. We do not consider what He may think of them,
when compared with the invitations of His that we have slighted, with the
aims of His Providence we are leaving without our help, with the glory for
ourselves we are refusing and casting away, with the vast sum of blessed
work that daily faithfulness in time can rear without overwork on any
single day.
J. H. THOM.
December 3
_Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye
may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost_.--ROM. xv. 13.
To heaven I lift my waiting eyes;
There all my hopes are laid;
The Lord that built the earth and skies
Is my perpetual aid.
I. WATTS.
Grovel not in things below, among earthly cares, pleasures, anxieties,
toils, if thou wouldst have a good strong hope on high. Lift up thy cares
with thy heart to God, if thou wouldst hope in Him. Then see what in thee
is most displeasing to God. This it is which holdeth thy hope down. Strike
firmly, repeatedly, in the might of God, until it give way. Thy hope will
soar at once with thy thanks to God who delivered thee.
E. B. PUSEY.
The snares of the enemy will be so known to thee and discerned, the way of
help so manifest and easy, that their strength will be broken, and the poor
entangled bird will fly away singing, from the nets and entanglements of
the fowler; and praises will spring up, and great love in thy heart to the
Forgiver and Redeemer.
I. PENINGTON.
December 4
_Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou
art also called_.--I TIM. vi. 12.
Oh, dream no more of quiet life;
Care finds the careless out; more wise to vow
Thy heart entire to faith's pure strife;
So peace will come, thou knowest not when or how.
LYRA APOSTOLICA.
Who art thou that complainest of thy life of toil? Complain not. Look
up, my wearied brother; see thy fellow-workmen there, in God's Eternity;
surviving there, they alone surviving; sacred band of the Immortals,
celestial body-guard of the empire of mankind. To thee Heaven, though
severe, is _not_ unkind; Heaven is kind,--as a noble mother; as that
Spartan mother, saying while she gave her son his shield, "With it, my son,
or upon it." Thou too shall return _home_ in honor; to thy far-distant
Home, in honor; doubt it not,--if in the battle thou keep thy shield!
Thou, in the Eternities and deepest death-kingdoms art not an alien; thou
everywhere art a denizen. Complain not.
T. CARLYLE.
December 5
_The God of all grace, who hath called us unto His eternal glory by Christ
Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish,
strengthen, settle you_.--I PET. v. 10.
_Take heed, and be quiet; fear not, neither be faint-hearted_.--ISA. vii.
4.
How shall thou bear the cross that now
So dread a weight appears?
Keep quietly to God, and think
Upon the Eternal Years.
F. W. FABER.
God forgive them that raise an ill report upon the sweet cross of Christ;
it is but our weak and dim eyes, that look but to the black side, that
makes us mistake; those that can take that crabbed tree handsomely upon
their backs, and fasten it on cannily, shall find it such a burden as wings
unto a bird, or sails to a ship.
S. RUTHERFORD.
Blessed is any weight, however overwhelming, which God has been so good as
to fasten with His own hand upon our shoulders.
F. W. FABER.
We cannot say this or that trouble shall not befall, yet we may, by help of
the Spirit, say, nothing that doth befall shall make me do that which is
unworthy of a Christian.
R. SIBBES.
December 6
_This God is our God for ever and ever: He will be our guide even unto
death_.--PS. xlviii. 14.
_For the Lord shall be thy confidence_.--PROV. iii. 26.
Be still, my soul! Thy God doth undertake
To guide the future, as He has the past:
Thy hope, thy confidence, let nothing shake,
All now mysterious shall be bright at last.
J. BORTHWJCK.
He has kept and folded us from ten thousand ills when we did not know it:
in the midst of our security we should have perished every hour, but that
He sheltered us "from the terror by night and from the arrow that flieth by
day"--from the powers of evil that walk in darkness, from snares of our own
evil will. He has kept us even against ourselves, and saved us even from
our own undoing. Let us read the traces of His hand in all our ways, in all
the events, the chances, the changes of this troubled state. It is He that
folds and feeds us, that makes us to go in and out,--to be faint, or to
find pasture,--to lie down by the still waters, or to walk by the way that
is parched and desert.
H. E. MANNING.
We are never without help. We have no right to say of any good work, it is
too hard for me to do, or of any sorrow, it is too hard for me to bear; or
of any sinful habit, it is too hard for me to overcome.
ELIZABETH CHARLES.
December 7
_Acquaint now thyself with Him, and be at peace_.--JOB xxii. 21.
_All thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace
of thy children_.--ISA. liv. 13.
Unite, my roving thoughts, unite
In silence soft and sweet;
And thou, my soul, sit gently down
At thy great Sovereign's feet.