_Its Significance to the Life of Christians_
IT was during Easter week that Jesus spoke the word about the little
while in which the disciples were not to see Him, and in which they
would be brought to the very brink of despair while the world enjoyed
itself in a fleeting exuberance of victory. The little while with its
deep, its hopeless sorrow lasted for the disciples from Good Friday
until Easter Sunday, and, forsooth, their weeping was heartrending,
their plaints most gripping. Jesus had been taken away from them, and
they did not understand that it behooved Him to suffer this and then to
enter into glory; nor did they realize that they would themselves, in
a little while, be mature, so as to win the world for the Lord who now
had been nailed onto a cross.
Darkness enveloped the earth for three hours so the rays of the sun
were unable to penetrate it; but still denser was the spiritual
darkness which had gathered about the disciples: There was no glimpse
of light, no hope! For He who, as they had hoped, was to have redeemed
Israel, had breathed His last on the cross. The words of the Lord were
literally fulfilled upon them; they wept and lamented. At this moment
they were unable to cling to the promise of the Lord: "I will see you
again, and your heart shall rejoice and your joy no man taketh from
you."
But were we able at this moment to see the apostles before us and to
ask them: What do you think of the brief hours of despair in your
lives--and especially of that which was the most sorrowful of all? I am
certain they would answer: It was, indeed, a most significant "little
while," and all the brief moments of despair throughout life have been
so valuable that we could not have done without them. But if this were
so, as far as the apostles were concerned, then it must be the same for
us, and with this in view we will ask:
_What, then, is the meaning of the distressful "little whiles" to the
life of Christians?_ Those dark and burdensome hours when the tears
moisten our eyes; and darkness gathers about our souls; those hours
which we would rather be without but which we can so ill afford to
dispense with. I might answer quite briefly thus: _It is during those
moments that we are moulded by the hands of the Father as the children
of light!_ I know for a certainty that it was during just such moments
that I became a servant of the Lord wishing from out of the depth of
my soul to find the way from the evil world of deceit and darkness
homeward to the eternal abodes of light. Therefore I thank the Lord
also for those dark hours which came into my life, and therefore I by
no means praise that man or woman happy who has known no such moments,
but I do think he or she who has struggled through them to peace and
rejoicing is happy.
In order to understand fully the meaning of the sad moments in the
life of mankind, we will recall a few of the great men of God.
David was named the man according to the heart of God. But was he made
that when he reached the highest pinnacle of his power and glory and
when he with regal strength ruled the subdued neighboring nations?