St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1880-08-27
Help in the Hour of Trial.

"And Abraham rose up early in the
morning, and went"
Our Lord often lays burden upon
us, heavy and sore it may seem to MS,
but could we only surmise its purpose,
we would see great blessing hidden
within the trial. Like unto Abraham,
would we only arise and do the Lords
bidding, would we look up aud say,
''Thy will be dOne,n and ask for grace
aud strength of endurance to be given
us, all would be well with us. No mat
ter what the trial may be, whether that
of illness, vexations, or our worldly
goods taken from us, Christ our Re
deemer has said, "Lo, am with you
Away" This promise is ours-ours to
hold firmly and steadfast, ours to COM
fort and cheer us when the dark, cold
waves of tribulations approach us,
could we then be like Abraham, "rising
up early" and doing that, rather enter
ing into that, which our good Lord sees
is best for us to pass through. | sin
cerely believe half the victory is won
when in the moments, the first mo-
ments of sorrow we lift up our hearts
and look to God for help. He has prom
ised it, and if we only will, it is ours to
be had for the asking: "Ask, and We
shall receive" Can You imagine any
trial that has come to you as great as
this of Abraham's: "Take now thy son,
thine only son, Isaac, whom thOu low
est, and offer him up for burnt
Offering" TO positively know that
he wonld have to kill his "only sou,
Isaac, whom he loved :" not to see him
die through some accident or illness,
but with his own hand take that pre-
ciOus life, that son he had so long prayed
for, and now God commands him to
STAY him, and with his own hand Has
Your trial or trials ever equalIed this
one, and i'll measure could it bear any
comparison to it? Did you, or could
you have been as faithful to your heav-
emily Father as Abraham was ? | fear
not. Very few of us could travel as
many days with this sad, sad secret in
our hearts. We should no doubt have
failed, tainted by the wayside. Yes
tainted and utterly given up, simply
because we all are so apt to take the
hearing of our burdens upon ourselves
Christ, our Saviour, not alone Saviour
of sinners, but Saviour of our trials, the
Helping Hand, that strong, powerful
Right Hand, which is ever Out-stretch-
ed to save and help us, uphold us from
sinking underneath the burden in the
hour of the storm of trial. He says to
you, to me, ''Fear not. The everlasting
arms are underneath you" Here comes
ringing with a loud, clear, cheerful
tone the word, "Lo, am with you al
way"
And should not this strengthen us and
make us resolve that whatever the Lord
sees fit to send us, trials, sorrows OIL
vexatiOns-are these not all summed up
i'll grand total of "tribulations" We
can find even in this blessing
Through tribulations ye enter into the
kingdom of heaven" All these are sent
to purify the dross, to refine the gold
to fit us for the mansions prepared fol
lis on high, ''to be forever with the
Lord" Will not you and /, dear friend
in Christ, will not we pray for strength,
that when the hour of trial comes
we may Immediately arise and go to the
Lord-''come boldly unto the throne OF
grace, that we may obtain mercy, and
find grace to help in time of need
Christ bids us come, and surely we all
know ''He ever liveth to make inter
cessiOn for u.s." And the Lord will pro-
vide way of help for us, that in al
things, like unto His friend Abraham
we shall be able to do His will. 'ELo
| am with YOU alway.n