The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1895-06-26
Healer of the BrOken-B earted.

Healer of the BrOk en- II earted.
Mrs. Elizabeth Prentiss, in her cor
respondence with an afflicted friend,
wrote: II want to make you feel thai
His sufferers are His happiest, most
favored disciples. What they learn
about Him, His pitifulness, His un,
willingness to hurt us, His haste to blno
up the very wounds He has inflicted
endear Him so that at last they burst
out into songs of thanksgiving that His
donation of bliss included in 1T such
donation of pain. Perhaps / have al.
ready said to you, for | am fond OF
saying it:
The love of Jesus, what 1t is
Only His sufferers know.
"You ask in your heart will ever be
liphtsome again. Never again with
the liphtsomeness that had never
known sorrow; but light even to gay
ety with the new and higher love born
of tribulation. Just as far as a heav-
enly is superior to even maternal love
will be the elevation and beauty OF
YOUR new joy-a joy worth all it costs
I know what sorrow means l know
it well but l know, too, what 1T is to
mass out of that prison house into a
neace that passes all understanding
and thousands can say the same. so,
nv dear suffering sister, look on ana
look up; lay hold on Christ with both
your poor, empty hands; let Him DO
with you what seemeth Him good
though He slay you, still trust in Him,
and l dare, in His name, promise You
a sweeter, better life than you could
have known had He left you to drink
of the full, dangerous cups of unmln,
gled prosperity. l feel such real and
living sympathy with you that 1
would love to spend weeks by your
side trying to bind up your broken
heart. But for the Gospel of Christ, to
hear of such bereavements as yours
would appall, would madden one;
Yet what halo surrounds that word
but y
Having dwelt long in an obscure,
oftentimes dark valley, and then pass
ed out into bright plane oflife, l am
full of tender yearnings over other
souls, and would gladly spend my
whole time and strength for them. l
long especially to see your feet esta9,
lished on the immovable ROCK. Ii
seems to me that God is preparing you
for great usefulness by the fiery trial OF
your faith-'they learn in suffering
what they teach in song.' o, how true
this is! Who is so fitted to sing prals-
es to Christ as he who has learned Him
in hours of bereavement, disappoint-
ment, and despair?
"What you want is to let your intel
lect 90 overheard, if need be, and to
take what God gives just as a little
child takes it, without money and
without price. Faith is His; unbelief
ours. No process of reasoning can
soothe mothers empty, aching heart,
or bring Christ into it to fill up all that
great waste room. But faith can and
faith is His gift; gift to be won by
prayer-prayer persistent, patlent, 9e-
termined prayer that will take no de-
nial; prayer that if it goes away one
day unsatisfied keeps on saying: We'll
there's tomorrow, and tomorrow, ana
tomorrow God may wait to he gra-
cious, and can wait to receive, but
receive I must and will This is what
the Bible means when it says: The
kingdomof heaven suffereth violence,
and the violent taketh it by force II
does not say the eager, the impatient
take it by force, but the violent-they
who declare, Il will not let Thee go eX-
cept Thou bless me- This is all heart,
not head, work. Do know what am
talking about? Yes, I do; but my in
tellect is of no use to me when my
heart is breaking. I must get down
on my kness and own that l am less
than nothing seek God, not joy con,
sent to suffer, not cry for relief. And
how transcendently good He is when
He brings me down to that low place
and there shows me that that self-re-
nouncing, selfdespairng spot is just
the one where He will stop to meet me.
"My dear friend, don't let this trag-
edy of sorrow fail to do everything for
you. 1t is a dreadful thing to lose
children; but lost sorrow is the most
fearful experience life can bring. ]
feel this so strongly that l could go on
writing all day. 1t has been said that
the intent of sorrow is to toss uson to
Gods PROMISES Alas, these waves
too often toss us away out to the sea,
where neither sun nor stars appear for
many days. I pray earnestly that it
may not be so with you"