Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1896-06-27

what is best, and proclaim my an
thority. = We are merely subordinates
It Is like boy at school with long
sum that he cannot do He has been
working at it for hours, making figures
here and rubbing ont figures there, and
it is all mixed up, and the teacher,
looking over the boys shoulder, knows
that he cannot get out Of it, and clean
ing the slate says, Begin again just
SO God does to us. Our affairs get into
an inextricable ENHANCEMENT, and he
rubs everything out and says, Begin
againl' Is he not wise and loving in so
doing?
think the trouble is that there is SO
large a difference between the divine
and the human estimate as to what is
enough. have heard of people striving
for that which is enough, but / never
heard of any one who had enough.
What God calls enough for man man
calls too little. What man calls enough
God says is too much. The difference
between poor man and rich man is
only the difference in banks. The rich
man puts his money in the Washington
bank, or the Central bank, or the Metro
pclitan bank, or some other bank of
that character, while the poor man
comes up and makes his investments in
the bank of him who runs all the quar-
ries, all the mines, all the gold, all the
earth, all heaven. Do you think man
can fail when he is backed up like that?
You may have seen map on which
is described, with red ink, the travels
of the children of Israel through the
desert to the promised land. You see
how they took this and that direction.
crossed that river and went through the
sea. Do you know God has made map
of your life with paths leading up to
this river and across that sea? But, bless
ed be God, the path always comes out at
the promised land. Mark that Mark
thatl
No Accidents.
remark again that all those things
that seem to be but accidents in our life
are under the divine supervision. We
sometimes seem to be going helmless
and anchorless. You say, "If I had
some other trade; if / had not gone
there this summer; if had lived in
some other house " You have no right
to say that. Every tear you wept, every
step you have taken, every burden you
have carried is under divine inspira-
ton, and that event which startled your
whole household with horror God met
with perfect placidity. because he knew
it was for your good. 1t was part of a
great plan projected long ago. In eter-
nifty, when you come to reckon up your
mercies, you will point to that affection
as one of your greatest blessings.
God has a strange way with us. Jo-
seph found his way to the prime minis
ter's chair by being pushed into pit;
and to many Christian down is up.
The wheat must be failed; the quarry
must be blasted; the diamond must be
ground the Christian must be afflicted;
and that single event, which you sup
posed stood entirely alone, was con-
Meeting link between two great chains,
one chain reaching through all eternity
past and the other chain reaching
through all eternity future-so small
an event fastening two eternities to-
gether.
A missionary coming from India to
the United States stopped at ST Helena
while the vessel was taking water. He
had his little child with him They
walked along by an embankment, and a
rock at that moment became loosened
and, falling instantly, killed the child.
Was it an accident? Was it surprise
to God? Had he allowed his servant,
after a life of conservation, to come to
such a trial? Not such is my God.
There are no accidents in the divine
mind, though they may seem so to us.
God is good, and by every single Incl
dent of our life, whether it be adverse
or otherwise, before earth and heaven,
God will demonstrate his mercy.
hear man say: HThat idea belittles
God. You bring him down o'sReh lit
tie things. +" Oh, have more thorough
appreciation of God i'll little things than
Ihave in great thingsl The mother does
not wait until the child has crushed its
foot or broken its arm before she admin
listers sympathy. The child comes in
with the least bruise, and the mother
kisses it. God does not wait for some
tremendous crisis in our life, but comes
down to us in our most insignificant
trials and throws over us the arms of
his mercy.
Going up the White mountains some
years ago l thought of that passage in
the Bible that speaks of God as weigh
ing mountains i'll balance AS looked
at those great mountains / thought,
Can it be possible that God can put
these great mountains III scales? 1t was
an idea too great for me to grasp; but
when 1 saw a bluebell down By the
mules foot, on my way up Mount
Washington, then / understood the
kindness and goodness of God. 1t is not
so much of God in great things 1 can
understand, but of God in little things.
Development.
There is a man who says, "That doc
trine cannot be true, because things do
go so very wrong Ireply it is no in
consistency on the part of God, but a
lack of understanding ON our part. /
hear that men are making very fine
shawls in some factory. go in ON the
irst floor and see only the raw ma
;erials, and ask, ''Are these the shawls
have heard about?'' mo" says the
manufacturer. go up to the next
floor +" and go up, and there begin
to see the design. But the man says:
DO not stop here. Go up to the top
floor Of the factory and you will see the
idea fully carried out. /" / do SO, and
having come to the top, see the COM
plete pattern of an exquisite shawl So
in our life, standing down ON a low
level of Christian experience we do not
understand Gods dealings. He tells us
to go up higher and higher until we be-
gin to understand the divine meaning
with respect to us, and we advance up-
til we stand at the very gate of heaven,
and there see Gods idea all wrought
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