Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1899-11-02
The Trials of Faith.


sheltered corners OF His garden that
the wind sweeping over the waste of
moorland never touches them. and the
sun from all the air is ever blessing
them. With every year they know
God better and are more firmly per-
suaded of His love. Jesus presence is
more distinctly felt, and the prints of
His feet grow clearer on the ways OF
life. For them the miraculous has no
difficulties, since they have seen greater
works than those in their own expert
ence, and the mysteries of faith are the
subject of their joyful meditation.
Cross providences do not disturb their
hearts, being only the signs of Faith
er's love. and great sacrifices do not
daunt them, being only the opportuni-
ty for a new surrender to the Divine
Will. They are the pure in heart VINO
see God; they are the meek who in
herit the earth-Who carry with them
an atmosphere of calm, in whose eyes
Heaven can be seen. 1t is the will OF
our Father to deal after another fash
ion with many of his children. who
may turn out to be the strongest OF
the family in the day of their full man.
hood. Like their Elder Brother they
are carried away into the wilderness
sons, some for short, some once only,
some at intervals all their life. One
has no measure of comparison for the
trials of life, but for souls of delicate
temper none is more fiery than the try
ing of faith. For it is faith which re-
inforces us in the sore straits of life
and ministers to us our chief consoa-
tons. 1t assures us of the love of
God, of the life beyond the grave, of
the victory over this present world, OF
the crown that shall be given to the
soul; with the spell of faith so many
Affections are made light, so many are
made acceptable; heaven opens above
our head, this life is shot through with
light. 1t matters little how rough be
the road so long as it stretches before
us with some home at its end, or how
keen be the wind if the sun be shining.
When the track is lost on the hill and
the night falls, then one may be ex-
cused if his heart fails also, and he is
for space tempted to despair. Vari-
GUS circumstances put faith on her trial
and one of the most common is the
SCATTERING of a hereditary creed. Very
few people indeed begin their religious
life with an open mind, going out each
one to find the new world for himself;
and possessing it in his own right. He
rather succeeds to an estate which
some ancestor has won and bequeathed
70 following generations. Our opin-
ions both in religion and politics are
largely an entail, so that we believe as
our fathers believed, with considerable
comfort and assurance. If no one at
lacks this creed we may be left in pos
session all our days and be spared
many perplexing questions. But it is
well to remember that the title to
hereditary creed is very precarious and
that our security may be roughly shak-
en-. A single sentence in strange.
book has aroused the critical faculty
and left the soul without a spiritual
roof above its head. When suspicion Is
once aroused there is no honest or safe
escape from the trial. One must go to
the bottom of the matter; one cannot
rest till he has verified his creed II
is the most anxious work to which a
man can put his hand, but it has only
to be done once, and what remains is
his own forever Another trial of faith
is rather physical than spiritual, but is
not to be despised on that account
Quite suddenly bright and courageous
persons fall into gloom and sadness of
heart from which they can hardly be
raised. They are haunted by PRESENT.
ments of calamity, they are assailed by
evil thoughts, they consider themselves
forsaken of god, they despair of good
ness. Very likely the cause is physi-
cal, and the first medicine ought to be
that given to the prophet Elijah by
the angel. But the pain is of the soul
and must be assuaged by spiritual rem
edies. The best of them all is to for
get ones self and to think of God
Looking within only depresses, looking
out is sure to cheer. The strenuous
effort to escape from self and rest in
God reacts with tonic effect on the soul,
bracing and restoring its lost energies.
filing it with peace and joy. A third
trial of faith comes from the wilfu
treachery of friend in whom we have
trusted. and this one cuts to the quick
No argument against Christianity. no
failure of the body, is so apt to blast
our faith in God and men as the kiss
of Judas Iscariot. 1t is bitter expert
ence and seems to sweep away all our
sweet illusions-lea up without a
friend to rely upon, or hope to cher.
ish. Life is poisoned through all its
veins and breeds suspicion, revenge ,un-
charitableness. Nothing can save us
in such circumstances from cynicism
and skepticism, except a supreme rally
of charity which shall recall the i'm
mense goodness that we have all seen
and tasted, which shall cast out the
remembrance OF Judas with the love OF
John. The trials Of faith are innum-
cradle. but their effect ought to be one
to clarity, strengthen and settle. Surely
it is good to learn that the object of
faith is not the Bible, no creeds, nor
ourselves, nor our neighbors. but God
himself and Jesus his Son. 1t is not
the Bible which proves Jesus, but Jesus
that proves the Bible. If dogmas have
often been unreasonable, Jesus himself
has commended himself to every mans
mind Our feelings may run up or
down. Gods love remaineth. Men may
fall beneath themselves, God is true.
When faith Is gathered in and concen-
trated on the Eternal, it cannot be
shaken. With every days fellowship.
every days obedience, every days