The Tupelo journal., 1904-10-07
HoPEFULNEss IN TRIAL.
The Need and the Blessing of the Up
ward Look When Things
Are Dark.

1T Is good hat a man hope" There is
a bright side to all trial. 1t is Gods
tool TO sharpen the saints. Untitled
ground goes to weeds. The prosperous
Christian soon forsets God and His
manifold benefits.
Edmund Burke became the chastened.
softened. eloquent orator hat he was
through the death of his only son.
There is q legend of an artist who had
found the secret of the wonderful red
which no other artist could initiate.
The secret of his color died with him.
But after his death an Ole wound was
discovered over his heart. This re-
vealed the source of the matchless hue
in his picture. Affection brings out the
hearts blood which gives color and
life and attractiveness and power and
successful achievement in all the work
OF life.
The sepulcher in the garden may yet
become the place Of the souls resur-
rection and thus transform the whole
into something more than Edenic
beauty and loneliness. Expect great
things to be wrought out by trial, by
Him who makes all things work to-
gether for good to His people. Don't
demand of God untimely d~eliverance
lest He grant it and with 1t send lean
ness to the soul. Be willing to endure
the thorn in the flesh continually if
your suffering may be an example to
others and if the power OF Christ
may be more fully upon you and if thus
you may zeal as not otherwise the
inspiring words: my grace is suf-
ficient for you" But be hopeful at all
hazards. Expect the trials God has
given to bring good to you and to all
concerned and glory to His name and
then you a always be hopeful in it,
yea, you will be enabled to rejoice in
it, says w. ]. Mosier, in Christian
Work. You will count it all JOY when
you fail into divers trials" You will
glory in tribulations Also" Il you
will rejoice evermore and in every
thing give thanks" and will possess
that goodness with contentment which
is great gain.
Also quietly wait tor deliverance.
Wait for the Lord and He shall
strengthen thy heart" They that
wait upon the Lord shall renew their
strength; they shall mount up with
wings as eagles; they shall run and
not be weary; and they shall walk and
not faint" A great painter in time of
sore trouble vent to his friend for
comfort. Good advice was given but
it brought no help. He then went to
another, who said. after hearing his
story: I'VE shan't be disturbed and
l think | can put you in the way of
the desired help you want Then he
fell upon his knees, asking his friend
to do the anne When they arose the
troubled man said: You have put me
in the way of getting, yes, and obtain
ing the very comfort that | stood in
need Of. God bless you!"
John Brown, of Haddington. said:
No doubt | have met with trials like
| others. yet so kind has God been to
me that ! think if He would give me
as many more years to live. | would
not desire a single circumstance in
my life changed, excepting that | wish
there had been less of sin. On my
| coffin might be inscribed: Here lies
one of the cares of Providence, who
early lost both father and mother, and
yet never wanted for the care of
ether
A commander of a victorious army
gave to each one of his soldiers a
medal giving the time and place Of the
great battle, having underneath it the
inscription: 81 was there" So when
we reach glory, and look back upon
the battlefields of life, if We have car
ried ourselves nobly and fought sue
cessfully and mastered all the trials,
we shall be glad to say of every one
of them: Il was there" Then we
shall see that these light Affections of
earth have worked out for us an ex-
ceeding great and eternal weight of
glory.
But we must improve these oppor-
t~unities Of trial as much as possible.
There is a beautiful Indian legend of
a good spirit who, wishing to please a
beautiful princess, led her into a ripe
and golden cornfield and said to her:
IF thou wilt diligently pluck these
ears of corn, they will turn into pre-
cious jewels, the richer the ear the
brighter the gem. But thou mayest
only pass through this cornfield once
and canst not return the same way"
AS she went she passed many beautiful
and ripe ears, hoping to tina better
ones, but soon the stalks grew thinner
and the ears poorer. and further on
they were blighted and she did not
| think they were worth picking. Sor-
rowfully she looked back over the
field, regretting the golden ears she
had neglected and lost. So if the trials
of life are properly improved, every
one of them will be transformed into
an everlasting gem of beauty and glory
which shall exalt the character
through eternal ages. But if not met
and mastered. as is made possible by
the grace of God, the very trials which
were intended for blessings will be
charged to our eternal loss. There
fore in every time of trial, let us both
hope and quietly wait, and we shall
surely see the salvation of the Lord.
It's in the Lens.
There are many distorted pictures Of
life. The picture is conveyed through
+bo lane of tho oyo and makoS ire inn