The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1907-09-13

~ 1@AtN 80 - 800
all my plans
Nov. there comes a crisis IN his
life. He Is tempted 70 doubt the love
and justice OF God. He is tempted TO
believe that God is disposed to deal
harshIy with him. But II he is true
servant OF God, he viii awake by and
by. II. IKE Job Of old. he does not
suffer his faith TO falter, but turns his
eye toward the hills of God from
which cometh our help. his vision viii
open by and bye. and his sight viii be
cleared OF the mystery Of personal dis
appointment. AS the light OF God
breaks upon the soul, more and more
he will gain the higher plain and catch
the broader vision. He viii find the
thread which he lost in the darkness,
when be was partially awake, and this
win lead him out OF the labyrinth OF
his doubts and misconceptions. He
will catch the meaning which lies back
of 1t all, which clears up thousand
mysteries and solves a thousand
doubts. He win and the connection OF
things which he had failed to grasp In
the darkness. He nnds that he did
not understand Gods purpose in his
life and therefore misjudged his Provi-
dence. He now sees that he was seek
ing one thing and God was seeking
another. He did not understand the
divine aim and therefore could not I'M
derstand the divine procedure. He
finds that God has other ways OF re-
warding his servants than by giving
them worldly prosperity. Great
wealth. successful secular enterprise
and gratified ambition are not the
terms in which Gods power expresses
itself.
Fortune and failure are but means
to an end with God; and either OF
them may be the reverse Of what they
seem. Failure may be fortune and
fortune may be failure. 1t is not
what a man acquires, but what he be-
comes. It's not what he accumulates
about him but what he accumUates
within him that counts in building
character and shaping destiny. A
success that weakens a mans purpose
for good toward the right is a misfor-
tune in Gods estimation, and will be
in ours too, whe we awake. And so,
also failure and ill fortune that tends
to elevate a mans aim in life and
purify his purpose, is OF inestimable
value in Gods sight, and will be In
ours too, when We awake to see things
in the true light from the divine stand
point.
Nothing is a success that mars and
weakens a mans higher nature. Moth
ing is failure or misfortune that
tends to strengthen and ennoble that
nature.
I'VE notice the second clause-'the
divine likeness When l awake thy
likeness shall satisfy me- 1 shall see
thy face in righteousness; or more
correctly, I shall see thy righteous
face, when | awake, and shall be salts
fed
The face or likeness of God stand
for what we see of God.N We see Him
in the works he hath wrought and in
the acts which he performs.
The heavens declare the glory OF
God and the armament showeth His
handywork." l shall be satisfied with
thy likeness when | see things in the
true light-as they are. l shall be
satisfied with all thy ways when 1
awake and understand them. In our
drowsy, half awakened state we often
fancy that God is harsh in his dealings
with us. Our plans are defeated. Our
hopes are disappointed. Our wishes
are denied. But His vision is broader
than ours, for He seeth the end from
the beginning and His thoughts are
higher than our thoughts. When we
awake to a true sense of His likeness.
we shall and kindness where we
thought we saw harshness, and we
shall see the smile of love when we
thought we saw the frown of anger.
We shall come by and by to see what
Gods providence means and what God
was trying to do for US and make OF
us. Then with heart full Of love and
soul full of Joy we will sing:
Blind unbelief Ii sure to err
And scan his work in vain;
God is his own interpreter
And he will make 1t plain"