The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1916-10-13

azszsszzzszzazzsza away his peace
and power. Decision expresses itself
in the 'ff'' Of action which deepenS
the conviction and destroys the doubt.
The Mf" of Doubt.
We are constantly tempted to doubt
the Lords Word. When Peter was
told that what he thought was spirit
upon the water that stormy night was
the Lord himself he said, eff it be
thou" There is the hint Of doubt
in that eff" The doubt fingered and
took shape in Peters mind. Trans
lated it said to Peter, did 1 hear
Alright? Is it really. the Lord? Was
1t, and is it, the Lord?" The "f''
rose up and Peter went down. We
step out on the stormy water and the
first steps are so brave and true when
suddenly the "if' rises up, and doubt
of his word comes in, and we begin
to sink Again we doubt his power.
The father of the denounced boy Is
an illustrations. He brought the boy
to the Lord and said, IF thou canst do
anything" The poor man had 'ff' in
lllS "IOlS pluSS, Luz 1lS was lOiu, IL
thou canst believe" AS in Mark 10 :27,
with God all things are possible"
Not ito" God all things are possible,
that goes without saying, but with"
God. This links man with God. The
machine is a dead, idle and helpless
thing until linked with the engine,
when 1t becomes dynamic with COM
municated power. eff thou canst do?"
eff thou canst believe" And we doubt
his willingness. The cry Of the leper,
"If thou wilt" is still being heard.
We are constantly doubling his will
ingness because Of our condition. Con-
stantly forgetting that HE that
spared not his own son, but delivered
him up for us all will, with him, also
freely give us all things" We hear
Of him healing the deaf, making the
lame to walk, yea, even raising the
dead, but when 1t comes to our own
case we get our eyes filled with our
desperate condition and forget his
goodness and grace. Others may be
blessed, our friends may be helped,
we may have his word, we may know
his power, but because of our condi-
ton we are tempted to doubt, saying,
"If thou wilt"
Again, we doubt his providences.
When the Lord by Elisha had prom
ised In the midst Of famine to make
-four cheaper than the refuse Of the
street, one high In authority sarcas-
tically asked: eff the Lord would
make windows in heaven, might this
thing be-" 1t was such q new, I'M
heard-of thing-so sudden. Is 1t pos
sible he would make the grain to grow
in night? The eff" Of rationalism
comes in and casts doubt on the prom
Use of God. He has promised that all
our needs will be supplied, but because
we do not see how he can do it we
admit the doubt and find ourselves on
dangerous ground,
Once more we doubt his presence.
We are told he will never leave us
nor forsake US, but in spite of that,
when circumstances which hurt and
distress surround us, we are tempted,
like Gideon of old to say, eff the
Lord be with us why then is all this
befallen us?" He knows all the why
of our circumstances. He saw them
on the way long before we met them.
He tried and tested everyone Of them
before ever we thought of them. But
the moment the road grows a bit
rough and things seem to go bit
wrong the old doubling 'ff" rises up
and we question whether he really Is
with us. He has not promised rosy
paths for every day. the Christening
and the discipline will he there, but
never any reason really for asking, eff
the Lord be with lis why has this
befallen us?' But the way of doubt
Is natural. The putting an IF" to
his word, his power. his willingness,
presence, everything, indeed, con-
nected with the Lord we are tempted
to doubt.