One Gracious Purpose

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

Romans 8:28

Providence is God's government of the universe.

Providence is that mighty scheme . . .
  which commenced before time was born;
  which embraces the annals of other worlds besides ours;
  which includes the history of angels, men, and devils.

Providence comprises the whole range of events which
have taken place from the formation of the first creature,
to the last moment of time—with all the tendencies,
reasons, connections, and results of things.

Providence encompasses the separate existence of
each individual, with the continuation and influence
of the whole, in one harmonious scheme.

We are puzzled at almost every step, at the deep,
unfathomable mysteries of Providence!

How often is Jehovah, in His dealings with us, a God
who hides Himself! How often does He wrap Himself in
clouds, and pursue His path upon the waters, where we
can neither see His goings, nor trace His footsteps!
How many of His dispensations are inexplicable, and
of His judgments how many are unfathomable by the
short line of our reason!

But whatever we don't know now, we shall know hereafter.
The crooked will be made straight, the clouds of darkness
will be scattered, and all His conduct towards us placed in
the broad day-light of eternity.

We shall see how all the varying, and numerous, and
seemingly opposite events of our history, were combined
into one gracious purpose of mercy, which was most
perfectly wise in all its combinations.

Delightful, most delightful, will it be to retrace our winding
and often gloomy course, and discern at each change and
turning, the reason of the occurrence and the wisdom of God.
Delightful will it be to discern the influence which all our
temporal circumstances, all our disappointments, losses,
and perplexities, had upon our permanent and celestial
happiness.  How much of divine wisdom, power, goodness,
and faithfulness, will our short and simple history present,
and what rapturous fervor will the discovery give to the
song of praise which we shall utter before the throne of
God and the Lamb!

~John Angell James, Jewels From James

The Thanksgiving Lesson

Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ

Ephesians 5:20

It is fitting that a people who have received untold blessings, should set apart one day on which all should recall their mercies, think of God as the Giver of all and express their grateful feelings in words of praise.
  
But it is not intended that the other three hundred and sixty four days shall be empty of thanksgiving, because one is named as an especial day of rejoicing. We cannot crowd into any one day—all the thanks of a year. Indeed, on no one day can we be grateful for another day. No one person can give thanks for a whole company of people. So no one day can give thanks for any but itself. All the days should be thanksgiving days. Any that is not, lacks something, and stands as imperfect days in the calendar.  In may be set down as a lost day that one in which no songs of gratitude rises from our hearts and lips to God.

Anybody can be thankful on one day of the year. At least it ought to be possible for even the most gloomy and pessimistic person to rouse up to grateful feeling, on the high tide of an annual Thanksgiving day. No doubt it is something to pipe even one little song in a whole year of discontent and complaining—the kind of living with which some people fill their years. God must be pleased to have some people grateful even for a few moments in a long period of time, and to hear them sing even once in a year. But that is not the way He would have us live. The ideal life is one that is always thankful, not only for a little moment on a particularly fine day. "Praise is lovely," that is, beautiful—beautiful to God. The life which pleases Him is the one which always rejoices.

Gladness may not be thanksgiving. It certainly is not all of thanksgiving. One may have a heart bubbling with joy, without a note of thanksgiving. The task of happiness is one to which we should all firmly set ourselves. To be miserable in this glorious world, is most unfit. We should cultivate joyousness. But our present lesson is a larger and deeper one. Thanksgiving implies thoughts of God. One may be glad all the day—and never think of God. Thanksgiving looks up with every breath, and sees God as Father from whom all blessings come.

Thanksgiving is praise. The heart is full of gratitude.  Every moment has something in it to inspire love. The lilies made Jesus think of his Father, for it was he who clothed them in beauty. The providence of our lives, if we think rightly of it, is simply God caring for us. Our circumstances may sometimes be hard, our experiences painful, and we may see nothing in them to make us glad. But faith teaches us that God is always good and always kind, whatever the present events may be. We may be thankful, therefore, even when we cannot be glad. Our hearts may be grateful, knowing that good will come to us even out of pain and loss.

This is the secret of true thanksgiving. It thinks always of God and praises him for everything. The song never dies out in the heart, however little there may be in the circumstances of life to make us glad. Nowhere in the Bible can we find either ingratitude or joylessness commanded or commended. All ungrateful feelings and dispositions are condemned. A great deal is said in disapproval of murmuring, discontent, worrying, and all forms of ingratitude. Again and again we are taught that joy is the keynote of a true life. It is not enough to rejoice when the sun shines, when all things are going well with us, when we are in the midst of prosperity; we are to rejoice as well when clouds hide the blue sky. The hardest experience of any day, enfolds in it, a gift from God—if only we receive it in faith and love. We think of the sunny days as being good days, and we call unpleasant weather bad. But if we understood it, we would know that God sends to the earth just as rich blessings in His clouds—as He does in His sunshine. The clouds bring rain, and after the rain all nature appears clothed in fresh beauty.  Indeed, we shall some day see that many of the richest and best blessings of our lives, have come to us through experiences and circumstances which to us seemed adverse, and from which we shrank.

In one of the Psalms, the writer says: "I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth." He had learned to sing in the hours of pain—as well as in the times of gladness. That is the way the Christian should live—nothing should hush his song or choke the voice of thanksgiving and praise.  There is an old promise which says that to those who love God—all things work together for their good. All we have to make sure of—is that we keep ourselves in the love of God. If we do this, everything which comes to us will bring its enriching in some way, and out of the painful things—our lives we will gather the best blessings and the deepest joys.

How may we learn this thanksgiving lesson?  We should instantly set about the breaking of a new path, a thanksgiving path.  Christian thanksgiving is the life of Christ in the heart, transforming the disposition and the whole character. Thanksgiving must be wrought into the life as a habit before it can become a fixed and permanent quality.  This lesson is learned only when it becomes a habit which nothing can weaken. We must persist in being thankful.  

A habit is a well worn path. It will not be easy at first, for gloomy dispositions when long indulged persist in staying in our lives.  But they can be conquered, and we should not pause in our effort until we have trained ourselves entirely away from everything that is cheerless and ungrateful, into the ways of joy and song.  Persisting in the disposition, the heart returns again and again to its gladness, until by and by it has been lured altogether away from the old beaten paths of discontent, discouragement, and unhappiness, and runs always in the ways of thanksgiving.  When we can see no reason for praise, we must believe in the divine love and goodness, and sing in the darkness.  Thanksgiving has attained its rightful place in us, only when it is part of all our days and dominates all our experiences.  He who has learned the Thanksgiving lesson, well has found the secret of the beautiful life.

~excerpts from the works of J. R. Miller

Unveiled Dealings

Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter.

John 13:7

O blessed day, when the long sealed book of mystery shall be unfolded, when the "fountains of the great deep shall be broken up," "the channels of the waters seen," and all discovered to be one vast revelation of unerring wisdom and ineffable love!  Here we are often baffled at the Lord's dispensations; we cannot fathom His ways.  Like the well of Sychar, they are deep and we have nothing to draw with.  But soon the "mystery of God will be finished;" the enigmatical "seals," with all their inner meanings, opened. When that "morning without clouds" shall break, each soul will be like the angel standing in the sun.  There will be no shadow; all will be perfect day!

Believer, be still!  The dealings of your Heavenly Father may seem dark to you; there may seem now to be no golden fringe, no bright light in the clouds; but a day of disclosures is at hand.  Take it on trust a little while.  An earthly child takes on trust what his father tells him.  When he reaches maturity, much that was baffling to his infant comprehension is then explained.  You are in this world in the childhood of your being.  Eternity is the soul's immortal manhood.  There every dealing will be vindicated.  It will lose all its darkness when bathed in floods of the excellent glory!

Ah!  Instead of thus being as weaned children, how apt are we to exercise ourselves in matters too high for us!  We are not content with knowing that our Father wills it — but presumptuously seeking to know how it is, and why it is.  If it is unfair to pronounce on the unfinished and incomplete works of man; if the painter, or sculptor, or artificer, would shrink from having his labors judged of when in a rough, unpolished, immature state, then how much more so with the works of God!  How we should honor Him by a simple, confiding, unreserved submission to His will, contented to patiently await the fulfillment of this later promise, when all the lights and shadows in the now half-finished picture will be blended and melted into one harmonious whole.    When all of the now disjointed stones in the temple will be seen to fit into their appointed place giving unity, and symmetry, and compactness to all the building.

And who is it that speaks these living words, "What I do?"  It is He who died for us!  The One who now lives for us!  Blessed Jesus!  You may do much that our blind hearts would like undone, "terrible things in righteousness which we looked not for."  The heaviest (what we may be tempted to call the severest) cross You can lay upon us we shall regard as only the apparent severity of unutterable and unalterable love.  Eternity will unfold how all — all was needed; that nothing else, nothing less, could have done!  If not now, at least then, the verdict on a calm retrospect of life will be this:  For the word of the LORD is right; and all his works are done in truth."The Word of the Lord is right, and all His works are done in truth. (Proverbs 33:4)

~John MacDuff

Triumphant Grace!

 But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.

Romans 5:20

Dear Savior,
In your sufferings I not only see the infiniteness of sin, but also the infiniteness of your love; so that, though I have cause with myself to be angry on account of sin, I need not despair. If the desert of my sinful folly is death—the merit of your sufferings is life! If my sins mount up to heaven—your mercy is above the heavens!

Though my sins reach to the very throne to accuse me—there is ONE upon the throne who will not condemn me! My sins, in their seven-fold abominations, can rise no higher than the throne, but the rainbow of redeeming love and grace is both around and above the throne, and that in its seven-fold beauties—power, wisdom, justice, goodness, holiness, mercy, and truth. And as all the different rays meet in one glorious beam of light, so all the attributes, all the perfections of God, are summed up in LOVE! God is graciously pleased to be called by his favorite name, "God is love!" By the mingling rays of this beauteous rainbow, all my blackness is removed, and I am clothed with his beauty!

When I look to myself and see my vileness and necessity--I am confounded with shame! But when I look to you, and see your fullness and all-sufficiency, I am confounded with wonder! Am I weak? He is my strength. Am I foolish? He is my wisdom! Am I wicked? He is my righteousness! Am I impure? He is my sanctification! Am I in bondage? He is my complete redemption! Am I in misery? From him tender mercy flows. Am I deceitful? He is wholly truth! In a word, am I enmity itself? Then he is love itself which passes understanding! Mine is but the enmity of a creature—but his love is the love of God!

Sin may raise the tempest of wrath, but can do no more. But Christ not only calms the raging tempest, but gives peace of conscience, flowing from intimations of peace with God, and makes me heir of all things! Where sin abounded—grace did much more abound! Where misery has surrounded me—mercy has crowned me! Sin is too strong for me—but your grace is too strong for sin!

Why, then, am I so vexed with fears, doubts, and unbelief? Because I am sinful? On that very account, Christ, who knew no sin, was made sin—that I, who knew no righteousness, might be made the righteousness of God in him. But I am a great sinner! Then, he is a Savior, and a great One! Where is boasting now soul? See—it is great mercy in God, great merit in Christ—which saves a great sinner! Since rich and free grace builds the temple of salvation, let it have all the glory!

But I fall often into the same sin! That is my failing, over which I ought to mourn, and by which I should be driven out of all boasting in my own holiness, high attainments, and religious duties; and cry, with tears of holy joy, "Grace, grace to him that has laid the foundation, carries on the whole work of redemption, and will, with shouting bring forth the topstone!"

Now, law, what have you to do with me? Go to my Surety, Jesus. O curse! you have lighted on his head, that the blessing might rest on mine! The brandished sword of justice, is beaten into the pruning-hook of the promise—that I may even plead justice for the blessing, as well as the performance of the promise.
Though once I dared not lift my eyes heavenward, for fear of divine wrath—yet now I may come boldly to the throne of grace, and claim the blessings of his purchase!

In fine, it is the glory of the Son of God that I am saved. Even if he had no concern for my immortal soul, yet he is jealous of his own glory, and will not cast his honor away, the honor of his justice, the honor of his love, the honor of his merits, and the honor of his word of promise—all which are concerned in my salvation.

Nothing could hinder him to love me—what then shall make him hate me, seeing his love is stronger than death? He loved me when I was in a state of enmity against him—and now, when I am reconciled to him, will he be angry with me, now when I love him who first loved me? His love found me when I was wandering from him—and will he abandon me now when I am panting and seeking after him? When I was altogether sin, he had mercy on me; and will he now take vengeance upon me, when I am mourning over sin, and grieved that I offend him? I had no claim, no qualification that could cause his love to descend on me, and abide with me; but his love, in his sovereignty visited me—and in sovereignty will dwell with me forever! And though my sin offends him—I shall never sin away his love, nor his presence altogether. For he shall appear the second time without sin—and deliver me from all my inherent sinfulness!

Though my sin is my burden—it shall not be my bane! Yet I shall never willingly let the traitor rest in my bosom—which would persuade my soul into rebellion against my dearest Lord, and best friend. I may have continual war with the invader—but shall obtain the victory at last! Meanwhile, I will grieve more for offending him whose name is Love, by my sin—than for the clouds, afflictions, and chastisements which seize me because of my sinfulness.

Now, with the arms of faith, I clasp the promise—and Jesus in the promise! Here will I live, and here will I die, blessing God, who causes me always to triumph in Jesus Christ my Lord!

~James Meilke, Solitude Sweetened

Divine Refuge

For we walk by faith, not by sight.

2 Corinthians 5:7

The nature of faith is to trust in the dark, when all appearances are against it; to trust that a calm will come, though the storm be overhead; to trust that God will appear, though nothing but evil can be felt.  It is tender, child-like, and therefore is an implicit confidence, a yielding submission, a looking unto the Lord.

There is something filial in this; something heavenly and spiritual; not the bold presumption of the daring, nor the despairing fears of the desponding; but something beyond both the one and the other--equally remote from the rashness of presumption, and from the horror of despair.  There is a mingling of holy affection connected with this trust, springing out of a reception of past favours, insuring favours to come; and all linked with a simple hanging and depending of the soul upon the Lord, because He is what He is.  There is a looking to, and relying upon the Lord, because we have felt Him to be the Lord; and because we have no other refuge.

And why have we no other refuge?  Because poverty has driven us out of false refuges.  It is a safe spot, though not a comfortable one, to be where David was, "Refuge failed me; no man cared for my soul" (Psalm 142:4).  And until refuge fails us in man, in self, in the world, in the church, there is no looking to Christ as a divine refuge. 

But when we come to this spot, "Thou art my refuge and my portion in the land of the living" (Psalm 142:5)--"if I perish I will perish at Thy feet--my faith centers in Thee--all I have and all I expect to have, flows from Thy bounty, I have nothing but what Thou freely givest to me, the vilest of the vile"--this is trust.  And where this trust is, there will be a whole army of desires at times pouring themselves into the bosom of the Lord; there will be a whole array of pantings and longings venting themselves into the bosom of "Immanuel, God with us."

~J. C. Philpot, Ears from Harvested Sheaves

When God Thwarts

I chose out their way, and sat chief, and dwelt as a king in the army, as one that comforteth the mourners. 

Job 29:25

Men are so ignorant of their own hearts that they are incapable of determining what is best for them.  Even regenerate men are but partially sanctified and enlightened.  But God searches the heart. He understands our whole case.  He knows what is most for our good. He sees our strong corruptions and sad deficiencies. When, in mercy to His child, He comes to heal his spiritual maladies, He does not take counsel with human reasoning or desires.  It is right,it is best that He should act according to the wisdom which is infallible. He employs the requisite remedies.  Often they are distasteful to flesh and blood. Sometimes they are frightful to contemplate, and terrible to endure.


Then man, in his ignorance, too often says, "If God loved me—He would not give me so bitter a cup to drink!"  But this is man's folly.  Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?  Shall human weakness control divine power?  Shall finite knowledge prescribe to omniscience?  It is the height of wickedness for a worm of the dust—to revise the decisions, or pre-judge the justice of the Almighty.  We would expect that God would deal with us in an incomprehensible way—if we did but remember how base, sordid, and narrow are our views and plans; and how holy, glorious, and eternal are His purposes and designs.


We are quite prone to magnify both the good and evil things of time —to the disparagement of those of eternity.  But when God thwarts, afflicts, and mortifies us—He makes us look at the things which are unseen and eternal.  If He racks this body with pain—it is that we may think of our house, not made with hands, eternal, and in the heavens.  The shaking of this clay tabernacle forces upon us the recollection that this present world is not our rest—and that we ought to be seeking a heavenly country.  If the godliest man on earth had his own way without divine guidance—he would soon be in full march towards destruction!

How kind is God in wisely and mercifully deciding so many things for us!  God very mercifully marks out our course for us.  God is governor.  We are servants.  To us belong obedience, submission, and acquiescence. It is not ours . . .
  to guide,
  to decide what is best,
  to rule the world,
  to shape the course of events.

Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? (Romans 9:20)

~William S. Plumer