"Christ Exalted, Saints Comforted, and Sinners Directed" 1855

 𝗠𝗬 𝗥𝗨𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗗𝗘𝗦𝗜𝗥𝗘!

My ruling desire is to be wholly given up to the Lord and to His work, and to show forth His praises from day to day. But when I aim at this most--I am baffled, opposed, and always hindered!

I see what is wrong, but cannot avoid it.

I see what is right, but cannot attain unto it.

I know what I wish, but I cannot enjoy it.

I read what God commands, but I cannot perform it.

In the midst of all, I bless God . . .

   for Jesus Christ,

   for free grace,

   for a full salvation,

   for abiding comfort,

   for a good hope,

   for sweet views of Jesus,

   for a glorious inheritance,

   for an assurance of victory, and

   for the promise of eternal triumph!

Nothing can . . .

  separate me from Jesus,

  turn the current of His love from me, or

  change the purposes of His grace for me.

His love is astonishing!

His ways are marvelous!

I change; He remains the same.

I sin; He pardons.

I cry; He hears and answers.

I ask for favors; and He kindly bestows them.

I fear; and He promises.

I wander; and He says, "Return."

I lament my folly; He whispers peace.

I feel poor and impoverished; He says, "All things are yours!"

I imagine that I am alone; He says, "I will never leave you nor forsake you."

I expect that He will abandon me; He asks, "How can I give you up?"

I cry, "Unworthy, unworthy!"

He says, "You are My dear son, My pleasant child."

I fear I shall be overcome.

He says, "No weapon formed against you shall prosper."

I fear I shall lie down in darkness.

He says, "The Lord shall be a light unto you."

I say, "I can do nothing!"

He says, "I will work all your works in you."

I say, "I am barren!"

He says, "From Me is your fruit found."

I cry, "I am thirsty!"

He says, "I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys--to give drink to My people, My chosen ones."

I complain, "I am weary!"

He says, "Come unto Me--I will give you rest."

I feel dry and parched.

He says, "I will be as the dew unto Israel."

I say, "I need food!"

He says, "My flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed."

I fear I shall die.

He says, "He who eats Me, even he shall live by Me."

I say at times, "All these things are against me!"

He says, "All things shall work together for your good!"

I say, "I shall surely be overcome!"

He says, "Nothing shall by any means hurt you."

I say, "I am often left alone!"

He says, "Lo, I am with you always."

I say, "I am all deformity!"

He says, "You are all beautiful, My love--there is no spot in you!"

I say, "I shall see Him no more!"

He says, "I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice."

I say, "Surely the Lord cannot love such a wretch!"

He says, "I have loved you with an everlasting love."

I say, He cannot have chosen one so vile and base.

He says, "I have chosen you, and will never cast you away!"

I say, "I am desolate and forsaken!"

He says, "Your Maker is your husband, the Lord Almighty is His name, and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel."

I say, "I shall be left to myself at last!"

He says, "I am a friend who sticks closer than a brother."

I say, "Set me as a seal upon Your arm, as a seal upon Your heart!"

He says, "I will make you like a signet ring on My finger, for I have chosen you."

I cry, "Remember me, O Lord my God, for good!"

He says, "You shall be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God."

I cry, "Do not be terribly angry with me, O Lord!"

He says, "I swear that I will never again be angry and punish you."

I say, "I beseech You, show me Your glory!"

He says, "Behold, I come quickly!"

I cry, "Remember me with the favor which You bear unto Your people!"

He says, "As one whom his mother comforts, so will I comfort you--and you shall be comforted."

I cry, "Tell me where You graze Your flock."

And He says, "Follow the footsteps of My flock."

I cry, "O that it was with me as in days that are past!"

He says, "Arise, My darling, My beautiful one, and come with Me."

I cry, "My soul is among lions!"

He says, "Come down with Me, from where the lions have their dens and leopards live among the hills."

I say, "O that I was sure that Jesus loved me!"

He says, "You have ravished my heart, My sister, My spouse!''

I say, "I moaned like a mourning dove!"

He says, "Your lips, O My spouse, drop as the honeycomb, honey and milk are under your tongue."

I say, "I am exposed, and lie open to the attacks of enemies on every side!"

He says, "You are My private garden, My treasure, My bride, a secluded spring, a hidden fountain."

I say, "Do not look upon me, because I am black!"

He says, "You are all beautiful, O My love!"

I say, "How miserable I am! Not a cluster of grapes or a single early fig can be found to satisfy my hunger."

He says, "At our gates are all manner of pleasant fruits, new and old--which I have laid up for you, O My beloved."

I say, "I fear that my numerous sins and powerful corruptions will cool the love of Jesus for me!"

He says, "Many waters cannot quench My love, neither can the floods drown it."

I sigh, "I am feeble and sorely broken!"

He says, "I will not break the bruised reed, nor quench the smoking flax."

I say, at times, "He afflicts, and counts me for His enemy!"

He says, "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten! I deal with you as My son."

I say, "I am totally unfit to be the bride of Jesus!"

He says, "Oh, how beautiful you are! How pleasing, My love--how full of delights!"

(James Smith)

I hope you are also encouraged by these beautiful thoughts. 

Quotes from Elizabeth Prentiss

I hope these quotes from Elizabeth Prentiss, (1818 – 1878), challenge, bless and encourage you, as they do for me.  

The longer I live, the more conscious I am of my human frailty—and of the constant, overwhelming need I have of God's grace.

Dying grace is not usually given until it is needed. Death, to the disciple of Jesus, is only stepping from one room to another and far better room of our Father's house. And how little all the sorrows of the way will seem to us, when we get to our home above.

You never will be really happy—until Christ becomes your dearest and most intimate friend.

Seek God—not joy.

God delights to try our faith by the conditions in which He places us.

What are trials, but angels to beckon us nearer to Him.

What does it matter, after all, from what point of time or space, that we go to our eternal home. O how we shall smile after we get there—that we ever gave it one moment's thought.

In proportion to your devotion to the Savior—will be the blessedness of your life.

I am persuaded that real humility dwells deep within the heart, and that it is only to be gained by communion with our blessed Savior—who, when He was reviled, reviled not again.

The greatest saint on earth has got to reach Heaven on the same terms as the greatest sinner—unworthy, unfit, good-for-nothing; but saved through grace.

In proportion to our love to Christ—will be the agony of terror lest we should sin and fall, and so grieve and weary Him.

One minute of nearness to the Lord Jesus, contains more delight than years spent in communion with any earthly friend.

The more we love Him—the more we see how sinful sin is, and the more sorry we are to have been guilty of it.

I entreat you to turn your eyes away from self and from man—and look to Christ.

Let us never allow anything to come between our hearts and our God.

It is sweet to be in the sunshine of the Master's smile—but I believe our souls need winter, as well as summer. We need night, as well as day.

Let us take our lot in life just as it comes, courageously, patiently, and faithfully, never wondering at anything the Master does.

Some of God's children must go into the furnace, to testify that the Son of God is there with them.

Not until I was shut up to prayer and to the study of God's word by the loss of earthly joys—sickness destroying the flavor of them all—did I begin to penetrate the mystery that is learned under the cross. And wondrous as it is, how simple is this mystery! To love Christ, and to know that I love Him—this is all.

We must be wise taskmasters and not require of ourselves what we cannot possibly perform. Recreation we must have. Otherwise, the strings of our soul, wound up to an unnatural tension, will break.

Ah, what a life is theirs who live in Christ! How vast the mystery! Reaching in height to Heaven—and in its depth, the unfathomed sea!

To love Christ more is my deepest need, and the constant cry of my soul!

Much of my experience of life has cost me a great price—and I wish to use it for strengthening and comforting other souls.

I am a wayward, foolish child—but He loves me! I have disobeyed and grieved Him ten thousand times—but He loves me! I have lost faith in some of my dearest friends and am very desolate—but He loves me! I do not love Him much—but He loves me!

O my crucified Master, Redeemer, God—take what I cannot give—my heart, body, thoughts, time, abilities, money, health, strength, nights, days—and spend them in Your service. Oh, let not these be mere words! Whom have I in the Heaven, but You? And there is no one upon earth that I desire in comparison to You. My heart is athirst for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?

The best convent for a woman, is the seclusion of her own home. There she may find her vocation and fight her battles, and there she may learn the reality and the earnestness of life.

It sweetens every bit of work—to think that I am doing it in humble, yet real imitation of Jesus.

No truth can be said to be seen as it is—until it is seen in its relation to all other truths.

If you could once make up your mind never to undertake more work than you can carry on calmly, quietly, without hurry or flurry; and if the instant you feel yourself growing nervous and out of breath, you would stop and take a breath—you would find this simple common-sense rule doing for you what no prayers or tears could ever accomplish.

O happy life! life hid with Christ in God! So making me at home and by the wayside and abroad—alone with You.

The question is not whether you ever gave yourself to God—but whether you are His now.

There is certainly enough in our Savior, if we only open our eyes that we may see it, to solve every doubt and satisfy every longing of the heart; and He is willing to give it in full measure. If a glimpse of our Savior here on earth can be so refreshing, so delightful, what will it be in Heaven?

When my mind strives to grasp this love of Christ, it seems to struggle in vain with its own littleness, and falls back weary and exhausted, to wonder again at the heights and depths which surpass its comprehension.

God never places us in any position in which we cannot grow. We may imagine that He does. We may fear we are so impeded by fretting petty cares that we are gaining nothing; but when we are not sending any branches upward, we may be sending roots downward. Perhaps in the time of our humiliation, when everything seems a failure, we are making the best kind of progress. Look on and look up. Lay hold on Christ with both your poor, empty hands. Let Him do with you what seems good to Him. Though He slay you, still trust in Him, and I dare in His name to promise you a sweeter, better life than you could have ever known, had He left you to drink of the full dangerous cups of unmingled prosperity.

O if the unseen presence of Jesus can make the heart to sing for joy in the midst of its sorrow and sin here—then what will it be to dwell with Him forever!

We never know, or begin to know, the great Heart that loves us best, until we throw ourselves upon it in the hour of our despair. Friends say and do all they can for us, but they do not know what we suffer or what we need; but Christ who formed, has penetrated the depths of the crushed heart. He pours in the oil that no human hand possesses, and "as one whom his mother comforts, so will He comfort you."

Lay down this principle as a law: God does nothing arbitrary. If He takes away your health, for instance, it is because He has some reason for doing so. This is true of everything you value, and if you have real faith in Him, you will not insist on knowing the reason.

All your tears will soon be wiped away. You will see the King in His beauty. You will see Christ your Redeemer, and realize all He is, and all He has done for you. As I think of these things my soul is in haste to be gone. I long to be set free from sin and self, and to go to the fellowship of those who are done with them forever, and are perfect and entire, lacking nothing.

She is at home; she is well, she is happy, she will never know a bereavement or a day's illness, or the infirmities and trials of old age. She has the secret of perpetual youth! The only real comfort is that God never makes mistakes, and that He would not have snatched her from us if He had not had a reason that would satisfy us if we knew it. Next to dying and going home one's self, it must be sweet to accompany a Christian friend down to the very banks of the river. Isn't it strange that after such experiences we can ever again have a worldly thought, or ever lose the sense of the reality of divine things!

How transcendently good He is, when He brings me down to that low place, and there shows me that that self-renouncing, self-despairing spot is just the one where He will stoop to meet me.

Those words, "daily nearer God," have an inexpressible charm for me. I long for such nearness to Him that all other objects shall fade into comparative insignificance; so that to have a thought, a wish, a pleasure apart from Him, shall be impossible.

I am not sure that it is best for us, once safe and secure on the Rock of Ages, to ask ourselves too closely, what this and that experience may signify. Is it not better to be thinking of the Rock, not of the feet that stand upon it? It seems to me that we ought to be unconscious of ourselves, and that the nearer we get to Christ the more we shall be taken up with Him. We shall be like a sick man who, after he gets well, forgets all the symptoms he used to think so much of, and stops feeling his pulse, and just enjoys his health, only pointing out his physician to all who are diseased.

REST! What an infinite sweetness in the word. How perfectly sure I feel that my soul can never rest in itself, nor in anything of earth. If I find peace, it must be in the bosom of God. I know myself to be perfectly helpless. I cannot promise to do, or to be, anything; but I do want to put everything else aside, and to devote myself entirely to the service of Christ.

A cup of cold water given in Christ's name, if that is all one can give, is just as acceptable as the richest offering; and so is a teaspoonful, if one has no more to give. Christ loves to be loved, and the smallest testimony of real love is most pleasing to Him, and love shown to one of His suffering disciples, He regards as love to Himself. So a little child carrying a flower to some poor invalid, may thus do Christ honor and become more endeared to Him.

Let my life be an all-day looking to Jesus. Let my love to God be so deep, earnest, and all-pervading, that I cannot have even the passing emotion of rebellion to suppress. There is such a thing as an implicit faith in, and consequent submission to, Christ. Let me never rest until they are freely mine.

I believe that there is no happiness on earth, as there is none in Heaven—to be compared with that of losing all things to possess Christ.

"The Agnostic and the Oranges" or one account of the faithfulness of the Heavenly Father to provide for His children

 A friend lent me a very encouraging booklet. Here's one of the many true accounts I read in it today. I hope you are also encouraged by it. 

"Dr. F. B. Meyer was once crossing the Atlantic. The captain asked him to preach in the saloon on Sunday morning. He spoke on “answered prayer” and gave a number of illustrations. An agnostic was present and someone said to him, “What do you think of Meyer’s sermon?”

“Oh,” he said, “I don’t believe a word of it.”

Dr. Meyer was speaking that afternoon to the passengers in the steerage (second-class) end of the ship. The agnostic picked up two oranges, put them in his pocket and walked over to the meeting.

As he threaded his way in and out amongst the steerage folk, he came across an old lady with silvery hair, her eyes closed in sleep, her head back and her hands open on her lap. He took the two oranges out of his pocket and placed them in her hands, and went on to the meeting. When he came back the old lady was eating one of the oranges. He said to her: “You seem to be enjoying your orange!”

“Yes,” she said, “my Father is very good.”

“Your what? Your father cannot be living.”

“Oh,” she said, “He is very much alive.” He asked what she meant.

“Well,” she replied, “I have been seasick for five days. This morning I longed for an orange. I knew there were some in the saloon, but I wondered how we could get them in the steerage. As I sat here I asked the Lord to send me an orange. I suppose I must have fallen off to sleep, and would you believe it, sir, when I opened my eyes, He had not only sent me one, but He sent me two!”

“Why,” he said, “is that true?”

“Absolutely true,” she said.

The bottom fell out of his agnosticism on the spot. The whole circumstances passed human explanation. God does answer prayer, and He sometimes uses infidels to carry the answer…"

 

Those who love Him

I often like to return to lists of verses that repeat a phrase; I find it quite encouraging...

I hope you do too. 

"Those who love Him" :

Know therefore that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God, Who keeps His covenant and His lovingkindness to a thousandth generation with those who love Him and keep His commandments; Deuteronomy 7:9

And I prayed to the LORD my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and awesome God, keeping the covenant and mercy to those who love Him, and to those who keep His commandments, Daniel 9:4

“Thus let all Your enemies perish, O LORD; but let those who love Him be like the rising of the sun in its might.” And the land was undisturbed for forty years. Judges 5:31

I said, “I beseech You, O LORD God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who preserves the covenant and lovingkindness for those who love Him and keep His commandments. Nehemiah 1:5

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28

…as it is written, “Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, and which have not entered the heart of man, All that God has prepared for those who love Him.” 1 Corinthians 2:9

Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the LORD has promised to those who love Him. James 1:12

Listen my beloved brethren: did not God choose the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him. James 2:5

One of God's promises

Romans 8:28 just keeps popping up for me sooo many times this past few weeks.

Even when our circumstances don't appear to us to be at all good and favourable, it's a promise and God always keeps His promises!  

I hope you also find it of encouragement! 

“In one thousand trials, it is not five hundred of them that work for the believer’s good, but nine hundred ninety-nine of them, and one beside.” ~ George Mueller ~

Another encouraging excerpt from the writings of James Smith.

 

More quotes from D. L. Moody

 

I hope you are as encouraged by these as I have been! 

Another excerpt from James Smith

 The world's politics, pleasures, and pursuits!

The world and the Church are essentially and eternally distinct — and they ought to be distinguishable. The Church ought not to mix with the world — but to bear a practical testimony against it, that its works and ways are evil. All through our Lord's prayer, He keeps up the distinction, and twice over He asserts of His disciples, "They are not of the world — even as I am not of the world!"

Believers are not of the world. They are born from above, and possess a nature far superior to that of the world — which unfits them for its pleasures and pursuits, and qualifies them for the enjoyments and employments of the Heavenly world.

They are delivered from the thraldom of the world — and are raised above its pursuits and its joys.

They will not be conquered by the world — but overcome it by faith.

They will not be judged with it — but with Christ will sit in judgment upon it.

They will not be punished like it — neither in the present nor in the future state.

True believers are not of the world!

Look at the world's state — condemned; and theirs, justified!

Look at its condition — wretched; and theirs, happy!

Look at its character — enemies to God; and theirs, the friends of God!

Look at its course — sin; and theirs, holiness!

Look at its god — Satan, the most degraded, depraved, and despicable being in existence; and theirs, Jehovah, the high and lofty one, the holy and happy one, the great and glorious one!

Look at its end — destruction; and theirs, salvation.

The world is darkness — they are light.
The world is corrupt — they are purified.
The world is in chains — they are free.

We are not of the world, even as Christ is not of the world!

If we are poor — let us not, then, envy the world.

A saint in rags — is preferable to a sinner in robes!

A believer in a hovel — is happier than a worldling in a palace!

A Christian at the worst — is far better off than a worldling at the best!

Whatever we have — we have with God's blessing!
Whatever the world has — it has with God's curse!

We are training for greatness and grandeur!
The world is preparing for shame and everlasting contempt!

The world is no model for a Christian! We should . . .
  not dress so expensively,
  nor furnish our homes so extravagantly,
  nor live so luxuriously — as the world does!
But as strangers and pilgrims in the world — we should abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul.

Let us not be dejected — if we are stripped of what we now have. We are not of the world — we do not have our portion here. We need but little of this world's goods, and our Heavenly Father will see to it that we have enough. He will not allow us to lose anything that is essential to our holiness or happiness. As our lives are insured by our Heavenly Father — so all our needs are anticipated, and provided for. Lose what we may — we shall never lose . . .
  our God,
  our title deed to our glorious inheritance, or
  our place at the marriage supper of the Lamb!

Let us not be much troubled about the world. As we are . . .
  chosen out of it,
  redeemed from it, and
  shall soon leave it —
we should not allow ourselves to be very much affected by any of its affairs. The world's politics, pleasures, and pursuits — should be looked upon by us with the eye of a foreigner — for we are strangers and pilgrims on the earth, as all our fathers were. We arrived in the world but yesterday — and we leave tomorrow!

Let us not, therefore, mix up with the world, or be much taken up with its schemes and cares, its speculations or its prospects.

Let us always keep up our distinction from the world. Not in a spirit of pride or self-righteousness, as if conscious of some supposed superiority in ourselves. But in a meek, lowly, and loving spirit — let us avoid all that is really evil, and abstain from what has the appearance of evil.

Heavenly Father, as You have chosen us out of the world — give us grace to live above the world, and enable us to glorify You in the world! Make us like your beloved Son, who was holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners. Oh, to live in this world as strangers and pilgrims — as those whose treasure is above — and whose hearts are there also!

Another encouraging snippet from James Smith.

 “We know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God, and are called according to His purpose!” Romans 8:28

If you are a sincere believer in Jesus, whatever may be your present difficult circumstances, however trying, however perplexing, “It will all end in mercy!”

You may not think so now. You may be writing bitter things against yourself. You may be misinterpreting the designs of God’s providence. You may be doubting the precious promises of God’s holy Word. But, notwithstanding your mistakes, your doubts, your fears, your false conclusions – “It will all end in mercy!”

You do not think so- nor did Jacob once, nor did Joseph once, nor did Job once, nor did thousands once – who are now in glory!

They were mistaken – and so are you!

They judged by appearances – and so do you!

They changed their minds- and so will you!

All your troubles are appointed in infinite love!

They are all weighed out by sovereign goodness!

They are all limited by perfect wisdom!

There is no “chance” in what happens to the Christian!

Everything is divinely arranged and appointed!

 

Cheer up, my poor weary fellow-traveller! You will soon arrive at Home, and then you will see clearly and enjoy sweetly the blessed truth – that to the believer “all will end in mercy!”

 

Take comfort, poor afflicted fellow-Christian! Your afflictions are God’s furnace, in which He is refining you! He is only fitting you to occupy a mansion in Heaven, and to sing the sweet and everlasting song – the theme of which will be, “It all ended in mercy!”

 

Fear not, poor feeble, fickle, faltering follower of Jesus! Though your faith is weak, though your fears are strong, though your doubts are painful, though you conclude that case is singular and your condition hopeless – “the year of release is at hand,” and then…

Your doubts will expire, your fears will flee away, your groans will be silenced, your feeble hopes will be realised, for “it will all end in mercy!”

 

My brother, are you in poverty, under persecution, or in bodily sickness? Cheer up! Your light shall soon “break forth as the morning!” Write it down in your memorandum book, or impress it upon your memory, or, what is better still – pray the Holy Spirit to give you the sweet inward assurance of the fact, that “It will all end in mercy,” for “we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose!”

James Smith

Stepping Heavenward excerpts

 I came across this book recommendation recently and I’ve found it delightful and helpful. “Stepping Heavenward” by E. Prentiss. (born 1818, died 1878).

"A fictional story of a young girl and the many challenges she confronts in her adult life."

These excerpts are some I found particularly encouraging.

 

“After alluding to my complaint that I still “saw men as trees walking,” he says:

“Yet he who first uttered this complaint had had his eyes opened by the Son of God, and so have you. Now He never leaves His work incomplete, and He will gradually lead you into clear and open vision, if you will allow Him to do it. I say gradually, because I believe this to be His usual method, while I do not deny that there are cases where light suddenly bursts in like a flood. To return to the blind man. When Jesus found that his cure was not complete, He put His hands again upon his eyes, and made him look up; and he was restored, and saw every man clearly. Now this must be done for you; and in order to have it done you must go to Christ Himself, not to one of His servants. Make your complaint, tell Him how obscure everything still looks to you, and beg Him to complete your cure. He may see fit to try your faith and patience by delaying this completion; but meanwhile you are safe in His presence, and while led by His hand, He will excuse the mistakes you make, and pity your falls. But you will imagine that it is best that He should at once enable you to see clearly. If it is, you may be sure He will do it. He never makes mistakes. But He often deals far differently with His disciples. He lets them grope their way in the dark until they fully learn how blind they are, how helpless, how absolutely in need of Him. What His methods will be with you I cannot foretell. But you may be sure that He never works in an arbitrary way. He has a reason for everything He does. You may not understand why He leads you now in this way and now in that, but you may, nay, you must believe that perfection is stamped on His every act.”

 

“I can’t be good two minutes at a time. I do everything I do not want to do, and do nothing I try and pray to do. Everybody plagues me and tempts me. And God does not answer any of my prayers, and I am just desperate.”

“Poor child!” he said, in a low voice, as if to himself. “Poor, heart-sick, tired child, that cannot see what I can see, that it’s Father’s loving arms are all about it!”

I stopped crying, to strain my ears to listen. He went on- “Katy, all that you say may be true. I daresay it is. But God loves you. He loves you!”

“He loves me,” I repeated to myself. “He loves me! Oh Dr. Cabot, if I could believe that, after all the promises I have broken, all the foolish, wrong things I have done, and shall always be doing, God perhaps still loves me!”

“You may be sure of it,” he said, solemnly. “I, his minister, bring the gospel to you today. Go home and say over and over to yourself, “I am a wayward, foolish child. But He loves me! I have disobeyed and grieved Him ten thousand times. But He loves me! I have lost faith in some of my dearest friends and am very desolate. But He loves me! I do not love Him, I am even angry with Him! But He loves me!””

I came away, and all the way home I fought this battle with myself, saying, “He loves me!” I knelt down to pray and all my wasted, childish, wicked life came and stared me in the face. I looked at it, and said with tears of joy, “But He loves me!” Never in my life did I feel so rested, so quieted, so sorrowful, and yet so satisfied.

 

(Several years pass with many heartaches before the next two excerpts.)

“But I see, too, that the great points of similarity in Christ’s disciples have always been the same. This is the testimony of all the good books, sermons, hymns, and memoirs I read- that God’s ways are infinitely perfect; that we are to love Him for what He is, and therefore equally as much when He afflicts us as when He prospers us; that there is no real happiness but in doing and suffering His will, and that this life is but a scene of probation, through which we pass to the real life above.”

 

This last one is when Katherine is visiting an old saint on her deathbed.

“Yes, I am tired,” she said, “but what of that? It is only a question of days now, and all my tired feelings will be over. Then I shall be as young and as fresh as ever, and shall have strength to praise and to love God as I cannot do now. But before I go, I want once more to tell you how good He is, how blessed it is to suffer with Him, how infinitely happy He has made me in the very hottest heat of the furnace. It will strengthen you in your trials to recall this my dying testimony. There is no wilderness so dreary but that His love can illuminate it; no desolation so desolate but that He can sweeten it. I know what I am saying. It is no delusion. I believe that the highest, purest happiness is known only to those who have learned Christ in sickrooms, in poverty, in racking suspense and anxiety, amid hardships, and at the open grave.”

Yes, the radiant face, worn by sickness and suffering, but radiant still, said in language yet more unspeakably impressive.

“To learn Christ, this is life!”