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A SUSTAINING PROMISE

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The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jun 9, 1868

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 31, No. 25.

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A SUSTAINING PROMISE.

By Amelia F. Stansell

“Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him; delight thyself also in the Lord, and he shall give thee the desire of thine heart.”
Amid the cares and trials of this life, do we sufficiently appreciate this most blessed promise, and claim it as we might to strengthen us on our journey? Does the lonely, weary pilgrim, passing through afflictions which almost cause the soul to reel and stagger, resort to the healing waters contained in such promises? With what soothing, consoling power, and how softly fall such words upon a tried soul. We know, if never more on this mortal shore, we shall have our heart’s desire. Our Father will never deceive nor fail us. There is still Heaven to be thankful for. Whatever sorrows bereave us here, whatever fatal mistakes darken our lives, whatever irredeemable losses befall us, we may yet rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him, in the little life that remains; for beyond this world’s gain or loss, in the earth made new, where we shall walk in the spotless robes of immortality, there, and only there, shall he give us our heart’s desire in its fullness. Here everything is imperfect, and a lesson. Purity is the result of fiery trials. Riches take to themselves wings. Love is inconstant, sorrow sure. But in Heaven there is perfect love; and riches that neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, that bless and curse not. If in our journey darkness falls over us like a pall, and we seem shut out from the smiles of God, then let us exercise faith, and remember, “Yet doth he devise means that his banished be not expelled from him.” Perhaps these trials are brought upon our natures to remind us of our duty to our Heavenly Father, and direct our thoughts to that blessed home where all tears and sorrows shall be wiped away. There is healing in the cup.
Oh! for that faith, “that precious alchemy of the soul which transmutes grief into joy, and makes affliction appear what it really is, a dispensation of mercy.” This is what we need to enable us to overcome. We may have it. Let us pray for more faith. Weary pilgrim, let us put our trust in Israel’s God, and we shall never be ashamed, nor confounded. Let us cast our every care on him, for he thus invites us. He is a “father to the fatherless, and the widow’s God.” He is to us “as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.” Oh! let us open our hearts to him, and love will come into our souls in full-flowing tides, bearing us high above grief, doubt, and fear, into that calm region where the life of God flows ever, and peace and joy reign supreme.
So wait we, so hope we; and what better portion is there than faith, hope, and love.
Leave God to order all thy ways, And hope in him, whate’er betide; Thou’lt find him, in the evil days, An all-sufficient strength, and guide. Who trusts in God’s unchanging love Builds on the rock that naught can move.
What can these anxious cares avail, These never-ceasing moans and sighs? What can it help us to bewail Each painful moment as it flies? Our cross and trials do but press The heavier for our bitterness.
Only your restless heart keep still, And wait in cheerful hope, content To take whate’er his gracious will, His all-discerning love hath sent; Nor doubt our inmost wants are known To him who chose us for his own.
He knows when joyful hours are best, He sends them as he sees it meet, When thou hast borne its fiery test, And now are free from all deceit, He comes to thee all unaware, And makes thee own his loving care.
AMELIA F. STANSELL.