Trusting Where We Cannot Trace
By M. C. W.
The life of the Christian is not always a blaze of glory. It is not always bright or even plain. There are “the green pastures,” but often rough are the ways which lead to them. There are “the still waters,” or “waters of rest,” but he often reaches them over dark and rugged paths. There are valleys over which is cast the fearful shadow of death. There are dungeons of despair, sloughs of despond, stretches of pain and weariness. Do not look upon these as strange. They are some of the many things needed to develop character. In these trying, testing, soul-wrestling times, let us remember the promises the great Master of life has given for these periods which might cause depression. Here is one. Read it again. Let the Comforter inscribe it upon the memory and heart: “Who is among you that feareth Jehovah, that obeyeth the voice of His servant? he that walketh in darkness, and hath no light, let him trust in the name of Jehovah, and rely upon his God.” Isa. 50: 10. That is the safe way. Do not try to kindle fires to substitute for God’s light. Wait with Him in the darkness. It is better to abide in the gloom with Him than to walk without Him at noonday. Remember Him who walked earth’s difficult paths before you. Not always did He stand before expectant, eager multitudes who hung on His every word, or sit at the friendly board in the quiet retreat at Bethany, or bathe in the ineffable glory of the transfiguration, with its divine voice of approval. There was rejection at Nazareth, the undeserved enmity of a whole people, the dark hours of Gethsemane, the blackness of the cross. Every rood of the way He asks you to walk is marked by the footprints of the Man of Calvary, who sought, above all things, that God’s will should be wrought in Him, by Him, through Him, to the eternal good of us and the glory of God. Trust, dear soul, and stay on God. “We see not, know not. All our way
Is night—with Thee alone is day.
From out the torrent’s troubled drift,
Above the storm, our prayers we lift,
Thy will be done.”