THE SECRET | AdventAI

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Jan 9, 1896

THE SECRET.

I once heard of a poor colored woman who earned a precarious living by daily labor, but who was a joyous, triumphant Christian. “Ah, Nancy,” said a gloomy Christian lady to her one day, who almost disapproved of her constant cheerfulness, and yet envied it, “Ah, Nancy, it is all well enough to be happy now, but I should think the thoughts of your future would sober you! Only suppose, for instance, that you should have a spell of sickness and be unable to work; or suppose your present employers should move away, and no one else should give you anything to do; or suppose?”—“Stop!” cried Nancy, “I never supposes.

De Lord is my Shepherd, and I knows I shall not want. And, honey,” she added to her gloomy friend, “it's all dem supposes as is makin' you so mis'able. You'd better give dem all up, and just trust de Lord.”

Nothing else but this seeing God in everything will make us loving and patient with those who annoy and trouble us. They will be to us then only the instruments for accomplishing his tender and wise purposes toward us, and we shall even find ourselves at last inwardly thanking them for the blessings they bring us.

Nothing else will completely put an end to all murmuring or rebellious thoughts. Christians often feel at liberty to murmur against man, when they would not dare to murmur against God. But this way of receiving things would make it impossible even to murmur. If our Father permits a trial to come, it must be because that trial is the sweetest and best thing that could happen to us, and we must accept it with thanks from his dear hand. This does not mean that we must like or enjoy the trial, but that we must like God's will in the trial, and his will is always sweet.—Selected.