WITH OR WITHOUT? by Julia H. Duffie

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Oct 3, 1895

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 21, No. 39.

WITH OR WITHOUT?

By Julia H. Duffie

BY JULIA H. DUFFIE.

“Do you prefer your coffee with or without cream?” or, “Will you take such a dish with or without sauce?” are questions frequently asked at table. It is also often the case that the proposed added portion is the more nutritious and wholesome part of the dish, although the flavor may not be acceptable to every taste. Our Saviour once placed a choice between two conditions before his hearers, and which interests us to-day quite as closely as those who then listened to him. One condition was to cling to earthly possessions and honors, and refuse the trials necessary to fit one for eternal life. The other choice was to renounce this world, accepting such blessings as God bestowed “with persecutions” (or tribulations), and in the world to come life everlasting.

I fancy if the choice were placed before us to-day in direct words, we would sometimes be inclined to answer, If you please, Lord, I will take my good things without the tribulations.

But if we insist upon this condition, we must consent to forego the future benefits.

“There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, . . . for My sake, and the Gospel’s [or, in other words, given everything for Christ], but he shall receive an hundred-fold now in this time, houses, and brethren, . . . with persecutions.” Thus we see that there is no way of escaping the trials without forfeiting the final reward. No provision is made for special cases; all must abide by the same terms. “No man” may evade this divinely appointed arrangement. To many this persecution has come through the rack, the thumbscrew, the dungeon, and many other murderous methods. To many others it comes in a very different manner, but to every one it has or must come in some form. Not a soul who has really made and maintained a full consecration to Christ, but must accept his blessings in this life with persecutions. In some cases this chastening comes simply through the jeers and ridicule of former gay companions, which to some natures are quite as hard to bear as the physical torture would be.

To others this daily tribulation may come through the capricious disposition of a suspicious, oversensitive member of the household, who persists in attributing a base motive to every deed and word, no matter how disinterested or well meant it may be. Always on the alert to defend self, they themselves become the attacking party, thus “paying in advance” the harm they imagine is intended them. Or it may be a friend, or one who should be a friend, whose careless, gossiping tongue may bring estrangement between those who otherwise might be the best of friends and mutual helpers.

All these things constantly test the patience, forbearance, and generosity of those who encounter them, and these virtues, like all other useful qualities, can only grow and retain

their strength by a healthful amount of exercise. Can we then afford to dispense with such helpful means, which if rightly accepted can but increase our usefulness?

Hannah Whitall Smith calls the permissive providences “God’s chariots,” sent to help us on our upward way, and sensibly puts the question, “Shall we mount these chariots and ride, permitting them to carry us to the heights God designed us to reach, or will we walk and endeavor to push the clumsy things with our feeble hands?”

When something particularly provoking occurs, perhaps a belittling, ridiculous construction placed (by those who it seems ought to know and do better) upon a well-intended deed or expression, on such occasions I sometimes say to myself: “Well, now, will you take your blessings with or without the tribulations? Ride or walk, which shall it be?”

God help us to be wise and choose the nobler part, thankfully accepting such favors as an all-wise and provident Father may see fit to intrust to us, whether temporal or otherwise, with whatever chastening or polishing portion his unerring hand may add to the cup. For who would become a fruitless branch through lack of proper purging?