THE CHASTENING OF THE LORD.
By M. A. Whalen
“My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: for whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.” How many times have we forgotten this exhortation which speaketh unto us as unto children! How often have the eyes been so filled with tears and the heart with aching that we could not see the precious promises and declarations of love in close connection with the chastening. The same hand that makes sore, and wounds, will bind up, and heal. The loving, pitying Saviour stands very near the furnace, that nothing may be consumed but the dross; and if the furnace should be heated seven times hotter than it is wont to be, we may rest assured it is because of a failure on our part to learn the lessons he would teach. Then let us not grow weary of correction; for it is sent that we may yield the peaceable fruits of righteousness, and be partakers of the divine nature. Leave it all with the Lord; he knows best. Bow in sweet submission to his will. The Judge of all the earth will do right. Ye lonely, tried and tempted, does the way seem dark and drear? Lift up your head, for your redemption draweth nigh. Take hold of the strength of the Lord, and go forward, trusting in him to open the way before you. Struggle on. Faint not in the burden and heat of the day, and you shall shine forth as the stars in the kingdom of your Father. M. A. WHALEN.