GOD'S WAYS by A. De Yarmond

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Sep 4, 1879

GOD'S WAYS.

By A. De Yarmond

ONE will labor harder, endure more misery, forfeit more joy, in vainly attempting to satisfy himself that he may safely disregard Christ's teachings, than would be necessary for him to do in obeying.

Does any one imagine that by endeavoring to justify himself before men, by speaking evil of professed Christians, he shall persuade God to stay his judgments? As well try to beat back the tide of the ocean, or stop the workings of the universe; or think, by saying that the polar star is not properly located, to shame the heavenly worlds to deserting their appointed places.

There are those who insist that, of the universe, there might just as well be the earth, consisting of ninety-nine parts land and one part water; a sun half-a-mile distant; a moon similarly located; and stars of only their apparent size. We take a like position when we rebel against God's government of human affairs. “We see through a glass darkly;” but if we live in accordance with God's law and truth, our souls shall yet be filled with the knowledge of his wondrous wisdom, mercy, love, and truth.

It is as impossible for man to suggest anything to tend more to our good than righteousness, or devise a plan of salvation equal in perfection to God's, as to suggest another solar system. We cannot conceive of anything tending more to our happiness than obedience to God's will. As nature's laws are the laws of God, so also God's laws are the laws of nature. His course is the natural course; and in obeying his will, we obey the demands of all in our souls that is good. In searching to know his will that we may do it, we find peace that passeth all understanding, and joy which no man taketh from us. The all-wise Creator, who so planned that no one of the wondrous multitude of stars should interrupt another's course, has also thus planned our lives in consistency. If you do not stand where the Master directs, you stand on ground that is not yours, where you must be jostled and crowded by the throng. Do not, then, complain that your life is hard, when you have rejected the place of safety which our Lord offers you, and wandered upon foreign ground and among an unfriendly people.

A person in rebellion against this government would not expect the government's protection; and how should one in rebellion against God's kingdom expect of him protection? Christ says, “He that is not with me is against me.” He also says, “Come unto me, . . . and I will give you rest.” Christ alone has passed for us through life and death, and is therefore the only one who can lead us,—the only pilot who knows the seas.

Would you wander all day through dangerous places, filth, and corruption, knowing that you can never thus find the home you seek, rather than be led by one whom you know you can trust, and upon whom you intend to call just before the night, after having refused his guidance repeatedly and rudely? Would you rather join your friends worn and scarred and stained, than in freshness and zeal and strength? Would you rather encounter the dangers in the highway, than dwell secure in the home built upon a hill?

Can we be content to have our whole life book one dark blot, promising that we will write the last page well? To write well requires practice. Knowing that “all things work together for good to them that love God,” let us dedicate ourselves unreservedly to his service. A. DE YARMOND.