TRUE WORKING TOGETHER

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Aug 25, 1887

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 13, No. 33.

TRUE WORKING TOGETHER.

THE want of this age is a spirit of restfulness. Worry and hurry are the spirits that sap the life of the people, and defeat the ends for which they labor. Seed is sown to bear fruit, but the spirit of hurry moves the planter to force the growth, and the fruit is plucked before it reaches maturity. We wear out our nerves and temper in unnecessary worry over things and conditions that cannot be helped, and to which it is the part of wisdom to submit and adjust our inclinations. This does not mean submitting to those conditions that involve unnecessary suffering or disturbance. No man is a hero for submitting to the pangs of toothache when a dentist is available; yet he can show heroic qualities in the way he bears the pain while it is inevitable, and applies remedies for its modification or radical removal. A weak yielding to discomfort, annoyance, trouble, is far more cowardly than brave. A true spirit of submission perceives readily between that which is inevitable and must be borne and that which it is weakness to bear. Laziness is sometimes misnamed submission. God is made a pack-horse, whose burden is made up of the individual's shortsightedness, laziness, and lack of judgment. Many a misfortune is spoken of as "the Lord's will" that is the result of the speaker's errors. It never is "the Lord's will" for a man not to exercise the powers given him for his guidance and preservation both in things material and spiritual.

A church deacon indorsed a note for a man known to be tricky and improvident. The result was the loss of a homestead which had been occupied by his family for three generations. He said: "It is the Lord's will; let him do as seemeth him good." And he sank down into a poverty-stricken old age.

What is said of him who does not care for his own household? Sanitary conditions are neglected, disease and death invade the home, and the infliction is said to come from the hand of the Lord. The first directions given God's chosen people were based on the highest sanitary principles.

Submission to that which is from the hand of the Lord brings rich spiritual fruitage; but submission which has its roots in selfishness and laziness, and covers itself with a hypocritical mantle, is an insult to the Giver of life and light. Said a good woman when asked the secret of her freedom from worry and fret:—

"It is no secret and no great achievement. I simply bear what I cannot avoid, of trial or pain or annoyance, with submission. I submit to nothing that I can remove. I believe that God means we shall make bad things better always, when they can be bettered, and I ask myself, first of all, if an evil or unpleasant thing can be remedied. If it can I bend all my energies to getting it out of the way; if it cannot, I submit to it, and begin, the very moment I accept it, to look for the good in it, and to get the good out of it."

God never meant us to submit to evil that good may come. Christ cursed the tree that bore no fruit for the world's refreshing. Overcome the evil with good, but do not accept it as a part of God's will because we are too lazy or indifferent to fight it.

Much worry and fret are due to anticipating trouble. Says the same writer:—

"It is safe always to hope, but both unsafe and unwise to anticipate evil. To-morrow's torment has no right to thrust its shadow upon the household of to-day, and never will do it unless we open the door. I try to ‘remember that to-day ne’er dawns again,’ and to realize that if I get no gladness in it for myself, and give none to others, the sum of joy ‘that might have been’ on the earth is diminished, which surely is not pleasing unto God. To live in to-day as wisely and heartily as we can is not only the truest religion, but the wisest philosophy and best common sense. The truth is, dear child, that when we refuse to take any burden that does not belong to us, and then take those that are our own to the Burden-bearer, life does not lack the blessedness of rest."

Unnecessary worry and needless hurry kill more people, and limit the energies of more people, than death or ill health. Trust God as a Father of infinite wisdom, love, and care, but do not try to hide your own weakness or sin under a hypocritical spirit of submission. "Rest in the Lord, wait patiently for him," and he will give you rest. Rest implies activities; it is a cessation from labor. Rest in the Lord, because you have labored for and with him. Wait patiently after having done all that conditions require. Work and rest in the fullness of a divine Father's care and love. —Christian Union.