Harvest of Blessing from Seed of Sorrow.
THERE is not in the whole area of future life a single plot of stony ground which shall not yield us fertile harvests of joy. The hand of divine love transmute every trial and affliction into everlasting joy for his people. Two seeds lie before us—the one is warmed in the sun, the other falls from the sower's hand into the cold, dark earth, and there it lies buried beneath the soil. That seed which suns itself in the noontide beam may rejoice in the light in which it basks, but it is liable to be devoured by the bird; and certainly naught can come of it, however long it may linger above ground; but the other seed, hidden beneath the clods in a damp, dark sepulchre, soon swells, germinates, bursts its sheath, upheaves the mould, springs up a green blade, buds, blossoms, becomes a flower, exhales perfume and loads the wings of every wind. Better far for the seed to pass into the earth and die, than lie in the sunshine and produce no fruit; and even thus for thee the future in its sorrow shall be a sowing in a fertile land; tears shall moisten thee, grace shall increase within thee, and thou shalt grow up in the likeness of thy Lord unto perfection of holiness, to be such a flower of God's own planting as even angels shall delight to gaze upon in the day of thy transplanting to celestial soil.