If the Lord Tarry, Wait for Him.
By E. O. L. L.
“To act, to suffer, may be nobly great,
But Nature’s mightiest effort is to wait.”
The Lord has tarried and we have waited for him until sometimes it has seemed as though the long night of his absence would never wear away, and the bright morn of deliverance would never burst upon the world. Yet the Lord is not slack concerning his promises, and we know in the grand plan of God, there are things to be fulfilled that causes the detention of our Saviour’s chariot wheels. When the glad news of the soon coming of Jesus first broke upon our ears, and they told us of the saints’ inheritance, and of the New Jerusalem, which was to be the metropolis of that country, we felt with others, “that we would set out for glory and leave the world behind;” and we expected that when a few suns had risen and set, or a few moons waxed and waned, that we should see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven; that we should hear the voice of the archangel and the trump of God; that the dead in Christ would then arise, and we with them would be caught up to meet the Lord in the air, and so remain with Him forever. We knew we loved the Lord, and we felt he kindly regarded us, and in the ardency of our expectation and the joyfulness of our hope, we never dreamed that there were days of darkness and doubt before us—that our love was in danger of growing cold, and we becoming like those who walk as though they were enemies of the cross of Christ. But not only days and months, but years have gone, and here we are, waiting still. Instead of wearing the crown, endeavoring to bear the cross. Instead of walking the streets of that pearl-built city, traveling the weary road of life, battling with its cares and bearing up its burdens. Yet the day of the Lord is nearer than when we first believed, and signs ominous of the world’s approaching doom are thickening all around us. But who shall abide the day of His coming, and who shall be able to stand when Mercy no longer pleads at the court of Heaven. Oh! we have none too much time to work out our own salvation; none too much time to work for Christ. Let us then be watchful, faithful, patient. Christ has gone to prepare mansions for us and he will come again. Time hastens us onward. Every day brings us nearer the coming of Jesus, and if we endure patiently, “Beyond the parting and the meeting
We shall be soon;
Beyond the farewell and the greeting
We shall be soon;
Love, rest and home,
Sweet home,
Lord, tarry not, but come.”
Olcott, N. Y.
E. O. L. L.