“The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me.” (Psalm 138:8.) THERE is a Divine mystery in suffering, a strange and supernatural power in it, which has never been fathomed by the human reason. There never has been known great saintliness of soul which did not pass through great suffering. WhenRead More …

“Not much earth.” (Matt. 13:5.) SHALLOW! It would seem from the teaching of this parable that we have something to do with the soil. The fruitful seed fell into “good and honest hearts.” I suppose the shallow people are the soil without much earth—those who have no real purpose, areRead More …

“Thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress.” (Psalm 4:1.) THIS is one of the grandest testimonies ever given by man to the moral government of God. It is not a man’s thanksgiving that he has been set free from suffering. It is a thanksgiving that he has beenRead More …

“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” (Psalm 46:1.) THE question often comes, “Why didn’t He help me sooner?” It is not His order. He must first adjust you to the trouble and cause you to learn your lesson from it. His promise is, “IRead More …

“Thou remainest.” (Heb. 1:11.) THERE are always lone hearth-fires; so many! And those who sit beside them, with the empty chair, cannot restrain the tears that will come. One sits alone so much. There is some One unseen, just here within reach. But somehow we don’t realize His presence. RealizingRead More …

“Blessed are all they that wait for him.” (Isa. 30:18.) WE hear a great deal about waiting on God. There is, however, another side. When we wait on God, He is waiting till we are ready; when we wait for God, we are waiting till He is ready. There areRead More …

“And when you hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city shall fall down flat, and the people shall ascend up every man straight before him.” (Joshua 6:5.) THE shout of steadfast faith is in direct contrastRead More …

“And he saw them toiling in rowing.” (Mark 6:48.) STRAINING, driving effort does not accomplish the work God gives man to do. Only God Himself, who always works without strain, and who never overworks, can do the work that He assigns to His children. When they restfully trust Him toRead More …

“Unto you it is given… to suffer.” (Phil. 1:29.) GOD keeps a costly school. Many of its lessons are spelled out through tears. Richard Baxter said, “O God, I thank Thee for a bodily discipline of eight and fifty years”; and he is not the only man who has turnedRead More …

“I will lay thy stones with fair colors.” (Isa. 54:11.) THE stones from the wall said, “We come from the mountains far away, from the sides of the craggy hills. Fire and water have worked on us for ages, but made us only crags. Human hands have made us intoRead More …