| Week-Day Religion |
Chapter 29 |
Page 4 |
Therefore is it that so often we do not learn the depth and riches of God’s love and the sweetness of his presence till other joys vanish out of our hands and other loved presences fade away out of sight. The loss of temporal things seems ofttimes to be necessary to empty our hearts that they may receive the things that are unseen and eternal. Into many a life God is never permitted to enter until sorest earthly losses have made room for him. The door is never opened to him until the soul’s dead joys are borne out; the, while it stands open, he enters bearing into it joys immortal. How often is it true that the sweeping away of our earthly hopes reveals the glory of our heart’s refuge in God!
Some one has beautifully said, “Our refuges are like the nests of birds: in summer they are hidden among the green leaves, but in winter they are seen among the naked branches.” Worldly losses but strip off the foliage and disclose to us our heart’s warm nest in the bosom of God.
Notes: The American clergyman J.W. Alexander wrote in the early 1800’s: “The hiding places of men are discovered by affliction. Our refuges are like the nests of birds; in summer they are hidden away among the green leaves, but in winter they are seen among the naked branches.” Page 4 << Prior Page 1 2 3 4 Next Page >>