"I will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty." -- II Cor. 6:18
Yet the love of a mother, if not stronger, is more enduring than a father's
love. It follows her child with ceaseless anxiety to the ends of the earth,
and to the close of life. It survives the loss of character, and the wreck of
hope. It goes, with tearful eye and ardent sympathy, and trembling step, with
the criminal to his cell, and the murderer to the gallows. But a mother may
forget her child, but God will never forget those who separate themselves to
His service. They are said to be graven upon the palms of His hands to be
continually before Him.
A holy person, then, trusts in God. All his
interests, for time and eternity, are committed to the keeping of Him who never
wearies. He has confidence in God. A loving child is not always exacting
promises -- he trusts his parents for all his needs. So a holy person trusts
in God himself. He has confidence in the ability and in the willingness of His
Heavenly Father to do for him the very best that his circumstances call for.
He may not always see how it is coming out. He does not ask to. He feels the
utmost assurance that all things work together for good to them that love God.
With that he is satisfied.
He trusts God in particular:
For all the grace that he needs. He knows that
God can carry him through. The channel supplied from a mighty river, may be
small but it is always full. The source of the supply is inexhaustible. So is
it with the fountain of all goodness. There is grace for us for any emergency.
We never need be overcome. No matter how sudden may be the attack, our
Protector is ever at hand. The darts thrown at us may be fiery, and hurled
with tremendous force, but they can never penetrate our shield. The enemies
that assail us may be legion, but more are they that are for us. Thus a holy
person, while not presumptuous, is confident in God. He knows in whom he
trusts, and that He is able to keep, in perfect security, that which He has
committed to His care. Whatever may be his duties, whatever God may call upon
him to do, He will give him grace to perform. Increasing loads of care, and
labor, and responsibility may be laid upon him, but his strength is so
multiplied that he is able always to testify that Christ's yoke is easy, and
His burden light. Temptations most furious, most subtle, and nicely adapted to
accomplish their end may assail him, but he always finds that with the
temptation, God provides a way of escape, that he may be able to bear it. So
his confidence in God that He will give him increased strength, as his wants
require, never fails. He is not discouraged, ever ready to give up the battle;
but he boldly renews it from time to time, and goes in for new conquests, and
an extension of Christ's kingdom. He knows that the battle is the Lord's, and
he never expects defeat.
He trusts God for temporal blessings. If God is
the giver of every good and perfect gift, we should naturally expect that He
would provide for His children. So His word declares that He will "withhold no
good thing from them that walk uprightly." He knows best what is good for us.
We take the remedies which a doctor in whom we have confidence prescribes,
without knowing before hand what their effects may be; and shall we not as
cheerfully accept from our Father's hand whatever temporal dispensations He may
order? Disappointment may be bitter, but it may be just the remedy we need to
sharpen the appetite for spiritual food. Toils and privations may be grievous
to the flesh, but they may be necessary to purify our spirits of their
grossness and fit them for their upward flight. But whatever is best God will
give us if we walk before Him in the light of holiness. Every holy person has
the most unbounded confidence in the declaration,
"Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." -- Matt. 6:33
This does not make him indolent or improvident. Quite the contrary. He labors
unweariedly because he labors in hope. He is
"not slothful in business, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord." Rom. 12:11
He does the best he can, dismisses all anxiety, and commits all to the hands of
God, for soul and body, for time and eternity. He who can trust God for his
happiness in another world, certainly can have no hesitation in trusting Him to
have his necessary wants supplied for the few fleeting years of his
probationary existence. If God cares for the oxen, and cares for the grass of
the field, He will care for His children. Their wants will be provided for if
they do their duty. He can send manna in the desert, and bring water from the
flinty rock. So a holy person rests in the promise, "Your bread shall be given
you, and your water shall be sure." His Protector is always at hand: his
Provider is always near. The Lord is his refuge: the Most High is his
habitation.
"They that trust in the Lord shall be as Mount Zion which cannot be removed, but abideth forever." -- Ps. 125:1