Daily Strength for Daily Needs Part 10

It is rare when injustice, or slights patiently borne, do not leave the heart at the close of the day filled with marvellous joy and peace.

GOLD DUST.

February 25

_But now thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and He that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine_.--ISA. xliii. I.

Thou art as much His care as if beside Nor man nor angel lived in heaven or earth; Thus sunbeams pour alike their glorious tide, To light up worlds, or wake an insect's mirth.

J. KEBLE.

G.o.d beholds thee individually, whoever thou art. "He calls thee by thy name." He sees thee, and understands thee. He knows what is in thee, all thy own peculiar feelings and thoughts, thy dispositions and likings, thy strength and thy weakness. He views thee in thy day of rejoicing and thy day of sorrow. He sympathizes in thy hopes and in thy temptations; He interests himself in all thy anxieties and thy remembrances, in all the risings and fallings of thy spirit. He compa.s.ses thee round, and bears thee in His arms; He takes thee up and sets thee down. Thou dost not love thyself better than He loves thee. Thou canst not shrink from pain more than He dislikes thy bearing it, and if He puts it on thee, it is as thou wilt put it on thyself, if thou art wise, for a greater good afterwards.

J. H. NEWMAN.

February 26

_The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon Him, to all that call upon Him in truth_.--PS. cxlv. 18.

_I sought the Lord, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears_.--PS. x.x.xiv. 4.

Be Thou, O Rock of Ages, nigh!

So shall each murmuring thought be gone; And grief and fear and care shall fly, As clouds before the mid-day sun.

C. WESLEY.

Take courage, and turn your troubles, which are without remedy, into material for spiritual progress. Often turn to our Lord, who is watching you, poor frail little being as you are, amid your labors and distractions.

He sends you help, and blesses your affliction. This thought should enable you to bear your troubles patiently and gently, for love of Him who only allows you to be tried for your own good. Raise your heart continually to G.o.d, seek His aid, and let the foundation stone of your consolation be your happiness in being His. All vexations and annoyances will be comparatively unimportant while you know that you have such a Friend, such a Stay, such a Refuge. May G.o.d be ever in your heart.

ST. FRANCIS DE SALES.

February 27

_Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed_.--PS. x.x.xvii. 3.

Build a little fence of trust Around to-day; Fill the s.p.a.ce with loving work, And therein stay; Look not through the sheltering bars Upon to-morrow, G.o.d will help thee bear what comes, Of joy or sorrow.

MARY FRANVES b.u.t.tS.

Let us bow our souls and say, "Behold the handmaid of the Lord!" Let us lift up our hearts and ask, "Lord, what wouldst thou have me to do?" Then light from the opened heaven shall stream on our daily task, revealing the grains of gold, where yesterday all seemed dust; a hand shall sustain us and our daily burden, so that, smiling at yesterday's fears, we shall say, "_This is easy, this is light;_" every "lion in the way," as we come up to it, shall be seen chained, and leave open the gates of the Palace Beautiful; and to us, even to us, feeble and fluctuating as we are, ministries shall be a.s.signed, and through our hands blessings shall be conveyed in which the spirits of just men made perfect might delight.

ELIZABETH CHARLES.

February 28

_Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of G.o.d; and every one that loveth is born of G.o.d, and knoweth G.o.d_.--I JOHN iv. 7.

So to the calmly gathered thought The innermost of life is taught, The mystery dimly understood, That love of G.o.d is love of good; That to be saved is only this,-- Salvation from our selfishness.

J. G. Whittler.

The Spirit of Love, wherever it is, is its own blessing and happiness, because it is the truth and reality of G.o.d in the soul; and therefore is in the same joy of life, and is the same good to itself everywhere and on every occasion. Would you know the blessing of all blessings? It is this G.o.d of Love dwelling in your soul, and killing every root of bitterness, which is the pain and torment of every earthly, selfish love. For all wants are satisfied, all disorders of nature are removed, no life is any longer a burden, every day is a day of peace, everything you meet becomes a help to you, because everything you see or do is all done in the sweet, gentle element of Love.

WM. LAW.

February 29

_Unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of Righteousness arise with healing in his wings_.--MAL. iv. 2.

_O send out Thy light and Thy truth: let them lead me_.--PS. xliii. 3.

Open our eyes, thou Sun of life and gladness, That we may see that glorious world of Thine!

It shines for us in vain, while drooping sadness Enfolds us here like mist; come, Power benign, Touch our chilled hearts with vernal smile, Our wintry course do Thou beguile, Nor by the wayside ruins let us mourn, Who have th' eternal towers for our appointed bourn.

J. KEBLE.

Because all those scattered rays of beauty and loveliness which we behold spread up and down over all the world, are only the emanations of that inexhausted light which is above; therefore should we love them all in that, and climb up always by those sunbeams unto the eternal Father of lights: we should look upon Him, and take from Him the pattern of our lives, and always eying Him, should, as Hierocles speaks, "polish and shape our souls into the clearest resemblance of Him;" and in all our behavior in this world (that great temple of His) deport ourselves decently and reverently, with that humility, meekness, and modesty that becomes His house.

DR. JOHN SMITH.

March 1

_Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on_.--MATT. vi. 25.

One there lives whose guardian eye Guides our earthly destiny; One there lives, who, Lord of all, Keeps His children lest they fall; Pa.s.s we, then, in love and praise, Trusting Him through all our days, Free from doubt and faithless sorrow,-- G.o.d provideth for the morrow.

R. HEBER.

It has been well said that no man ever sank under the burden of the day. It is when to-morrow's burden is added to the burden of to-day that the weight is more than a man can bear. Never load yourselves so, my friends. If you find yourselves so loaded, at least remember this: it is your own doing, not G.o.d's. He begs you to leave the future to Him, and mind the present.