| The Glory of the Common Life |
Chapter 5 |
Page 7 |
You are standing before some great question, some question which seems to you to involve your heart’s happiness for all the future. You are vexing yourself over it. You are rent by conflicting emotions about it. Are you forgetting about God and leaving him out of this problem? He knows what will be best for you. He has a plan for your life, a plan which includes this very matter. Do not try to answer the question yourself. Wait. Nothing is settled right until it is settled in God’s wise and best way.
How safe we are from all evil, since God has our lives and our interests in his hands, in his wisdom and love! What peace it gives us in sorrow, suffering and wrong, and in the enduring of injustice to know that our times are in God’s hands! What comfort we have when we realize that God is in all our lives, in all events, in all our circumstances, that daily Providence is simply God working with us and for us, making all things to work together for good to all who love him! We need never leave God out of anything.
Why can we not make God more real in our lives? We have him in our creeds, in our hymns, in our prayers, in our talk. We say God is our Father. We say he will care for us. We say we will trust him. But sometimes, in the face of danger, need, loss, or sorrow, we forget that he is with us. We cry out in our distress. We think all is lost. Let us train ourselves to make God real in our lives, to practice his presence. He stands unseen, close beside us. Why should we ever be afraid? We get discourage when we see chaos about us – old beliefs disbelieved, agnosticism lifting up its voice, anarchy prating and making its assaults. Yes, but do not get discouraged. Do not leave God out. He holds the winds in his fists, and the waters in the hollow of his hand. The clamour and turbulence of men are nothing in his omnipotent hand. We are safe even in the most troublesome times.
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