Would that I could bring you a message of present comfort and a promise of speedy relief from all your anxieties, I cannot. I have ventured merely to remind you that God is almighty—in the sense that all power belongs to and comes from Him. Unenviable are those who misuse the power they enjoy through the generosity of God. We believe that, one day, each one of us will have to give an account of the life we have Jed on earth: unenviable indeed will be the lot of those who have missed their God-given power and caused needless suffering to those who, no less than themselves, are God's children.
I have ventured to remind you that God Himself—in the form of Jesus—showed us how to face those Who misuse that power with which God has entrusted them. And as with Jesus, so with us: the way in which we face up to injustice, at whatever cost to ourselves, has results—results on those around us, and of which we ourselves know nothing: results also, to ourselves, if we believe, as we surely do, that death is but the gate to a larger life, one in which much will become clear to us, however obscure it seems to us now.
Times of grievous uncertainty such as these bring out the best and worst in us. If we keep a clear "head, stand fast to our ideals in every way, keep calm and hopeful, instead of being excitable and unduly optimistic or pessimistic; if we continue to try, whatever may befall us, to do our duty to God and our neighbour, then these times, which are indeed testing times for us, will not after all be fruitless or the ruin of our lives, for we shall be using a great chance to stand up for God and to help our fellow-men. understand is no reason whatever for failing to trust. I personally have not the slightest knowledge about such elementary things as wireless, telephones, electricity, but I have learnt to trust in their efficiency.
There is much about God we do Aot understand, but you and I have learnt enough about Him to have faith in Him. He told us not to be "over anxious," not to worry over much—so let us not worry over things we cannot understand, and "what can't be cured must be endured." And the way in which we endure is of small importance to ourselves and to our neighbours. You remember "Its easy enough to be pleasant, When life goes along like a song, But the man worth while, the man who can smile, When everything goes dead wrong."
Need for Calmness "Smile"—not "laugh." Laughter is irritating when one's nerves are frayed. In such times as these, what help you and I get from those who, with unwavering faith in God, still scorn at all that is mean, unjust and cowardly, still refuse to lose heart, still carry ən cheerfully and bravely with their daily duties. We feel the better for their company and for their example.
Do others feel the better for our company and example? I do feel that our own personal attitude and behaviour in such times as these is of special importance: some are overexcited, some unduly depressed. There is need for calmness, quiet courage,-unseJüishness—arid above all, firm: confidence in the love of the Lord Jesus. Do you remember those lines of-Cówper—
Judge not the Lord by feeble sense, But trust Him for his grace; Behind a frowning providence He hides a smiling face. Blind unbelief is sure to err, And scan His work in vain; God is His own interpreter, And He will make it plain.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.