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This is a plank which upholds the sinking heart!
(Henry Law, "Cordials
in Temporal Troubles" 1873)
"Man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upward."
Job 5:7.
Each woman's child is born an heir . . .
not to a palace or a crown,
not to broad lands or mines of gold,
not to ancestral lineage of fame,
not to high rank among the rich and great,
not to a soft seat on luxury's lap,
but to the inheritance of a common portion, TROUBLE.
Few are called . . .
to be honored and caressed,
to be idols of admiring crowds,
to outstrip others in the worldly race,
to enjoy sound health and sinewy strength,
to overabundance of earthly goods.
But many are called to SUFFERING.
Our usual walk is in a valley of tears.
The billows of affliction swell around
us, and storms of distress, with little
intermission, buffet us.
Where is the eye which rarely weeps?
Where is the breast which seldom sighs?
Bereavements go forth to their daily work.
Pains and diseases do not slumber.
Wails belong not to a scanty class.
We know that the white robed multitude
came out of great tribulations.
Man is indeed endowed with wondrous gifts of
intellect; and mental resources, neither few nor
weak, labor to exclude the entrance of trouble.
But they can erect no fortress which sorrow fails
to scale. They can construct no intercepting bars.
Trouble has a key for every lock, and takes its
seat by every chair.
It is the rich man's shadow,
and lies on poverty's low pallet.
It marches with every camp,
and sails in every fleet.
It is the native of each climate,
and has its root in every soil.
Flight to lonely deserts will not secure escape;
and crowds give no concealment. To be a human
being, is to be linked to trouble.
This truth cannot be controverted, for every
heart confirms it. We read it in the annals
of our race. It is the stamp on history's brow.
In Eden's garden, clear sunshine was a brief delight;
obscuring clouds soon cast a dismal gloom.
Sin came.
All troubles thronged its rear.
The woman hears, "I will greatly increase your
pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth
to children." The man hears, "In sorrow shall you
eat of it all the days of your life."
Trouble is . . .
our common course,
our beaten path,
the well known stream, on which we float.
Earth is a wide Bochim. "So they called that
place Bochim." (lit. 'weeping'). Judges 2:5
Trouble is largely written on life's page.
But some are . . .
new born of God,
the children of eternal love,
the heirs of never ending life,
the sheep of Christ's pasture,
His appointed spouse,
the purchase of His blood,
the called of His Spirit,
His joy, His portion, His delight.
On them . . .
the eye of God beams lovingly;
His power protects;
His wisdom guides;
His angels encamp around them.
Will not their course be constant sunshine?
Will they not soar where trouble cannot come?
Such a conclusion would be a fallacy. Their precious
privileges bring not such immunity. It is forever true,
"Many are the afflictions of the righteous." "We must
through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God."
The time of trouble is the time of thought. They
suffer, and they ponder. Their eyes look inward
and above. They ask, "Whence comes this trial?"
The reply is obvious.
It is not the working of blind chance.
God's will designs; His hand inflicts it!
It is ordered in the courts of heaven.
It is prearranged in the covenant of grace.
Who will repine when he endures according
to a Father's will? It is a precious word,
"As many as I love I rebuke and chasten."
This is a plank which upholds the sinking heart!
This is an anchor which keeps it steady in the
roughest waves.
The spirit cannot faint which tastes this cordial.
The trouble does not dismay, which is
fringed with shining evidence of heavenly
mission. Then welcome trials. They subserve
spiritual welfare, or they would not be sent!
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