To Mrs. H., July 16, 1852.
"I will lead the blind by a way they did not know; I will
guide them on paths they have not known. I will turn darkness to light in
front of them, and rough places into level ground. This is what I will do
for them, and I will not forsake them." Isaiah 42:16
"And He took the blind man by the hand, and led him out
of the town," and when away from all, He gave him sight in a most gradual
and sovereign manner, see Mark 8:23-25. The blind man could not see where
Jesus was leading him; he must confide entirely in Him; neither could he
know why He should lead him along in darkness, when he had asked to be
restored to sight. If he reasoned, the thought would be, "Why not give it me
at once?" But "my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my
ways, says the Lord." Deliverance seldom comes in the way we look for it;
for "Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand or marked off the
heavens with the span of his hand? Who has gathered the dust of the earth in
a measure or weighed the mountains in a balance and the hills in scales? Who
has directed the Spirit of the Lord, or who gave Him His counsel? Who did He
consult with? Who gave Him understanding and taught Him the paths of
justice? Who taught Him knowledge and showed Him the way of understanding?"
Isaiah 40:12-14
Ah, my dear Amelia, has not the Lord frustrated our
purposes over and over again? I cannot tell you with what majesty that
last-quoted passage has often come to my mind, with v. 14, "Who gave Him His
counsel?" Not with puny, sinful worms. He will counsel for them—but
not with them: "My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My
pleasure." Yet "fear not, worm Jacob, I will help you,"—help you to stand
still and see My salvation, or help you to walk on in the dark in a rough
and unknown path, just as My wisdom sees fit. Spiritual eyesight is not
given to look at the outward path—but to look at our Guide; not to look
before us at the way we are going to travel—but to look only at Him who will
guide us safely through all, who will Himself be our way in the
way—but not our way out of it. Oh, to be kept abiding in Him, and
constantly looking unto Him! It is most safe and blessed—but very contrary
to flesh and blood.
"This is what the Lord says--Cursed are those who put
their trust in mere humans and turn their hearts away from the Lord. They
are like stunted shrubs in the desert, with no hope for the future. They
will live in the barren wilderness, on the salty flats where no one lives.
But blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their
hope and confidence. They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with
roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the
heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they
go right on producing delicious fruit. The human heart is most deceitful and
desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is? But I know! I, the Lord,
search all hearts and examine secret motives." Jeremiah 17:5-10
How I do like this passage--it is so descriptive of the
blessedness of trusting in the Lord alone, and the sterility and
disappointment of all creature confidence. I know not your present
difficulties, nor need I know them, for I could not bring you out of them.
But I do bless the Lord He has brought you into the very best posture of
soul—looking to Him alone. Tell your sorrows and secrets to this your
Friend, watch His eye, obey His bidding, and go not to carnal and lower
means for relief.
You will find it turn to good account, if you are helped
to wait it out and watch it out, not as carnal Saul, to wait until a set
time, and then if relief tarries--to endeavor to extricate yourself. (1 Sam.
13:8, 15) I write the things that I do know, my loved Amelia, having at some
times smarted for the haste of the flesh, and at others inherited great
blessing by waiting for the Lord, even in very trying circumstances and
amidst many counter voices; but "in keeping of His commandments there is
great reward."
Adieu in our heavenly Bridegroom, and in His undying
love,
Ruth