April 29

Morning

Thou art my hope in the day of evil. — Jer 17:17

The path of the Christian is not always bright with sunshine; he has his seasons of darkness and of storm. True, it is written in God’s Word, “Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace;” and it is a great truth, that religion is calculated to give a man happiness below—as well as bliss above. But experience tells us that if the course of the just be “As the shining light that shines more and more unto the perfect day,” yet sometimes that light is eclipsed. At certain periods, clouds cover the believer’s sun, and he walks in darkness and sees no light.

There are many who have rejoiced in the presence of God for a season; they have basked in the sunshine in the earlier stages of their Christian career; they have walked along the “green pastures” by the side of the “still waters.” But suddenly they find the glorious sky is clouded; instead of the fertile Land of Goshen—they have to tread the barren desert; in the place of sweet waters, they find troubled streams, bitter to their taste, and they say, “Surely, if I were a child of God—this would not happen!”

Oh! say not so, you who are walking in darkness. The best of God’s saints must drink the wormwood; the dearest of His children must bear the cross. No Christian has enjoyed perpetual prosperity; no believer can always keep his harp from the willows. Perhaps the Lord allotted you at first—a smooth and unclouded path, because you were weak and timid. He tempered the wind to the shorn lamb but now that you are stronger in the spiritual life, you must enter upon the riper and rougher experience of God’s full-grown children. We need winds and tempests to exercise our faith, to tear off the rotten bough of self-dependence, and to root us more firmly in Christ. The day of evil reveals to us the value of our glorious hope.

Evening

The Lord taketh pleasure in his people. — Ps 149:4

How comprehensive is the love of Jesus! There is no part of His people’s interests which He does not consider, and there is nothing which concerns their welfare which is not important to Him. Not merely does He think of you, believer, as an immortal being but as a mortal being too. Do not deny it or doubt it: “The very hairs of your head are all numbered.” It would be a sad thing for us—if this mantle of love did not cover all our concerns, for what mischief might be wrought to us—in that part of our business which did not come under our gracious Lord’s inspection!

Believer, rest assured that the heart of Jesus cares about your smaller affairs. The breadth of His tender love, is such that you may resort to Him in all matters; for as a father pities his children—so does He pity you. The smallest interests of all His saints—are all borne upon the broad bosom of the Son of God. Oh, what a heart is His, that does not merely comprehend the salvation of His people but comprehends also, all their diverse and innumerable concerns!

Do you think, O Christian, that you can measure the love of Christ? Think of what His love has brought you—justification, adoption, sanctification, eternal life! The riches of His goodness are unsearchable; you shall never be able to tally them—or even conceive them. Oh, the breadth of the love of Christ! Shall such a love as this have half our hearts? Shall it have a cold love in return? Shall Jesus’ marvelous loving-kindness and tender care—meet with but faint response and tardy acknowledgment? O my soul, tune your harp to a glad song of thanksgiving! Go to your rest rejoicing, for you are no desolate wanderer but a beloved child, watched over, cared for, supplied, and defended by your Lord!