. A loving purpose by John Macduff. Let the Lord be exalted who delights
in the prosperity of his servant. Psalm 35 27. What is prosperity? Is it threads of life weaved
into a bright outcome? A full cup? Ample riches? Worldly applause? An unbroken
circle? No, these are often a snare,
received without gratitude, dimming the soul to its nobler destinies,
Often spiritually, it rather means God taking us by the hand
into the lowly valleys of humiliation, leading us, as He did His servant
Job of old, out of his sheep, oxen, camels, health, wealth,
children, in order that we may be brought before Him in the
dust and say, Blessed be His holy name. Yes, the very reverse
of what is generally known in the world as prosperity forms
the background on which the rainbow of promise is seen. God smiles
on us through these rainbows and teardrops of sorrows. He
loves us too well. He has too great an interest
in our spiritual welfare to permit us to live on in what is misnamed
prosperity. When he sees duties languidly
performed or coldly neglected, the heart deadened and love to
himself congealed by the absorbing power of the present world, he
puts a thorn in our nest to drive us to the wing and prevent our
being grovelers forever. I may not be able now to understand
the mystery of these dealings. I may be asking through the tears,
Why this unkind arrest on my earthly happiness? Why so premature
a lopping of my vows of promise? Why such a speedy withering of
my most cherished gourd? The answer is plain. It is your
soul's prosperity which he has in view. Believe it, your true
Ebenezer's will yet be raised close by your Zarephath's, the
Place of Furnace. His afflictions are no arbitrary
appointments. There is righteous necessity
in all that He does. As He lays His chastening hand
upon you and leads you by ways you know not and which you never
would have chosen, He whispers the gentle accents in your ear,
Beloved, I wish above all things that you would prosper even as
your soul prospers. Rest in the quiet consciousness
that all is well. Murmur at nothing which brings
you nearer to His own loving presence. Be thankful for your
very cares, because you can confidently cast them all upon Him. He has
both your temporal and eternal prosperity, too much at heart
to appoint one superfluous pang, one needless stroke. Commit therefore
all that concerns you to his safekeeping, and leave it there.