I would teach you a way to never
be disappointed. The following is a letter of
John Newton to his 13-year-old adopted daughter who was away
at school. The Lord does whatever pleases
Him, in the heavens and on the earth, in the seas and all their
depths. Psalm 135 6. My dear Betsy, how vain are all
things here below! Vanity of vanities, says the
preacher. And you, and I, and your mama,
may say so likewise, for we all counted upon seeing you last
Sunday." We listened at the door, and peeped out of the window,
but no Betsy came. Now we venture to expect you
next Sunday. Indeed, it is not amiss that
you should now and then meet with a hindrance. that you may
learn, if possible, not to count too much on what tomorrow may
do for you, and that you may begin to feel the impossibility
of being happy any further than your will is brought into submission
to the will of God. In order to learn this, you must
have your own will frequently crossed, and things do and will
turn out almost daily in one way or other contrary to our
wishes and expectations. When such disappointments happen,
most people fret and fume, they are angry and impatient. But
others, who are in the Lord's school, and desirous of being
taught by Him, get benefit by these things. and sometimes find
more pleasure in yielding to His appointments, though contrary
to their own wills, than they would have done if all had happened
just as they had desired. I wish for you, my dear child,
to think much of the Lord's governing providence. it extends to the
minutest concerns. He rules and manages all things,
but in so secret a way, that most people think that He does
nothing, when in reality He does all. He appointed the time of
your coming into the world and the day and hour of your coming
home from school to us totally depends upon Him likewise. Nor
can you safely travel one step of the road without His protection
and care over you. It may now seem a small matter
to you and I whether you came home last Sunday or are to come
home next Sunday. But we know not what different
consequences may depend upon the day. We know not what hidden
danger you might have escaped by staying at school last Sunday. The Lord knows all things. He foresees every possible consequence. Often, what we call disappointments
are really mercies from Him to save us from harm. If I could teach you a lesson
which as yet I have but poorly learned myself, I would teach
you a way to never be disappointed. This would be the case if you
could always form a right judgment of this world and all things
in it. If you go to a bramble bush to
look for grapes, you must be disappointed. But then you are
old enough to know that grapes never grow upon brambles. So
if you expect much pleasure here in this world, you will not find
it. but you ought not to say you
are disappointed, because the Scripture plainly warned you
beforehand to look for crosses, trials, and hindrances every
day. If you expect such things, you
will not be disappointed when they happen. At this, Job got up and tore
his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in
worship and said, Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked
I will depart. The Lord gave, and the Lord has
taken away. May the name of the Lord be praised. Job 1.20-21