SUNDAY COLUMN.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXII, Issue 69, 16 March 1912, Page 8

SUNDAY COLUMN.

A FAITHFUL CREATOR. (By Rov. F. B. Meyer, 8.A., London.) “Wherefore let them that sinter according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to Him in well-doing, as unto a faithful Creator”—! Peter iv., 19. The word Creator is not new to us. '1 he first chapter of Genesis tells us that the wonderful poem of Nature owed its origin to the creative mind of God. And not the house only, but the tenant of the house must evermore bo described as owing his origin to the creative thought of the Almighty. All men may look up into His face and say, ‘‘Thou art our Creator.” It is He that ha th made us, and not we ourselves ; w r e are tho sheep of His pasture, and the creatures of His hand. Moreover, we are not surprised to find the adjective “faithful” appended to the noun Creator; not at all surprised to find that the Holy Spirit, through the Apostle Peter, dwells upon tho faithfulness of the Creator, because, indeed, all this wonderful universe bears witness to that fact. God is faithful in tho heavens above us: God is faithful in the stars as they pass over us; God is faithful to all c creatures, clothing the lily with its white and beautiful purity, and providing for the birds, who have neither storehouse nor barn. He is “a faithful Croaton.” “The faithful God”—what comfort is here! Our God is faithful to His creative work, and' therefore, having made ilscfor a purpose, cannot run back from, that purpose, but must be faithful to the wonderful complex being with ;which eadhi ono of us has become endowed. Therefore, any it an or woman, whom He has made can go to Him and say, “My God, the responsibility of making me is on Thee. At my creation Thou didst implant in me certain strong desires, certain irrepressible yearnings, the uprisings of which sometimes fill my soul with anguish. Thou didst incarnate in me hopes, possibilities of suffering, longings, heights and depths, breadths and lengths. Thou didst make me, lam Thine. I cannot understand this nature, I cannot satisfy it, I cannot find food for it; but as Thou hast made it, Thou must take the responsibility of it, and I cast back this nature, which somehow, has come into my possession —yet how it did I know not—l must cast it back on Thee as to a faithful Creator.” i We will Notice These who are Specially Addressed. It is .they “who suffer according to the will of God.” This is the Epistle of suffering; it is drenched with tears; it is full of human pain; there is hardly a paragraph in it that does not in some way or other reflect the suffering of the OMtrch of God in tbono first days when''the! fires of rpersecuuon were beipg lit, and when men and women were being torn by their conscientious convictions from those whom diey loved more than they loved uhemsplves. It is the Epistle which men and women' lib every age of tho Jhurph who liavd‘suffered greatly have ipved greatly. ” ‘ • We .will not now speak at any length of the different sorts of suffering there ire in the world. There is “one kind of suffering Which we inflict upon ourselves.” We have to reap bitter harvests for which wo sowed the seeds in lie springtide. How many cases die re are in whidh: the soul cannot be comforted because it knows that it lias bean ■ reckless, careless, and thoughtless;' and must attribute its suffering to its own act and deed! It is not needful to speak at length of “the suffering which is brought upon men by the direct act of the malice or jealousy of their fellows.” But we will centre our attention specially on “tho suffering which God has ordained and intended to enter into our life.” Ho is ever putting us in the crucible to rid us of the dross, constantly passing our souls dirough the fire to take away ingredients which make us other than pure perpetually winnowing us with the flail to separate the chaff from the wheat. We have to remember that the sufferers here addressed are those that are suffering according to the, will of God; whose suffering is brought upon them because they will take God’s will, come what may; they have no option, they have no alternative, they must tread the road which is full of thorns and briars, because Abo Cross points along its bloodflecked path:. They who are suffering for God because they are Christians, because they will do His will, these are the people who will find most comfort in thinking of “the faithful Creator.” At such a time, when the soul is be■ng searched by fire and brought down to tlie very dust, it has a perfect right to address God and say, “Why hast Thou made me thus or, having made mo thus, why hast Thou caused me bo live only to suffer? why has my life Ikioh given me if it is so hard,’so inexplicable, so bitter?” Taking its experiences of suffering in its hand, the soul may dare to climb up fine high altar steps of the world, and to pass by the myriads of unfallen, unsmiling, unsuffering beings, that cannot enter into its experiences, and to hold audience with the eternal God, saying, “My God, my God, who hast made me, Thou art faithful, Thou canst not have made me in vain, 'Thou badst a motive and a reason through it all ; why this paiin, this suffering, this heavy, heavy trouble?”