FOR OUR “SHUT-INS."

White Ribbon, Volume 21, Issue 248, 18 February 1916, Page 3

FOR OUR “SHUT-INS."

INVALIDS LETTER. GOLDEN CHAIN. Mark 4:3#»39 Master, carest thou not that we perish ? . . . And He said unto them. “Why are ye so fearful? How is it that ye have no faith?’' Phil. 4:6 — In nothing be anxious (distracted); but in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all undersianding, shall keep your heart(s) and inind(s) through Christ Jesus. 1 Cor. 7:32 But 1 would have you to be free from cares. 1 Pet. 5:7 — Casting all your anxiety upon Him, because He careth for you. Ps. 56:3*--What time I am afraid, I will truvt ■* in Thee. Is. 1 2 : 2 1 will trust, and not be afraid; for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song. He also is become my salvation. Prov. 16:20 — Whoso trusteth in the Lord, happy is he. Jer. 17:7, 8 — Bless J is .he man that-trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the valcrs, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see w aen heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green, and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit. Is. 26:3 Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee, 1 cause he trusteth in Thee. Beloved Friend, — It is not easy, laid aside by sickness, to be free from distressing thoughts about ourselves, and those belonging to us, is it? We are apt to thinK and think, till we are overwhelmed with our own thoughts. Our case may seem hopeless to ourselves and others. As the bread-winner, we are concerned about w ays and means;

we know that our work is getting all behindhand; the children out-of-hand. Ah! there is enough surely to distiess us, apart from our pain and weakness. And perhaps you ask, as did the disciples of old, “Carest Thou not?" tempted to believe, as you are, that if not a tually God-forsaken, you are at least God-neglected. But rest assured, beloved, this is not the case. You can say, “lie thinketh on me." What I have committed to Him, He has undertaken. He has my case in hand. And this assurance brings with it rest, peace, confidence, does it not? Have you handed over to Him the burden that so sorely pressed? Oh! is He, beloved, your SaviourFriend? He is willing to be. Are you willing? Then: “Just as I am, Thou wilt receive; Wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve ; Because Thy promise I believe, Oh ! Lamb of God, I come." How puzzled we sometimes are about the connecting link, —faith, that is to establish holy, loving, confidential relations between ourselves and God, that in the Person of His Beloved Son, He may be to us “A living, bright reality." D. L. Moody gives us a very interesting account of how he gained this faith. He says: prayed for faith, and thought that some day faith would come down, and strike me like lightning; but t nth did not come. One day I read in the 10th chapter of Romans, ‘Now faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. i had closed my Bible and prayed for faith. I no a opened my Bible, and began to study, and faith has been growing ever since.” If we cannot ourselves read the Bible, we may be able to get someone to read it to us, or recall what we have read or heard, and so get into touch with the God of the Bible. He would have us to be “free from cares," as is bhthe, happy childhood. He is the Great Burdenb arer, w hether of our sins or troubles, and may well we rejoice in Him, our "salvation," “strength," “song.” There are two things that never go together—Trust and Worry. Someone has said, "If we trust we do not worry; if w e worry we do not trust." How quickly we may exchange worry for trust by "looking unto Jesus," as trust for worry by looking down and around.

“He is able ev’ry burden That oppresses thee to bear; Dost thou fear some cloud to enter? He will meet thee surely there. “He is able to go with thee, Thr ugh the darkness or through the light; Where He stays no evil cometh, With Him near, all, all is bright." —Charlotte Murray. One sorely tried in body and circumstances, and full of dread alarms, was wont to repeat aloud, "What time I am afraid, 1 will trust in Thee, ’ making each fear the occa>ion of a fresh act of trust in his Heavenly Friend. By the time he had finished rolling his harden upon Him Who careth for us, all fear and distress had left him, and the time came that whenever he was threatened with their return, he could say, with holy boldness, “1 will trust, .ind not be afraid." Our time for being brought into such sacred intimacy with our Lord in our seasons of distress is fast drawing to an end, and with it our witness-bear-ing and testimony to His grace. “The Lord is at hand." May your faith and mine, beloved, be found unto praise, and honour, and glory, at His appearing.—Yours m “the blessed hope" of his near return, GERTRUDE COCKERELL.