My dear Brother
We have felt much for you in all the sorrow you have been called to pass through. But we are sure the dark clouds are “big with blessing.” Sorrow and even bitterness may precede; but the blessing will come. It is His way; and where there is exercise, it never fails — “peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.”
Your path, too, will be made plain. And if a more exclusive path of service in ministry be His mind, He will lead to it and give courage for it. Wait upon Him; wait for courage to be given, or faith. Without faith it would be abortive. There would be be a breaking down in the path, and this would be unhappy for you both, and for all. The Lord’s mind should be very clear, before giving up a present calling. But if it is clear, fear not. Slay the oxen, “boil their flesh with the instruments,” and give to the people, and enter on the path to which the Lord calls, and you will be sustained in difficulties, and in famines, and will be able to minister help and comfort to others. (1 Kings 19:19-2119So he departed thence, and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he with the twelfth: and Elijah passed by him, and cast his mantle upon him. 20And he left the oxen, and ran after Elijah, and said, Let me, I pray thee, kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow thee. And he said unto him, Go back again: for what have I done to thee? 21And he returned back from him, and took a yoke of oxen, and slew them, and boiled their flesh with the instruments of the oxen, and gave unto the people, and they did eat. Then he arose, and went after Elijah, and ministered unto him. (1 Kings 19:19‑21); Luke 9:57-6257And it came to pass, that, as they went in the way, a certain man said unto him, Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. 58And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head. 59And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. 60Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God. 61And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house. 62And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God. (Luke 9:57‑62).)
The Christian path, and still more so, the path of the servant separated to exclusive ministry, is a difficult one. Ease and comfort are not a part of its accompaniment. We are in a scene blighted by sin, and where the heart of man remains in bitter enmity against God, and where even brethren sink down to a level little above that of the world. “All they that are in Asia are turned away from me.” “Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world.” We may expect disappointment in quarters we little dreamed of. But there is One who never leaves — never forsakes. “I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day.” This is our one resource, and it is unfailing.
We have to remember, however, that we are just in the close of a broken-down dispensation, when all is about to be broken to pieces in judgment; and at such a time we must not look for great things. (See Jer. 45:4-54Thus shalt thou say unto him, The Lord saith thus; Behold, that which I have built will I break down, and that which I have planted I will pluck up, even this whole land. 5And seekest thou great things for thyself? seek them not: for, behold, I will bring evil upon all flesh, saith the Lord: but thy life will I give unto thee for a prey in all places whither thou goest. (Jeremiah 45:4‑5).) But indeed it does not belong to Christianity at all to look for great things of an earthly nature. Death is our portion here. And you are being made to taste a little of this now. It is Marah. But the cross sweetens the bitter waters. This is a comfort in the wilderness. But our true and abiding portion lies beyond. We have nothing here and the Lord would have us feel this. It is through the death of Christ, that we are dead to sin, the law, the world. But it is not a mere doctrine. We have to learn the reality of it in our own souls, so as to be able to say, “I am dead.” This enters into everything. Our life, our conversation, our houses, the training of our children, the literature we allow them to feed upon, and that we ourselves feed upon — in fact it covers the whole life we live here — “Crucified with Christ” — “the life I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God.” Death is applied to all outside of this life. Alas! we sadly fail, but this is where the path leads, and what the cross involves.
And if the Lord is going to lead you out into a path of true service to Him and His, you need not be surprised, if, in various ways, He teaches the practical lesson of death. “For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. So then death worketh in us, but life in you.” It is worth while to learn the lesson, but death’s waters are bitter — the cross is galling to the flesh.
Well, my dear brother, God will lead you, and He will teach you. And none can teach like Him. He will make the path clear, and He will give courage for it in His own good time.