When waves of trial roll over us, and especially when they come, so to speak, unexpectedly, there is no hiding oneself from God, without whom they could not have come, and who makes both Himself and His voice known to us in the midst of them, and tests and tries ourselves and our standing. Nature in us may bring up a thousand things get the upper hand, and occupy our minds and souls, and we only discover to ourselves, and to others thereby, that not God, but self and circumstances were in our hearts when the wave struck us. If such be the case with us, the lesson is good and from the hand of God, though the discovery to us is how much we needed the purging; how little He was the center of our thoughts. If, however, the Lord is at home in our hearts when the sorrow comes, then, however weak we may be, we find rest. “It is the Lord, let Him do what seemeth Him good,” is our language, even though we may not understand the Lord’s why in the trial.
The great thing I would aim at is reality. To be before God just as I am; and to take care that my practical walk and life as He sees it, be owned by Him, and be in conformity with His Word. Experience, and feeling, and profession are beautiful things when they are the result of reality before God, in one’s secret hidden walk with Him. But at all times I should be more anxious to be real before Him than full of feelings’. It is but a very little while, and the Father’s house shall be reached, and then the Lord Himself will be our fully satisfying portion.