We cannot trace the twinings
In God’s long cord of love;
We cannot see the windings
By matchless wisdom wove.
E’en as a skein when ravell’d,
Still holds the hidden end:
So love’s mysterious windings
Around our chastenings blend.
That cord can ne’er be broken;
‘Tis held by God alone;
His own seal is the token;
He knows―He helps His own.
And when the Father chasteneth,
His children’s faith to prove,
The cord is held by Jesus―
The unseen end is LOVE.
Love! deep, divine, unchanging―
Love is the binding cord―
And, hid beneath the chast’ning,
Twines round the saints of God.
Anon.