I write just a word, as it is possible I may not see you; as it may be, if my foot which I have sprained allows me, I shall have left England even before you, the Lord ordering so, and I would not let you go without a word. I do not think so much of partings as I did here below if in the Lord's will; I should have desired much to have kept you in England, if the Lord had so pleased. But if it be His will a little further or a little nearer, all is far, far off heaven, and all on the way thither; and heaven is near enough everywhere to make earthly distance nothing. I am, as few think, a pilgrim and a stranger upon earth. I see all kinds of evil in me, great laziness and sloth among the number. I have no home—though countless mercies; on earth my home, for the home belongs to the heart, is the place of His will; for the rest, it will really be in heaven; and Montpellier, Dusseldorf, or New Zealand—what is the difference? For rest of body and mind, New Zealand would be more of it than France, but none unless it was His will.
O Thou by long experience tried,
Near whom no grief can long abide;
Where'er I roam my home I see,
Secure of finding all in Thee.
I wait for heaven and for Jesus, trusting He will give me to finish my course with His help through grace. Hitherto my sadly feeble failing steps have been led along. It is this gives me joy when a saint falls asleep according to God's will; I do not feel separated, I feel less so; what separated is gone on one side, and nothing is lost.
I should have been glad—longed to have been still able—to see you in the face, but if it be God's will, had rather you were where He would have you. If you are to go, I hardly sorrow not to see you; to me, humanly speaking, partings go dreadfully deep. In spirit all is well. We are only going along the road where Christ has left His blessed footsteps, and the cross characterized it. We have to suffer with Him, but it is but the road, and all right; one thing only is needful—that to live be Christ. The rest all perishes, and in simply doing His will, He is always with us, and all is peace. The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him. We know when we have walked a little way with Him in whom we have believed. One has committed one's happiness to Him in the proper sense till another day. Then He will gird Himself, and make us sit down to meat, and come forth and serve us. Glorious place! What a sense of His love, and what joy and glory to Him thus to serve even then, and see the fruits of all His work and toil of grace. Till then it is ours to serve, and be girded, with our lamps burning, waiting constantly for Him Simple-hearted faith will doubtless have conflict, but will be always happy in Him.
The Lord bless you, dear brother, and prosper your way by His will, and all yours. May He keep your heart in New Zealand; a new place brings new temptations. Here we are in an old world, sick with sin (how gladly we look out for Jesus), there it is a new one, rife with material hopes and its future. We must value Jesus for His own sake to wait for Him But it is no other really, but the same, alas, alas, alienated world which turns away our hearts from Him. The Lord keep you, not slothful, God, forbid, but from the snare of material cares in the shape of the duties of a new settlement. But if temptations are new, grace is as new, as various, as infinite to meet them, when we are where He would have us. One of our mercies is, that He keeps us from all evil by filling us with His own good. Filled with that, all is well everywhere. I should like a settlement away out of this dreadful world, and I am here by God's will as much a stranger, and alone, as if (I) was there, with more to do according to my calling for Him.
I trust and take for granted we shall hear from and of you. The Lord keep those around you. They will have their snares, but home will be even more a home, for them. May it be a mount from which they look higher, taking them away from the worldly world, and not sinking them into materialism. For a family home is God's home down here, but how many things have come into the world to break it—yea, now in one sense, even grace itself. This, if kept by grace, you may have more for them out there. This so far consoles me, but here or there Jesus is the bond which no distance breaks, and no nearness can give without Him, and which will, blessed be His name, last forever. He has thus united us: I thank Him with more thanks than I should know how to give till I get to see Him in heaven. The rest is all just His will by the way. Peace be with you, beloved brother, and every mercy by the way individually. Kindest love to your whole circle, the Lord keep them and bless them there. I trust they may learn to be useful in keeping close to Christ and His word. The Lord keep you all. The Lord be with you.
Ever affectionately yours.
Montpellier,
early in 1853.