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by L B Cowman
When God Says No
"There hath not failed one word of all his good
promise" (1 Kings 8:56).
Some day we shall understand that God has a reason in every NO which He speaks
through the slow movement of life. "Somehow God makes up to us." How often, when
His people are worrying and perplexing themselves about their prayers not being
answered, is God answering them in a far richer way! Glimpses of this we see
occasionally, but the full revelation of it remains for the future.
"If God says 'Yes' to our prayer, dear heart,
"If God says 'No' to our prayer, dear heart,
Oh for the faith that does not make haste, but waits patiently for the Lord,
waits for the explanation that shall come in the end, at the revelation of Jesus
Christ! When did God take anything from a man, without giving him manifold more
in return? Suppose that the return had not been made immediately manifest, what
then? Is today the limit of God's working time? Has He no provinces beyond this
little world? Does the door of the grave open upon nothing but infinite darkness
and eternal silence ?
Yet, even confining the judgment within the hour of this life, it is true that
God never touches the heart with a trial without intending to bring upon it some
grander gift, some tenderer benediction. He has attained to an eminent degree of
Christian grace who knows how to wait. --Selected
When the frosts are in the valley,
If, after years of toiling,
And the sunlight is golden, the sky is blue,
While the smooth road beckons to me and you,
And the song-birds warble as on we go,
Pausing to gather the buds at our feet,
Stopping to drink of the streamlets we meet,
Happy, more happy, our journey will grow,
If God says 'Yes' to our prayer, dear heart.
And the clouds hang heavy and dull and gray;
If the rough rocks hinder and block the way,
While the sharp winds pierce us and sting with cold;
Ah, dear, there is home at the journey's end,
And these are the trials the Father doth send
To draw us as sheep to His Heavenly fold,
If God says 'No' to our prayer, dear heart."
And the mountain tops are grey,
And the choicest buds are blighted,
And the blossoms die away,
A loving Father whispers,
"This cometh from my hand";
Blessed are ye if ye trust
Where ye cannot understand.
Your wealth should fly away
And leave your hands all empty,
And your locks are turning grey,
Remember then your Father
Owns all the sea and land;
Blessed are ye if ye trust
Where ye cannot understand.
--Selected
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