THE WELL IN THE WILDERNESS
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"It shall not seem hard unto you." Deuteronomy 15:18
Dear Lord, I have this morning lighted upon one of Your secret springs of sweet waters; an ancient, hidden well in the wilderness, which Your love, as it were, kept covered up and concealed, until my great need moved You to open my eyes to discover it. How precious has Your thought been to me, O Lord! How strengthening and refreshing are these "cold waters to a thirsty soul," which You have thus made to break forth in a strange place!
For I thought I was suffering a hard thing, Lord, in the dealings and discipline which You have seen necessary for me. And, though Your grace kept me from openly murmuring and complaining — my inner self constantly cried out, "This is hard, Lord, this is very hard!"
But now You say, "No, My child, it must not even seem hard unto you. Your trust in Me should be so perfect, your faith in My love so strong, your obedience to My will so complete — that nothing should seem grievous which I appoint, no trial that I send should affright or overwhelm you. Have I not always been to you "a very present help in trouble?"
Lord, my heart says, "Amen!" to Your gracious words, Lord — and then trusts You to work all this loving obedience in me, by Your own mighty power.
"It shall not seem hard unto you." The peculiar trial through which I may now be passing, is the very "it" which must not seem hard to me. God's bow is never drawn at a venture; He makes no mistakes, either in counting the number of the stars, or in meting out to me the griefs which shall teach me to glorify Him. And, dear reader, if you would find comfort from the words which so comforted me — then you must look upon your present trouble, whatever it may be, and say, "Lord, this shall not seem hard to me, for I have received so much bounty and blessing from You, I have known so much of Your pity and pardoning love — that I dare not mistrust You, or question for a moment the Divine wisdom of Your dealings with me!"
Ah! our eyes are so dimmed by earth's fogs and shadows — that we cannot see clearly enough to distinguish good from evil; and if left to ourselves, we might embrace a curse rather than a blessing. Poor blind mortals that we are — it is well for us that our Master should choose our trials for us, even though to our imperfect vision, He seems sometimes to have appointed a hard thing.
"Ill that God blesses turns to good,
While unblest good, is ill;
And all is right that seems most wrong,
If it be His sweet will."
Yes, it is in absolute and loving surrender to the will of the Lord — that the secret of true rest and peace is found. This is the divine chemistry which turns earth's sorrows — into Heaven's blessings! Here is . . .
the antidote to every sting,
the cure-all of each care,
the unfailing remedy for all disquietude.
Dear Lord, if I am Your child, trusting, loving, obeying You — then how can Your will for me seem "hard"? Nay, rather, I should joyfully meet and welcome it — well knowing that Your love to me could only send a message of peace, however dark might be the envelope which enwrapped it.
This comfort cannot apply to troubles which we make for ourselves, and which we sometimes glorify into spiritual hardships — when they are really selfish sins. These are not God's will for us — but our own perverse way, and they bring nothing better than bitterness and tears!
But a God-given burden or sorrow, carried out into the sunshine of His love, and laid at His blessed feet — immediately loses all its "hardness", and is transformed into a blessing, for which our soul praises the Lord with tender thanksgiving.
"It shall not seem hard unto you." Ah! dear Master, it must grievously pain Your loving heart when we, Your own redeemed ones, think any of Your dealings with us as harsh or stern. You have loved us from everlasting, You did not spare Your own Son when a ransom was required for our souls, You have led us, and fed us, and cared for us all our life long; can we be so wicked and ungrateful as to deem anything "hard" which Your wisdom and love appoint?
"It shall not seem hard unto you." Since this precious text rippled from the pages of God's Word, like "a brook along the way," I have been drinking of its waters with great joy; and when a trouble, great or small, oppresses my soul, and causes my heart to faint within me — I take another draught from this sweet spring, and soon am ready to say, "Tis no longer hard, Lord, for I am filled with comfort, I am exceeding joyful in all my tribulation!"
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