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Proverbs: 16:20
Wisdom is ageless! These words are those of
a writer of an age, environment, way of life very different
from our own and yet what he says is echoed by Christians
everywhere and all the time.
The peace of mind, contentment of soul, happiness they enjoy
find their expression in these words. They sum up the whole
essence of the Christian religion with it concentration on
the essential relationship of God with people and them with
one another. Jesus said this in what was his constant advice
to people, "have faith in God." The Christian has
it as his attitude to life wherever he is and whatever his
circumstances. But clearly it is not everyone's attitude to
life.
There is an old song which advises people to leave their
cares and sorrows to Mother Nature and Father Time and they
will make their blue world a new world. We know there is truth
in this for Nature and Time have been effective in healing
wounds and restoring momentum to life after serious illness
and bereavement.
Time heals when it dims memories of troubles and losses to
allow us to get on with our lives. The passage of time can
blunt the edge of trial, bring new interests and new relationships.
But it will not pluck from the memory the deeply rooted sorrow.
Time will not by itself blunt the edge of trials and bring
light out of darkness.
Nature, too, can heal. Fresh air and the heat of the sun
for the convalescent; the panorama of scenic beauty to lift
the minds of the tired and jaded. But yet again we should
not expect too much. A young girl recovering from serious
illness in a sanitoriam sited in magnificent natural surroundings
cried, "O how I hate those heartless hills. They seem
so careless and unconcerned. I want a heart to turn to, someone
who understands me."
We are faced with the question, wherein lies our pleasures
and expectations of life - in possessions and riches? Many
have found that wealth is not the ensurer of happiness. A
very wealthy old lady talked of the struggles her husband
and she had had in building up a very successfull business.
They had journeyed from poverty to riches. As she reminisced
on the struggles of the past she added regretfully, "In
those hard times we had nothing but we were very happy."
Henry Ford claimed that his great wealth had brought him only
sleepless nights. It appears that lottery winners often find
it hard to cope with their riches because of the pressures
of family and friends; the pleas of charities and the predators
who hover where there are would-be victims and the smell of
money.
In health? No one questions the advantages of good health.
Few people are disinterested in what is meant to help them
be healthy, though there are those who refuse to take seriously
the dangers inherent in cigarette smiling, alcohol and obesity.
An old school primer has the poem, "Cleon and I".
With this "Cleon had a host of doctors needed of none
had I." The comparison of the healthy and the wealthy
showed where true riches lay. It is a reality of life that
one can be healthy and most unhappy. The proverb has been
echoed in this similar sentiment, "Enviable is the one
whose confidence is in the eternal".
T.H. Huxley, the eminent scientist, week-ending in a hotel,
had a conversation with another guest who was on this way
to a church service. He asked the man to miss church and to
talk to him about his faith in God. Reluctantly he stayed
on the understanding that the well known critic of Christianity
would not make their conversation into a debate with the imbalance
of the ordinariness of the man and the superior intellect
of Huxley. The churchman told of his faith and his dependence
on God and what that meant to him. When he finished Huxley
thanked him and added ruefully, "I wish I could believe
like that."
He who trusts in God is never alone. He has one to "hold
his hand". Isambard Kingdom Brunel was about to launch
the steamship Great Eastern when he asked George Stephenson,
who had invented the steam train, the Rocket, to come stand
by him. He was not asking for advice or help just his presence.
It was said that "The Lord was with Joseph and he was
a prosperous man". Tyndale translated that, "God
was with Joseph and he was a lucky fellow."
Paul explained that in every experience he had, "The
Lord stood by me," St. Augustine put his words to that
thought, "Thou, O God, hast made us for thyself and we
cannot rest until we rest in thee." One man said what
many others have echoed, "I never knew what it was to
be a man till I found Christ." But the happy man is he
who trusts in the Lord." (NEB) Pascal said, "Happiness
is neither within us nor without us, it is the union of ourselves
with God."
The Christian is happy in his prospects.
He has an unbreakable bond with his Lord and Saviour
for nothing can separate us from the love of God
Thus evern on through life we find To
trust, O Lord is best. Who serves thee with a quiet
mind, Find in they presence rest.
Their outward troubles may not cease,
But this their joy will be - "Thou wilt keep him
in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed in thee."
(Unknown)
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