Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it.—LUKE xvii. 33.
O Lord! my best desires fulfil,
And help me to resign
Life, health, and comfort, to Thy will,
And make Thy pleasure mine.
WM. COWPER.
What do our heavy hearts prove but that other things are sweeter to us than His will, that we have not attained to the full mastery of our true freedom, the full perception of its power, that our sonship is yet but faintly realized, and its blessedness not yet proved and known? Our consent would turn all our trials into obedience. By consenting we make them our own, and offer them with ourselves again to Him.
H. E. MANNING.
Nothing is intolerable that is necessary. Now God hath bound thy trouble upon thee, with a design to try thee, and with purposes to reward and crown thee. These cords thou canst not break; and therefore lie thou down gently, and suffer the hand of God to do what He please.
JEREMY TAYLOR.
January 11
I will be glad, and rejoice in Thy mercy: for Thou hast considered my trouble; Thou hast known my soul in adversities.—PS. xxxi. 7.
Nay, all by Thee is ordered, chosen, planned;
Each drop that fills my daily cup Thy hand
Prescribes, for ills none else can understand:
All, all is known to Thee.