Providence.—The Providence of God is the great protector of our life and usefulness, and under the divine care we are perfectly safe from danger.—Spurgeon.
I know not where His islands lift
Their fronded palms in air;
I only know I cannot drift
Beyond His love and care.
—Whittier.
The decrees of Providence are inscrutable. In spite of man's short-sighted endeavors to dispose of events according to his own wishes and his own purposes, there is an Intelligence beyond his reason, which holds the scales of justice, and promotes his well-being, in spite of his puny efforts.—Morier.
Divine Providence tempers his blessings to secure their better effect. He keeps our joys and our fears on an even balance, that we may neither presume nor despair. By such compositions God is pleased to make both our crosses more tolerable and our enjoyments more wholesome and safe.—W. Wogan.
He who ruleth the raging of the sea, knows also how to check the designs of the ungodly. I submit myself with reverence to His Holy Will. O Abner, I fear my God, and I fear none but Him.—Racine.
Duties are ours; events are God's. This removes an infinite burden from the shoulders of a miserable, tempted, dying creature. On this consideration only can he securely lay down his head and close his eyes.—Cecil.
Yes, thou art ever present, power supreme!
Not circumscribed by time, nor fixt to space,
Confined to altars, nor to temples bound.
In wealth, in want, in freedom or in chains,
In dungeons or on thrones, the faithful find thee!
—Hannah More.
We must follow, not force Providence.—Shakespeare.
Go, mark the matchless working of the power
That shuts within the seed the future flower;
Bids these in elegance of form excel.
In color these, and those delight the smell;
Sends nature forth, the daughter of the skies,
To dance on earth, and charm all human eyes.
—Cowper.
A man's heart deviseth his way: but the Lord directeth his steps.—Proverbs 16:9.