UNSEEN PROTECTION.
A lady was wakened up one morning by a strange noise of pecking at the window, and when she got up, she saw a butterfly flying backwards and forwards inside the window in a great fright, because outside there was a sparrow pecking at the glass, wanting to reach the butterfly. The butterfly did not see the glass, but it saw the sparrow, and evidently expected every moment to be caught. Neither did the sparrow see the glass, though it saw the butterfly, and made sure of catching it. Yet, all the while, the butterfly, because of that thin, invisible sheet of glass, was actually as safe as if it had been miles away from the sparrow.
Poor, fearful child of God, it is when our Protector is out of sight that our hearts fail us. Elisha's servant was in great fear when he awoke in the morning, and saw the city of Dothan encompassed with horses, and chariots, and a great host; but when his eyes were opened, at the prayer of the prophet, his fears vanished, for he beheld the mountain full of horses and chariots of fire. "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee, because he trusteth in Thee." "The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth and even for evermore."
"Though now unseen by outward sense,
Faith sees Him always near;
A Guide, a glory, a defence:
Then what have you to fear?"
—Waymarks for Pilgrims.
ANSWER TO BIBLE ENIGMA.
(Page 130.)
The omnipotence of God is, in some measure, made known to the heart of every individual on the face of the earth. We cannot cast our eyes around us without seeing, in some way or other, the wonderful power of God in the creating and ordering of all things. Only what God has purposed to do will take place; and, on the other hand, whatever God has ordered He has power to bring to pass, although to us such things may seem utterly impossible, "but with God all things are possible" (Matt. xix. 26). If we look through the Bible, the power of God prevails in every book, chapter, and verse. Was it not with a mighty hand that He brought the Israelites up out of Egypt? and their enemies, who were much stronger than they, when they knew the Lord was on Israel's side, feared greatly, and were all overthrown and destroyed (Exod. xii. 33; Joshua x. 2). David, too, realized that wonderful power. He says, "But I will sing of Thy power; yea, I will sing aloud of Thy mercy in the morning: for Thou hast been my defence and refuge in the day of my trouble" (Psa. lix. 16). David was often brought very low (Psa. xviii. 4, 5; cxvi. 3), but the Lord did not suffer him to despair, for he was one of His most precious jewels. Job, too, felt, in a remarkable way, during his affliction, the power of the Lord, and he endeavoured to show and explain it to his friends, but he had to finish up by saying, "Lo, these are parts of His ways, but how little a portion is heard of Him!"
The omnipotence of God is so vast that it is quite impossible for us to fathom it. Look at the history of Jehoshaphat. He heard that a great army was coming to fight against them, and the army of Jehoshaphat, being so small, he knew they must be defeated and slain. But, in his extremity, he cried unto the Lord, saying, "O Lord God of our fathers, art not Thou God in heaven? and rulest not Thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen? and in Thine hand is there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand Thee?" (2 Chron. xx. 6.) Was any able to withstand the Lord? No! Read the twenty-seventh verse—"Then they returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, and Jehoshaphat in the forefront of them, to go again to Jerusalem with joy; for the Lord had made them to rejoice over their enemies." Before, they felt condemned to die, but now they were released, and filled with joy.