The fire may burn us, the water may drown us, the
hurricane may sweep us away, friends may desert us, foes may
master us. There is the depression that comes from failing
health, from poverty, from overwork and sleepless nights and
constant care, from thwarted plans, disappointed ambitions,
slighted love, and base ingratitude. Old age comes on with its
grey hairs, failing strength, dimness of sight, dullness of
hearing, tottering step, shortness of breath, and general
weakness and decay. The friends of youth die, and a new, strange,
pushing generation that knows not the old man, comes elbowing him
aside and taking his place. Under some blessed outpouring of the
Spirit the work of God revives, vile sinners are saved, Zion puts
on her beautiful garments, reforms of all kind advance, the
desert blossoms as the rose, the waste place becomes a fruitful
field, and the millennium seems just at hand; and then the
spiritual tide recedes, the forces of evil are emboldened, they
mass themselves and again sweep over the heritage of the Lord,
leaving it waste and desolate, and the battle must be fought over
again.
How can one be always hopeful, always abounding in hope, in such
a world? Well, hallelujah! it is possible "through the power of
the Holy Ghost," but only through His power; and this power will
not fail so long as we fix our eyes on eternal things and
believe.
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