04.04 The times of sleep

IV. THE TIMES OF SLEEP

“While the Bridegroom tarried they all slumbered and slept. Our Lord speaks here of the inevitable times of reaction, when the first thrill of going forth is past, and for a long spell there are no unmistakable signs of the presence of the Bridegroom. Such times there have been often in the history of the Church, periods of pause, when no one seems to have an “open vision,” no prophet speaks as one coming straight from the Lord before Whom he stands, no great movement attests the energy of the Holy Spirit. Perhaps we in this generation have been passing through such a time of slumber. It is not a time, with all its merits, conspicuous for high hopes, great words, striking personalities, or constraining causes. We feel as if the stream of Christian life has somehow got locked in a backwater, and is in danger of becoming stagnant.

Such periods, again, there must be in the history of every soul. Probably only very superficial people or those who are, in the beautiful Scottish phrase, “f ar ben,” escape this discipline of dullness. But even then the “wise” man will keep his oil by him: his soul will still be “waiting upon the Lord his God.” However fruitless it may seem, he will never give up his times of quiet prayer and thought. Surely God marks the pathos of a dumb spirit’s pleading. Perhaps when it is least expected a token of His presence and power will come.

TAGS: [Parables]