October 13

Then shall I know then as also I am known.

1 COR. xiii. 12.

What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter. — JOHN xiii. 7.

CHRISTIANS should yield implicit obedience and ready submission to the will of Christ. God's ways are not our ways, but they are the best ways. By faith Abraham went out, not knowing whither he went; but God led him to Canaan. Human nature finds it hard to trust. God's providences are intricate. The web seems tangled, the pattern confused; we see as yet only the wrong side, and the stitches seem set at cross purposes. By and by we shall look at it from the right side and shall know that every stitch was ordered by infinite wisdom controlled by boundless love. When we review the experiences of life in the luminous brightness of the great hereafter, we shall see that where the way seemed darkest, even there God was guiding us most tenderly. The reason of every providence will be revealed in heaven. Until then we walk by faith, seeing only one step at a time, but not in darkness, for Christ always gives light for one step. A lantern illumines the whole journey, though it shines only a few feet in advance. A familiar hymn says, —

"It will be all right in the morning."

The Christian adds, "Yes, and it is all right now."

In vain the ways of Providence With anxious gaze I scan; To find out God by human sense, — It is not given to man.

THOMAS MACKELLAR