June 16No chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby — Heb. 12:11.
It is under such discipline that the soul is mellowed to a loving submission that calmly says, I can do all things, bear all things, through Christ who strengtheneth me. As gradually the dross of the old nature is consumed, and the gold becomes more and more manifest, these precious souls become ever dearer to their loving Lord. So dear are they to Him that in every affliction He is near with His grace to sustain and His presence to cheer; and the deepest shades of sorrow become memory's most hallowed resting places, where the Day Star shines the brightest—Z '96, 44 (R 1943). By chastisement God's disciplinary measures are meant, and no recipient of them is at the time happy, but rather sad. However, those who permit themselves to be properly disposed by these chastisements are made fruitful by them in the peaceful development of Christlikeness—P '32, 62. Parallel passages: 1 Cor. 10:13; Heb. 10:32-34; Job 5:17; Prov. 3:11, 12; Psa. 94:12; 119:75; Jas. 1:12; Rev. 3:19; Acts 14:22; 1 Pet. 5:9; Jas. 3:18. Hymns: 307, 216, 220, 228, 328, 197, 126. Poems of Dawn, 187: Life's Storms are Passing. Tower Reading: Z ' 12, 388 (R 5147). Questions: What disciplinary experiences were mine this week? How were they met? What were their results? |
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LIFE'S STORMS ARE PASSING
THE storm hath broken and the heavy blast
That stifled morn's free breath, and shook its dew,
Is dying into sunshine; and the last
Dull cloud hath vanished from yon arch of blue.
I know it is but for a day; the war
Must soon be waged again 'twixt earth and heaven;
Another tempest will arise to mar
The tranquil beauty of the fragrant even.
And yet I joy as storm on storm awakes;—
Not that I love the uproar or the gloom;
But in each tempest over earth that breaks,
I count one fewer outburst yet to come.
No groan creation heaves is heaved in vain,
Nor e'er shall be repeated; it is done.
Once heaved it never shall be heaved again.
Earth's pangs and throes are lessening one by one.
So falls the stroke of sorrow, and so springs
Strange joy and comfort from the very grief,
Even to the weariest sufferer; so brings
Each heavy burden its own sweet relief.
One cross the less remains for me to bear;
Already borne is that of yesterday;
That of today shall no tomorrow share;
Tomorrow's with itself shall pass away.
That which is added to the troubled past
Is taken from the future, whose sad store
Grows less and less each day, till soon the last
Dull wave of woe shall break upon our shore.
The storm that yesterday ploughed up the sea
Is buried now beneath its level blue;
One, storm the fewer now remains for me,
Ere sky and earth are made forever new.
THE storm hath broken and the heavy blast
That stifled morn's free breath, and shook its dew,
Is dying into sunshine; and the last
Dull cloud hath vanished from yon arch of blue.
I know it is but for a day; the war
Must soon be waged again 'twixt earth and heaven;
Another tempest will arise to mar
The tranquil beauty of the fragrant even.
And yet I joy as storm on storm awakes;—
Not that I love the uproar or the gloom;
But in each tempest over earth that breaks,
I count one fewer outburst yet to come.
No groan creation heaves is heaved in vain,
Nor e'er shall be repeated; it is done.
Once heaved it never shall be heaved again.
Earth's pangs and throes are lessening one by one.
So falls the stroke of sorrow, and so springs
Strange joy and comfort from the very grief,
Even to the weariest sufferer; so brings
Each heavy burden its own sweet relief.
One cross the less remains for me to bear;
Already borne is that of yesterday;
That of today shall no tomorrow share;
Tomorrow's with itself shall pass away.
That which is added to the troubled past
Is taken from the future, whose sad store
Grows less and less each day, till soon the last
Dull wave of woe shall break upon our shore.
The storm that yesterday ploughed up the sea
Is buried now beneath its level blue;
One, storm the fewer now remains for me,
Ere sky and earth are made forever new.
