It is only the loyal soul who believes that God engineers circumstances.

We take such liberty with our circumstances, we do not believe God engineers them, although we say we do; we treat the things that happen as if they were engineered by men.

To be faithful in every circumstance means that we have only one loyalty, and that is to our Lord.

Suddenly God breaks up a particular set of circumstances, and the realization comes that we have been disloyal to Him by not recognizing that He had ordered them; we never saw what He was after, and that particular thing will never be repeated all the days of our life.

The test of loyalty always comes just there. If we learn to worship God in the trying circumstances, He will alter them in two seconds when He chooses.

Loyalty to Jesus Christ is the thing that we "stick at" today. We will be loyal to work, to service, to anything, but do not ask us to be loyal to Jesus Christ.

Many Christians are intensely impatient of talking about loyalty to Jesus.

Our Lord is dethroned more emphatically by Christian workers than by the world.

God is made a machine for blessing men, and Jesus Christ is made a Worker among workers.

The idea is not that we do work for God, but that we are so loyal to Him that He can do His work through us - "I reckon on you for extreme service, with no complaining on your part and no explanation on Mine."

God wants to use us as He used His own Son.

The circumstances of a saint's life are ordained of God. In the life of a saint there is no such thing as chance. God by His providence brings you into circumstances that you cannot understand at all, but the Spirit of God understands.

God is bringing you into places and among people and into conditions in order that the intercession of the Spirit in you may take a particular line. Never put your hand in front of the circumstances and say - I am going to be my own providence here, I must watch this, and guard that. All your circumstances are in the hand of God, therefore never think it strange concerning the circumstances you are in.

Your part in intercessory prayer is not to enter into the agony of intercession, but to utilize the common-sense circumstances God puts you in, and the common-sense people He puts you amongst by His providence, to bring them before God's throne and give the Spirit in you a chance to intercede for them. In this way God is going to sweep the whole world with His saints.

Am I making the Holy Spirit's work difficult by being indefinite, or by trying to do His work for Him? I must do the human side of intercession, and the human side is the circumstances I am in and the people I am in contact with. I have to keep my conscious life as a shrine of the Holy Ghost, then as I bring the different ones before God, the Holy Spirit makes intercession for them.

Your intercessions can never be mine, and my intercessions can never be yours, but the Holy Ghost makes intercession in our particular lives, without which intercession someone will be impoverished.

The poet Cowper was subject to fits of depression. One day he ordered a cab and told the driver to take him to London Bridge. Soon a dense fog settled down upon the city. The cabby wandered about for two hours and then admitted he was lost. Cowper asked him if he thought he could find the way home. The cabby thought that he could, and in another hour landed him at his door. When Cowper asked what the fare would be, the driver felt that he should not take anything since he had not gotten his fare to his destination. Cowper insisted, saying, “Never mind that, you have saved my life. I was on my way to throw myself off London Bridge.” He then went into the house and wrote: God moves in a mysterious way His wonders to perform; He plants His footsteps on the sea, And rides upon the storm.

The plans at the chapel went wrong; the minister was snowed up. The plans of the boy under the gallery went wrong; the snowstorm shut him off from the church of his choice. Those two wrongs together made a tremendous right, for out of those shattered plans and programs came an event that has incalculably enriched mankind —Spurgeon’s conversion.

A very old Chinese man named Sai had only one son and one horse. Once the horse ran away, and Sai was very worried. Only one horse and lost! Someone said, “Don’t suffer, wait a little.” The horse came back. Not long after this, the only son went out to the field riding the horse. Returning home he fell from the horse and broke his leg. What a sorrow had poor Sai then! He could not eat; he could not sleep; he could not even attend well to the wants of his son. Only one son and crippled! But someone said, “More patience, Sai!” Soon after the accident a war broke out. All the young men went to the war; none of them returned. Only Sai’s son, the cripple, stayed at home, and remained to live long to his father’s joy. CHINESE LEGEND

A woman who had made rapid progress in her understanding of the Lord was once asked the secret of her seemingly easy growth. Her brief response was, “Mind the checks.”

The reason many of us do not know and understand God better is that we do not heed His gentle “checks”—His delicate restraints and constraints. His voice is “a gentle whisper.” A whisper can hardly be heard, so it must be felt as a faint and steady pressure upon the heart and mind, like the touch of a morning breeze calmly moving across the soul. And when it is heeded, it quietly grows clearer in the inner ear of the heart.

God’s voice is directed to the ear of love, and true love is intent upon hearing even the faintest whisper. Yet there comes a time when His love ceases to speak, when we do not respond to or believe His message. “God is love” (1 John 4:8), and if you want to know Him and His voice, you must continually listen to His gentle touches.

So when you are about to say something in conversation with others, and you sense a gentle restraint from His quiet whisper, heed the restraint and refrain from speaking. And when you are about to pursue some course of action that seems perfectly clear and right, yet you sense in your spirit another path being suggested with the force of quiet conviction, heed that conviction. Follow the alternate course, even if the change of plans appears to be absolute folly from the perspective of human wisdom.

Also learn to wait on God until He unfolds His will before you. Allow Him to develop all the plans of your heart and mind, and then let Him accomplish them. Do not possess any wisdom of your own, for often His performance will appear to contradict the plan He gave you. God will seem to work against Himself, so simply listen, obey, and trust Him, even when it appears to be the greatest absurdity to do so. Ultimately, “we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him” (Romans 8:28), but many times, in the initial stages of the performance of His plans:

In His own world He is content To play a losing game.

Therefore if you desire to know God’s voice, never consider the final outcome or the possible results. Obey Him even when He asks you to move while you still see only darkness, for He Himself will be a glorious light within you. Then there will quickly spring up within your heart a knowledge of God and a fellowship with Him, which will be overpowering enough in themselves to hold you and Him together, even in the most severe tests and under the strongest pressures of life. WAY OF FAITH

What a tremendous claim Paul makes in this verse! He does not say, “We know that in some things,” “most things,” or even “joyful things” but “ALL things.” This promise spans from the very smallest detail of life to the most important, and from the most humbling of daily tasks to God’s greatest works of grace performed during a crisis.

Paul states this in the present tense: “God works.” He does not say, “worked” or “will work.” It is a continuing operation.

We also know from Scripture that God’s “justice [is] like the great deep” (Psalm 36:6); at this very moment the angels in heaven, as they watch with folded wings the development of God’s great plan, are undoubtedly proclaiming, “The LORD is righteous in all his ways and faithful in all he does” (Psalm 145:17).

Then when God orchestrates “all things . . . for the good,” it is a beautiful blending. He requires many different colors, which individually may be quite drab, to weave into the harmonious pattern.

Separate tones, notes, and even discords are required to compose melodious musical anthems; a piece of machinery requires many separate wheels, parts, and connections. One part from a machine may be useless, or one note from an anthem may never be considered beautiful, but taken together, combined, and completed, they lead to perfect balance and harmony.

We can learn a lesson of faith from this: “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand” (John 13:7). J. R. MACDUFF

In a thousand trials, it is not just five hundred of them that work “for the good” of the believer, but nine hundred and ninety-nine, plus one. GEORGE MUELLER

GOD MEANT IT UNTO GOOD

“God meant it unto good”—O blest assurance, Falling like sunshine all across life’s way, Touching with Heaven’s gold, earth’s darkest storm clouds, Bringing fresh peace and comfort day by day.

’Twas not by chance the hands of faithless brothers Sold Joseph captive to a foreign land; Nor was it chance that, after years of suffering, Brought him before the pharaoh’s throne to stand.

One Eye all-seeing saw the need of thousands, And planned to meet it through that one lone soul; And through the weary days of prison bondage Was working toward the great and glorious goal.

As yet the end was hidden from the captive, The iron entered even to his soul; His eye could scan the present path of sorrow, Not yet his gaze might rest upon the whole.

Faith failed not through those long, dark days of waiting, His trust in God was reimbursed at last, The moment came when God led forth his servant To comfort many, all his sufferings past.

“It was not you but God, that led me to here,” Witnessed triumphant faith in later days; “God meant it unto good,” no other reason Mingled their discord with his song of praise.

“God means it unto good” for you, beloved, The God of Joseph is the same today; His love permits afflictions strange and bitter, His hand is guiding through the unknown way.

Your Lord, who sees the end from the beginning, Has purposes for you of love untold. Then place your hand in His and follow fearless, Till you the riches of His grace behold.

There, when you stand firm in the Home of Glory, And all life’s path lies open to your gaze, Your eyes will see the hand that you’re now trusting, And magnify His love through endless days.

FREDA HANBURY ALLEN

God, in times past, caused people to be kept subject to His law so they would learn the more excellent way of faith. For it was through the law that they would see God’s holy standard and thereby realize their own utter helplessness. Then they would gladly learn His way of faith.

God still causes us to be “locked up until faith” is learned. Our own nature, circumstances, trials, and disappointments all serve to keep us submissive and “locked up” until we see that the only way out is His way of faith. Moses attempted the deliverance of his people by using self-effort, his personal influence, and even violence. So God “locked [him] up” for forty years in the wilderness before he was prepared for His work.

Paul and Silas were called of God to preach the gospel in Europe. In Philippi they were “severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer . . . fastened their feet in the stocks” (Acts 16:23–24). They were “locked up” to faith. They trusted God and sang praises to Him in their darkest hour, and God brought deliverance and salvation.

The apostle John was also “locked up” to faith, when he was banished to the Isle of Patmos. And if he had never been sent there, he would never have seen such glorious visions of God.

Dear reader, are you in some terrible trouble? Have you experienced some distressing disappointment, sorrow, or inexpressible loss? Are you in a difficult situation? Cheer up! You have been “locked up” to faith. Accept your troubles in the proper way and commit them to God. Praise Him “that in all things God works for the good of those who love him” (Romans 8:28) and that He “acts on behalf of those who wait for him” (Isaiah 64:4). God will send you blessings and help, and will reveal truths to you that otherwise would never have come your way. And many others will also receive great insights and blessings because you were “locked up” to learn the way of faith. C. H. P.

Great things are done when man and mountains meet, These are not done by walking down the street.

Forty years was a long time to wait in preparation for a great mission. Yet when God delays, He is not inactive. This is when He prepares His instruments and matures our strength. Then at the appointed time we will rise up and be equal to our task.

Even Jesus of Nazareth had thirty years of privacy, growing in wisdom before He began His work. JOHN HENRY JOWETT

God is never in a hurry. He spends years preparing those He plans to greatly use, and never thinks of the days of preparation as being too long or boring.

The most difficult ingredient of suffering is often time. A short, sharp pain is easily endured, but when a sorrow drags on its long and weary way year after monotonous year, returning day after day with the same dull routine of hopeless agony, the heart loses its strength. Without the grace of God, the heart is sure to sink into dismal despair.

Joseph endured a long trial, and God often has to burn the lessons he learned into the depths of our being, using the fires of prolonged pain. “He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver” (Malachi 3:3), yet He knows the specific amount of time that will be needed. Like a true goldsmith, God stops the fire the moment He sees His image in the glowing metal.

Today we may be unable to see the final outcome of the beautiful plan that God has hidden “in the shadow of his hand” (Isaiah 49:2). It may be concealed for a very long time, but our faith may rest in the assurance that God is still seated on His throne. Because of this assurance, we can calmly await the time when, in heavenly delight, we will say, “All things [have] work[ed] together for good” (Romans 8:28 KJV).

As Joseph did, we should be more careful to focus on learning all the lessons in the school of sorrow than to focus anxious eyes toward the time of our deliverance. There is a reason behind every lesson, and when we are ready, our deliverance will definitely come. Then we will know we could never have served in our place of higher service without having been taught the very things we learned during our ordeal. God is in the process of educating us for future service and greater blessings. And if we have gained the qualities that make us ready for a throne, nothing will keep us from it once His timing is right.

Don’t steal tomorrow from God’s hands. Give Him time to speak to you and reveal His will. He is never late—learn to wait. SELECTED

He never shows up late; He knows just what is best; Fret not yourself in vain; until He comes just rest.

Never run impulsively ahead of the Lord. Learn to await His timing—the second, minute, and hour hand must all point to the precise moment for action.

Many people are lacking when its comes to power . But how is power produced?

The other day, my friend and I were passing by the power plant that produces electricity for the streetcars. We heard the hum and roar of the countless wheels of the turbines, and I asked my friend, “How is the power produced?” He replied, “It simply is generated by the turning of those wheels and the friction they create. The rubbing produces the electric current.”

In a similar way, when God desires to create more power in your life, He creates more friction. He uses this pressure to generate spiritual power . Some people cannot handle it, and run from the pressure instead of receiving the power and using it to rise above the painful experience that produced it.

Opposition is essential to maintaining true balance between forces. It is the centr ipetal and centrifugal forces acting in opposition to each other that keep our planet in the proper orbit. The propelling action coupled with the repelling counteraction keep the earth in orbit around the sun instead of flinging it into space and a path of certain destruction.

God guides our lives in the same way. It is not enough to have only a propelling force . We need an equal repelling force, so He holds us back through the testing ordeals of life. The pressures of temptations and trials and all the things that seem to be against us further our progress and strengthen our foundation.

Let us thank Him for both the weights and the wings He produc es. And realizing we are divinely propel led, let us press on with faith and patience in our high and heavenly calling. A. B. S IMPSON

In a factory building ther e are wheels and gearings, There are cranks, pulleys, belts either tight or slack— Some ar e whirling swiftly , some ar e turning slowly , Some ar e thrusting forwar d, some ar e pulling back; Some ar e smooth and silent, some ar e rough and noisy , Pounding, rattling, clanking, moving with a jerk; In a wild confusion in a seeming chaos, Lifting, pushing, driving—but they do their work.

From the mightiest lever to the smallest cog or gear , All things move together for the purpose planned; And behind the working is a mind contr olling, And a for ce dir ecting, and a guiding hand.

So all things ar e working for the Lor d’s beloved; Some things might be hurtful if alone they stood; Some might seem to hinder; some might draw us backwar d; But they work together , and they work for good, All the thwarted longings, all the stern denials, All the contradictions, har d to understand.

And the for ce that holds them, speeds them and r etards them, Stops and starts and guides them—is our Father ’s hand.

ANNIE JOHNSON FLINT

There is a divine mystery in suffering, one that has a strange and supernatural power and has never been completely understood by human reason.

No one has ever developed a deep level of spirituality or holiness without experiencing a great deal of suffering.

When a person who suffers reaches a point where he can be calm and carefree, inwardly smiling at his own suffering, and no longer asking God to be delivered from it, then the suffering has accomplished its blessed ministry, perseverance has “finish[ed] its work” (James 1:4), and the pain of the Crucifixion has begun to weave itself into a crown.

It is in this experience of complete suffering that the Holy Spirit works many miraculous things deep within our soul.

In this condition, our entire being lies perfectly still under the hand of God; every power and ability of the mind, will, and heart are at last submissive; a quietness of eternity settles into the entire soul; and finally, the mouth becomes quiet, having only a few words to say, and stops crying out the words Christ quoted on the cross: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Psalm 22:1).

At this point the person stops imagining castles in the sky, and pursuing foolish ideas, and his reasoning becomes calm and relaxed, with all choices removed, because the only choice has now become the purpose of God.

Also, his emotions are weaned away from other people and things, becoming deadened so that nothing can hurt, offend, hinder, or get in his way.

He can now let the circumstances be what they may, and continue to seek only God and His will, with the calm assurance that He is causing everything in the universe, whether good or bad, past or present, to work “for the good of those who love him” (Romans 8:28).

Oh, the blessings of absolute submission to Christ! What a blessing to lose our own strength, wisdom, plans, and desires and to be where every ounce of our being becomes like a peaceful Sea of Galilee under the omnipotent feet of Jesus!

Nothing that is not part of God’s will is allowed to come into the life of someone who trusts and obeys Him. This truth should be enough to make our life one of ceaseless thanks giving and joy, because God’s will is the most hopeful, pleasant, and glorious thing in the world. It is the continuous working of His omnipotent power for our benefit, with nothing to prevent it, if we remain surrendered and believing.

Someone who was passing through the deep water of affliction wrote a friend:

Isn’t it glorious to know that no matter how unjust something may be, even when it seems to have come from Satan himself, by the time it reaches us it is God’s will for us and will ultimately work to our good?

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him” (Romans 8:28). Think of what Christ said even as He was betrayed: “Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?” (John 18:11).

We live fascinating lives if we are living in the center of God’s will. All the attacks that Satan hurls at us through the sins of others are not only powerless to harm us but are transformed into blessings along the way.

HANNAH WHITALL SMITH

In the center of the circle Of the will of God I stand: There can come no second causes, All must come from His dear hand. All is well! for it’s my Father Who my life has planned.

Shall I pass through waves of sorrow? Then I know it will be best; Though I cannot tell the reason, I can trust, and so am blest.

God is Love, and God is faithful. So in perfect Peace I rest.

With the shade and with the sunshine, With the joy and with the pain, Lord, I trust You! both are needed, Each Your wayward child to train, Earthly loss, if we will know it, Often means our heavenly gain.

I. G. W.

He was weaving.

“That is a strange-looking carpet you are making!” said the visitor. “Just stoop down and look underneath,” was the reply.

The man stooped. The plan was on the other side, and in that moment a light broke upon his mind.

The Great Weaver is busy with His plan. Do not be impatient; suffice to know that you are part of the plan and that He never errs. Wait for the light of the later years and the peep at the other side. Hope on!

White and black, and hodden-gray, Weavers of webs are we; To every weaver one golden strand Is given in trust by the Master -Hand; Weavers of webs are we.

And that we weave, we know not, Weavers of webs are we.

The thread we see, but the pattern is known To the Master -Weaver alone, alone; Weavers of webs are we.

JOHN OXENHAM

Of many of the beautiful carpets made in India, it may be said that the weaving is done to music. The designs are handed down from one generation to another, and the instructions for their making are in script that looks not unlike a sheet of music. Indeed, it is more than an accidental resemblance, for each carpet has a sort of tune of its own. The thousands of threads are stretched on a great wooden frame, and behind it on a long bench sit the workers. The master in charge reads the instructions for each stitch in a strange chanting tone, each color having its own particular note.

The story makes us think of our own life web. We are all weavers and day by day we work in the threads—now dark, now bright—that are to go into the finished pattern. But blessed are they who feel sure that there is a pattern; who hear and trust the directing Voice, and so weave the changing threads to music. W. J. HART

Fallen threads I will not search for—I will weave. GEORGE MACDONALD

Thou holdest mine eyes waking.—Who is like unto the Lord our God, . . . who humbleth himself to behold the things that are in heaven, and in the earth!

He doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth.—Thy way is in the sea, and thy path in the great waters, and thy footsteps are not known.—Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee: the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain.

The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him.—We know that all things work together for good to them that love God.

Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.

I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places Christ: according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will.

We know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son. Moreover whom be did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.

Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee: the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain.—Ye thought evil against me: but God meant it unto good.

All things are yours; whether . . . the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours; and ye are Christ's; and Christ is God's.—All things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God.

For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.

For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.

My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.

But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.