To E. M., March, 1859. (This letter was received by a
mother at a time of severe trial, when her husband and her five children
were ill with measles.)
Much-loved friend,
I sincerely wish you the exercising of the Holy Spirit in
the afflictions through which you are passing, that you may have the full
benefit thereof; for it has been truly said, that "sanctified afflictions
are great promotions." And those promotions come neither from the east nor
from the west—but from the Lord alone, by whose power—
"Trials make the promise sweet,
Trials give new life to prayer,
Trials bring me to His feet,
Lay me low and keep me there."
Many a visit of love has the Lord paid, and many a
secret of love has the Lord revealed in the time of affliction; and
some of the sweetest communings in the wilderness have been with the
thorn in the flesh, or the cross on the back. Does not your soul
respond to the truth of this? Is not Jesus a precious companion in
tribulation? Are not His sympathies most tender? Has He not drawn near in
the day when we cried unto Him, and said unto us, "Fear not!" Oh yes, the
fruits of the valley are very choice—but yet we fear to go down
there; forgetting who has said, "I will go down with you, and will also
surely bring you up again!" Are we not brought down into the valley of
trouble or humiliation--to cause us to rest only in Jesus? "These things
(these afflictive things) I have spoken unto you, that in me you might have
peace. In the world you shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have
overcome the world."
At times trials seem to overcome us, yet "in all these
things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us." "This is the
place of rest, let the weary rest; this is the place of repose." So you
prove it, so I prove it; and the rock of His faithfulness is a blessed
retreat, when our heart is overwhelmed within us. The honey of His love
dropping from that rock does sweetly revive our fainting souls, and make us
joyful in tribulation, so that we sing even in the trial, "He has done all
things well!"
The measles have come at the right time, and have taken
hold of the right people. They are the Lord's messengers--and are not the
sound of their Master's feet behind them? "Take away the dross from the
silver, and there shall come forth a vessel for the Refiner." The Refiner is
with you; trust Him with your dearest treasures, and may you feel Him dearer
than all. I am very fond of these words—"And when Daniel was lifted from the
den, no wound was found on him, because he had trusted in his God!" May we
have like precious faith.
Adieu! with dear love your affectionate—but unworthy
companion in tribulation,
Ruth
"He found them in a desert land, in an empty, howling
wasteland. He surrounded them and watched over them; he guarded them as his
most precious possession. Like an eagle that rouses her chicks and hovers
over her young, so he spread his wings to take them in and carried them
aloft on his pinions. The Lord alone guided them; they lived without any
foreign gods." Deuteronomy 32:10-12