All who call on God in true faith, earnestly from the heart, will certainly be heard, and will receive what they have asked and desired, although not in the hour or in the measure, or the very thing which they ask; yet they will obtain something greater and more glorious than they had dared to ask.
_I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision_.--ACTS xxvi. 19.
_The Lord our God will we serve, and His voice will we obey_.--JOSH. xxiv. 24.
I will shun no toil or woe, Where Thou leadest I will go, Be my pathway plain or rough; If but every hour may be Spent in work that pleases Thee, Ah, dear Lord, it is enough!
All these longings and doubts, and this inward distress, are the voice of the Good Shepherd in your heart, seeking to call you out of all that is contrary to His will. Oh, let me entreat of you not to turn away from His gentle pleadings.
The fear of man brings a snare. By halting in our duty and giving back in the time of trial, our hands grow weaker, our ears grow dull as to hearing the language of the true Shepherd; so that when we look at the way of the righteous, it seems as though it was not for us to follow them.
_Lo, I come to do Thy will, O God_.--HEB. x. 9.
_Teach me to do Thy will, for Thou art my God_.--PS. cxliii. 10.
Lo! I come with joy to do The Father's blessed will; Him in outward works pursue, And serve His pleasure still. Faithful to my Lord's commands, I still would choose the better part; Serve with careful Martha's hands, And loving Mary's heart.
A soul cannot be regarded as truly subdued and consecrated in its will, and as having passed into union with the Divine will, until it has a disposition to do promptly and faithfully all that God requires, as well as to endure patiently and thankfully all that He imposes.
When we have learned to offer up every duty connected with our situation in life as a sacrifice to God, a settled employment becomes just a settled habit of prayer.
"_Do the duty which lies nearest thee_," which thou knowest to be a duty. Thy second duty will already have become clearer.
_Say not thou, I will hide myself from the Lord: shall any remember me from above? I shall not be remembered among so many people: for what is my soul among such an infinite number of creatures_?--ECCLESIASTICUS xvi. 17.