(1) A Bar of Steel "I will make thee a new sharp threshinginstrument" (Isa. 41:15). A bar of steel worth five dollars, when wroughtinto horseshoes, is worth ten dollars. If madeinto needles, it is worth three hundred and fiftydollars; if into penknife blades, it is worththirty-two thousand dollars; if into springs forwatches it is worth two hundred and fiftythousand dollars. What a drilling the poor barmust undergo to be worth this! But the more it ismanipulated, the more it is hammered, and passedthrough the fire, and beaten and pounded andpolished, the greater the value. May this parable help us to be silent, still, andlongsuffering. Those who suffer most are capableof yielding most; and it is through pain that Godis getting the most out of us, for His glory andthe blessing of others. --Selected "Oh, give Thy servant patience to be still,And bear Thy will;Courage to venture wholly on the armThat will not harm;The wisdom that will never let me strayOut of my way;The love that, now afflicting, knoweth bestWhen I should rest." Life is very mysterious. Indeed it would beinexplicable unless we believed that God waspreparing us for scenes and ministries that liebeyond the veil of sense in the eternal world,where highly-tempered spirits will be requiredfor special service. "The turning-lathe that has the sharpest knivesproduces the finest work."
(2) In His Name "Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: askand ye shall receive, that your joy may be full"(John 16:24). During the Civil War, a man had an only son whoenlisted in the armies of the Union. The fatherwas a banker and, although he consented to hisson's going, it seemed as if it would break hisheart to let him go. He became deeply interested in the soldier boys,and whenever he saw a uniform, his heart went outas he thought of his own dear boy. He spent histime, neglected his business, gave his money tocaring for the soldiers who came home invalid.His friends remonstrated with him, saying he hadno right to neglect his business and spend somuch thought upon the soldiers, so he fullydecided to give it all up. After he had come to this decision, there steppedinto his bank one day a private soldier in afaded, worn uniform, who showed in his face andhands the marks of the hospital. The poor fellow was fumbling in his pocket to getsomething or other, when the banker saw him and,perceiving his purpose, said to him: "My dear fellow, I cannot do anything for youtoday. I am extremely busy. You will have to goto your headquarters; the officers there willlook after you." Still the poor convalescent stood, not seeming tofully understand what was said to him. Still hefumbled in his pockets and, by and by, drew out ascrap of dirty paper, on which there were a fewlines written with a pencil, and laid this soiledsheet before the banker. On it he found thesewords: "Dear Father: "This is one of my comrades who waswounded in the last fight, and has been in thehospital. Please receive him as myself.--Charlie." In a moment all the resolutions of indifferencewhich this man made, flew away. He took the boyto his palatial home, put him in Charlie's room,gave him Charlie's seat at the table, kept himuntil food and rest and love had brought him backto health, and then sent him back again toimperil his life for the flag. -Selected
(3) An Hour In The Garden "He went up into a mountain apart to pray: andwhen evening was come, he was there alone" (Matt.14:23). The man Christ Jesus felt the need of perfectsolitude--Himself alone, entirely by Himself,alone with Himself. We know how much intercoursewith men draws us away from ourselves andexhausts our powers. The man Christ Jesus knewthis, too, and felt the need of being by Himselfagain, of gathering all His powers, of realizingfully His high destiny, His human weakness, Hisentire dependence on the Father. How much more does the child of God needthis--himself alone with spiritual realities,himself alone with God the Father. If ever therewere one who could dispense with special seasonsfor solitude and fellowship, it was our Lord. ButHe could not do His work or maintain Hisfellowship in full power, without His quiet time. Would God that every servant of His understoodand practiced this blessed art, and that theChurch knew how to train its children into somesense of this high and holy privilege, that everybeliever may and must have his time when he isindeed himself alone with God. Oh, the thought tohave God all alone to myself, and to know thatGod has