“I doubt not but you likewise have your share of trials. But, when the love of God is shed abroad in the heart by the Holy Ghost, it sweetens what bitter things the Lord puts into our cup, and enables us to say, ‘None of these things move us.’
Yes, the life of faith is a happy life, and, if attended with conflicts, there is an assurance of victory.
If we sometimes get a wound, there is healing balm near at hand.
If we seem to fall, we are raised again.
And, if tribulations abound, consolations shall abound likewise.
Is it not happiness to have an infallible Guide, an invincible Guard, an Almighty Friend?
Is it not happiness to be able to say of the Maker of heaven and earth, ‘He is my Beloved, my Shepherd, my Saviour, and my Husband,’ and to say to Him,—
‘Let waves and thunders mix and roar,
Be thou my God, I ask no more:
While thou art Sovereign, I’m secure,
I shall be rich till thou art poor.’
Oh, the peace which flows from believing that all events in which we are concerned are under His immediate disposal, that the hairs of our head are all numbered, that He delights in our prosperity, that there is a need be, if we are in heaviness, and that all things shall surely work for our good!
How happy to have such views of His sovereignty, wisdom, love, and faithfulness, as will enable us to meet every dispensation with submission, and to look through the changes of the present life, to that unchangeable inheritance to which the Lord is leading us, when all evil shall cease, and where joy shall be perfect and eternal!
I trust He who loves you strengthens you in this life of faith, and fills you with a peace that passes all understanding.”
–John Newton, The Works of John Newton, Volume 6 (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 2015), 6: 98-99.
