Chapter M: De Molinos

God hath provided a sweet and quiet life for His children, could they improve and use it; a calm and firm conviction in all the storms and troubles that are about them, however things go, to find content, and be careful for nothing.

R. LEIGHTON.

December 11

_Oh, that Thou wouldest bless me indeed, and that Thine hand might be with me, and that Thou wouldest keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me_!--I CHRON. iv. 10.

_Ye shall serve the Lord your God, and He shall bless thy bread and thy water_.--EX. xxiii. 25.

What I possess, or what I crave,
Brings no content, great God, to me,
If what I would, or what I have,
Be not possest, and blest, in Thee;
What I enjoy, O make it mine,
In making me that have it, Thine.

J. QUARLES.

Offer up to God all pure affections, desires, regrets, and all the bonds which link us to home, kindred, and friends, together with all our works, purposes, and labors. These things, which are not only lawful, but sacred, become then the matter of thanksgiving and oblation. Memories, plans for the future, wishes, intentions; works just begun, half done, all but completed; emotions, sympathies, affections,--all these things throng tumultuously and dangerously in the heart and will. The only way to master them is to offer them up to Him, as once ours, under Him, always His by right.

H. E. MANNING.

December 12

_I delight to do Thy will, O my God: yea, Thy law is within my heart_.--PS. xl. 8.

A patient, a victorious mind,
That life and all things casts behind,
Springs forth obedient to Thy call;
A heart that no desire can move,
But still to adore, believe, and love,
Give me, my Lord, my Life, my All.

P. GERHARDT.

That piety which sanctifies us, and which is a true devotion to God, consists in doing all His will precisely at the time, in the situation, and under the circumstances, in which He has placed us. Perfect devotedness requires, not only that we do the will of God, but that we do it with love. God would have us serve Him with delight; it is our hearts that He asks of us.

FRANÇOIS DE LA MOTHE FÉNELON.

Devotion is really neither more nor less than a general inclination and readiness to do that which we know to be acceptable to God. It is that "free spirit," of which David spoke when he said, "I will run the way of Thy commandments, when Thou hast set my heart at liberty." People of ordinary goodness walk in God's way, but the devout run in it, and at length they almost fly therein. To be truly devout, we must not only do God's will, but we must do it cheerfully.

ST. FRANCIS DE SALES.

December 13

_So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom_.--PS. xc. 12.

_Seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind_.--LUKE xii. 29.

Our days are numbered: let us spare
Our anxious hearts a needless care:
'T is Thine to number out our days;
'T is ours to give them to Thy praise.

MADAME GUYON.

Every day let us renew the consecration to God's service; every day let us, in His strength, pledge ourselves afresh to do His will, even in the veriest trifle, and to turn aside from anything that may displease Him. He does not bid us bear the burdens of tomorrow, next week, or next year. Every day we are to come to Him in simple obedience and faith, asking help to keep us, and aid us through that day's work; and to-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow, through years of long to-morrows, it will be but the same thing to do; leaving the future always in God's hands, sure that He can care for it better than we. Blessed trust! that can thus confidingly say, "This hour is mine with its present duty; the next is God's, and when it comes, His presence will come with it."

W. R. HUNTINCTON.

December 14

_And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God_.--GAL. vi. 16.

Lord, I have given my life to Thee,
And every day and hour is Thine,--
What Thou appointest let them be;
Thy will is better, Lord, than mine.

A. WARNER.

Begin at once; before you venture away from this quiet moment, ask your King to take you wholly into His service, and place all the hours of this day quite simply at His disposal, and ask Him to make and keep you _ready_ to do just exactly what He appoints. Never mind about to-morrow; one day at a time is enough. Try it to-day, and see if it is not a day of strange, almost curious peace, so sweet that you will be only too thankful, when to-morrow comes, to ask Him to take it also,--till it will become a blessed habit to hold yourself simply and "wholly at Thy commandment for _any_ manner of service." The "whatsoever" is not necessarily active work. It may be waiting (whether half an hour or half a life-time), learning, suffering, sitting still. But shall we be less ready for these, if any of them are His appointments for to-day? Let us ask Him to prepare us for all that He is preparing for us.

F. R. HAVERGAL.

December 15

_Return unto thy rest, O my soul; for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee_.--PS. cxvi. 7.

_We which have believed do enter into rest_.--HEB. iv. 3.

Rest is not quitting
The busy career;
Rest is the fitting
Of self to its sphere.

'T is loving and serving
The highest and best!
'T is onwards, unswerving,--
And that is true rest.

J. S. DWIGHT.

As a result of this strong faith, the inner life of Catherine of Genoa was characterized, in a remarkable degree, by what may be termed rest, or quietude; which is only another form of expression for true interior peace. It was not, however, the quietude of a lazy inaction, but the quietude of an inward acquiescence; not a quietude which feels nothing and does nothing, but that higher and divine quietude which exists by feeling and acting in the time and degree of God's appointment and God's will. It was a principle in her conduct, to give herself to God in the discharge of duty; and to leave all results without solicitude in His hands.

T. C. UPHAM.

December 16

_Thou understandest my thought afar off_.--PS. cxxxix. 2.

_Who can understand his errors? cleanse Thou me from secret faults_.--PS. xix. 12.

My newest griefs to Thee are old;
My last transgression of Thy law,
Though wrapped in thought's most secret fold,
Thine eyes with pitying sadness saw.

H. M. KIMBALL.

Lord our God, great, eternal, wonderful in glory, who keepest covenant and promises for those that love Thee with their whole heart, who art the Life of all, the Help of those that flee unto Thee, the Hope of those who cry unto Thee, cleanse us from our sins, secret and open, and from every thought displeasing to Thy goodness,--cleanse our bodies and souls, our hearts and consciences, that with a pure heart, and a clear soul, with perfect love and calm hope, we may venture confidently and fearlessly to pray unto Thee. Amen.

COPTIC LITURGY OF ST. BASIL.

The dominion of any sinful habit will fearfully estrange us from His presence. A single consenting act of inward disobedience in thought or will is enough to let fall a cloud between Him and us, and to leave our hearts cheerless and dark.

H. E. MANNING.

December 17

_The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance_.--GAL. v. 22, 23.

_Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples_.--JOHN xv. 8.

O Breath from out the Eternal Silence! blow
Softly upon our spirits' barren ground;
The precious fulness of our God bestow,
That fruits of faith, love, reverence may abound.

G. TERSTEEGEN.

Is it possible we should be ignorant whether we feel tempers contrary to love or no?--whether we rejoice always, or are burdened and bowed down with sorrow?--whether we have a praying, or a dead, lifeless spirit?--whether we can praise God, and be resigned in all trials, or feel murmurings, fretfulness, and impatience under them?--is it not easy to know if we feel anger at provocations, or whether we feel our tempers mild, gentle, peaceable, and easy to be entreated, or feel stubbornness, self-will, and pride? whether we have slavish fears, or are possessed of that perfect love which casteth out all fear that hath torment?

HESTER ANN ROGERS.

December 18

_We trust in the living God_.--I TIM. iv. 10.

Thy secret judgment's depths profound
Still sings the silent night;
The day, upon his golden round,
Thy pity infinite.