Out of the Deep | Page 3

Charles Kingsley
others' good, let us say with our Master in the Agony,
"Not what we will, but what Thou wilt!" But up to that point, let us
pray boldly.
Letters and Memories of Charles Kingsley.
Christianity heightens as well as deepens the human as well as the
divine affections. I am happy; for the less hope, the more faith. God
knows what is best for us. I am sure we do not. Continual resignation, I
begin to find, is the secret of continual strength. "Daily dying," as
Boehmen interprets it, "is the path of daily living."
Letters and Memories.
In all the trials of life, there is still some way of escape to be found if a
man goes to the right place to look for it; and, if not of escape, still of
compensation. I speak of that which I know. Of my own comfort I will
not speak--of the path by which I attained it I will. It was simply by not
struggling, doing my work vigorously where God had put me, and
believing firmly that His promises had a real, not a mere metaphorical
meaning, and that Psalms x., xxvii., xxxiv., xxxvii., cvii., cxii., cxxiii.,
cxxvi., cxlvi., are as practically true for us as they were for the Jews of
old, and that it is the faithlessness of this day which prevents men from
accepting God's promises in their literal sense with simple childlike
faith.
Letters and Memories.
Do not fear the clouds and storm and rain; look at the bow in the cloud,
in the very rain itself. That is a sign that the sun, though you cannot see
it, is shining still--that up above, beyond the cloud, is still sunlight and
warmth and cloudless blue sky. Believe in God's covenant. Believe that
the sun will conquer the clouds, warmth will conquer cold, calm will
conquer storm, fair will conquer foul, light will conquer darkness, joy
will conquer sorrow, life conquer death, love conquer destruction and
the devouring floods; because God is light, God is love, God is life,

God is peace and joy eternal, God is without change, and labours to
give life and joy and peace to man and beast and all created things. This
was the meaning of the rainbow. It is a witness that God, who made the
world, is the friend and preserver of man; that His promises are like the
everlasting sunshine which is above the clouds, without spot or fading,
without variableness or shadow of turning.
National Sermons.
If I did not believe in a special Providence, in a perpetual education of
men by evil as well as good, by small things as well as great--if I did
not believe that--I could believe nothing.
Letters and Memories.
Let us be content; we do not know what is good for us, and God does.
It is true, and you will find it true (though God knows it is a difficult
lesson enough to learn) that there should be no greater comfort to
Christian people than to be made like Christ by suffering patiently not
only the hard work of every-day life, but sorrows, troubles, and
sicknesses, and all our heavenly Father's corrections, whensoever, by
any manner of adversity, it shall please His gracious goodness to visit
them. For Christ Himself went not up to joy, but first He suffered pain.
He entered not into His glory before He was crucified. Therefore those
words which we read in the Visitation of the Sick about this matter are
not mere kind words, meant to give comfort for the moment. They are
truth and fact and sound philosophy. They are as true for the young lad
in health and spirits as for the old folks crawling towards their graves.
It is true that sickness and all sorts of troubles are sent to correct and
amend in us whatsoever doth offend the eye of our heavenly Father. It
is true, and you will find it true, that whom the Lord loveth He
chasteneth.
All Saints' Day Sermons.
"That ye through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have
hope," says St. Paul; and, again, "Let patience have her perfect work."

But where are we to get patience? God knows it is hard in such a world
as this for poor creatures to be always patient. But faith can breed
patience, though patience cannot breed itself; and faith in whom? Faith
in our Father in Heaven, even in Almighty God Himself. He calls
Himself the "God of Patience and Consolation." Pray for His Holy
Spirit, and He will make you patient; pray for His Holy Spirit, and He
will console and comfort you. He has promised that Spirit of His--the
Comforter--the Spirit of Love, Trust, and Patience--to as many as ask
Him. Ask Him at His Holy Table
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