Thoughts of Grace

Good Morning

Psalm 23:4
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil: for thou art with me;
thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

At my father’s house in the country
there is a little closet in the chimney corner
where are kept the canes and walking-sticks
of several generations of our family.
In my visits to the old house,
when my father and I are going out for a walk,
we often to go to the cane closet,
and pick out our sticks
to suit the fancy of the occasion.
In this I have frequently been reminded
that the Word of God is a staff.

During the war, when the season of discouragement
and impending danger was upon us, the verse,
“He shall not be afraid of evil tidings;
his heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord,” Psalm 112:7
was a staff to walk with many dark days.

When death took away our child
and left us almost heart-broken.
I found another staff in the promise that
“weeping may endure for the night,
but joy cometh in the morning.” Psalm 30:5

When in impaired health, I was exiled for a year,
not knowing whether I should be permitted
to return to my home and work again,
I took with me this staff which never failed,
“He knoweth the thoughts that he thinketh toward me,
thought s of peace and not of evil.” Jeremiah 29:11

In times of special danger or doubt,
when human judgement has seemed to be set at naught,
I have found it easy to go forward with this staff,
“In quietness and confidence shall be your strength.” Isaiah 30:15

And in emergencies,
when there has seemed to be no adequate time
for deliberation or for action,
I have never hound this staff has failed me.
“He that believeth shall not make haste.” Isaiah 28:16
~~Benjamin Vaughn Abott, in The Outlook.

“I had never known,” said Martin Luther’s wife, “what such and such things meant, in such and such
psalms, such and such complaints and workings of spirit; I had never understood the practice of Christian duties , had not God brought me under some affliction.”

Leaning on the staff . . .Today
With my prayers, desiring yours, Leslie