Christian fiction; Neighborhoods -- Scotland -- Fiction
"Why should we be afraid of anything with him looking at us who is the
Saviour of men? But we are afraid of him instead, because we do not
believe that he is what he says he is--the Saviour of men. We do not
believe what he offers us is salvation. We think it is slavery, and
therefore continue slaves. Friends, I will speak to you who think you
do believe in him. I am not going to say that you do not believe in
him; but I hope I am going to make you say to yourselves that you too
deserve to have those words of the Saviour spoken to you that were
spoken to Peter, 'O ye of little faith!' Floating on the sea of your
troubles, all kinds of fears and anxieties assailing you, is He not on
the mountain-top? Sees he not the little boat of your fortunes tossed
with the waves and the contrary wind? Assuredly he will come to you
walking on the waters. It may not be in the way you wish, but if not,
you will say at last, 'This is better.' It may be that he will come in
a form that will make you cry out for fear in the weakness of your
faith, as the disciples cried out--not believing any more than they
did, that it can be he. But will not each of you arouse his courage
that to you also he may say, as to the woman with the sick daughter
whose confidence he so sorely tried, 'Great is thy faith'? Will you not
rouse yourself, I say, that you may do him justice, and cast off the
slavery of your own dread? O ye of little faith, wherefore will ye
doubt? Do not think that the Lord sees and will not come. Down the
mountain assuredly he will come, and you are now as safe in your
troubles as the disciples were in theirs with Jesus looking on. They
did not know it, but it was so: the Lord was watching them. And when
you look back upon your past lives, cannot you see some instances of
the same kind--when you felt and acted as if the Lord had forgotten
you, and found afterwards that he had been watching you all the time?
"But the reason why you do not trust him more is that you obey him so
little. If you would only, ask what God would have you to do, you would
soon find your confidence growing. It is because you are proud, and
envious, and greedy after gain, that you do not trust him more. Ah!
trust him if it were only to get rid of these evil things, and be clean
and beautiful in heart.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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