The victory life

Foreword

A RECENT book of biography gives a telling contrast between one who "sought under the clouds for the last voiceless inspiration," and another who "looked oftener at the brown earth than at the blue sky." Always the peaceful face of the one who looked aloft was an inspiration to those who knew him, but few cared to stay long in the company of the other, whose spirits were ever in hearty accord with his drooping shoulders.

The writer has endeavored to present a plain record of some of those who have learned how easy it is to forget the brown earth while they look at the blue sky; who, by the simple means at the command of every one, not only win victory for themselves but bring brightness into the lives of others; who are proving daily that man is able to walk with head erect, eyes facing the light, and heart turned toward God.

Grateful acknowledgment is made to the authors and publishers of books named in the Bibliography for inspiration and quotations.

Contents

I. Peace Amid Confusion 17

II. The Fruitage of Unrest 21

III. Calm for the Troubled Mind 24

II The Fruitage Of Unrest

EVERY ONE knows days, perhaps months, and even years, when peace and quiet seem absolutely out of the question; when those who tell of the possibility of enjoying these blessings seem to speak in riddles, and w 7 hen the assurance that some day the life will be rich and noble because of what is so destructive of serenity sounds like a jest. Yet countless thousands testify that these things are so.

As a young man Charles Kingsley had a bitter experience of unrest. "The conflict between faith and unbelief and between hope and fear was so fierce and bitter that he . . . nearly gave up all for lost," Mrs. Kingsley wrote, in her story of her gifted husband's life. "But through all God kept him for a work he little dreamed of." His difficulties came by reason of his attempts to explain to himself the riddle of life and this world. At last he found that "no explanation was so complete as that which one had learnt at one's mother's knee." So he came to feel that the only possible rest for his troubled soul was to become a preacher of purity and holiness.

Trials were not all put behind Kim when he became a Christian. The parents of Fanny Grenfell opposed his marriage to her. But he had learned to trust God, so he w T as not cast down. "I can understand people's losing by trusting too little to God," he wrote, "but I cannot understand any one's losing by trusting too much to Him." Then, most unexpectedly, the barriers were removed. "From that moment a river of blessings heaped one on the other, as if the merciful God were turned prodigal in His undeserved love," was his own statement of the fact. "Therefore take heart, my friend," he pleaded, "only humble yourself utterly; be still, and say, 'My Father, thy will be done/ And why shouldn't it be with you as it was with me?"

Years later he wrote of this period of testing: "What an awful weapon prayer is! Mark n: 24 saved me from madness in my twelve months' sorrows, and it is so simple and so wide — wide as eternity, simple as light, true as God Himself."

A present-day author has told of an experience that taught him the same lesson. In the midst of a busy year a serious illness came to him, and one result was that he walked on crutches for six months. He wondered how anything good could come out of those trying weeks; but the memory of the lesson learned years before from a godly father and mother saved him. He not only found peace for himself, but sought to turn his lesson to advantage for somebody else. "I got to thinking how much more sad the lot of a lame boy must be when he had not yet formed a philosophy of life and was at a period when life and its activities are mostly legs," was his statement of the problem he tried to solve.

One result of his thinking was the preparation of the story of a lame boy which attracted wide attention very soon after it was published. The book told of a boy whose early life was saddened by the thought of his lameness; of a mother who could enter fully into the thoughts of her handicapped son; of a father who encouraged the boy to fight his own battles, and so supplemented the mother's tenderness; of brothers who did not mean to hurt the feelings of the lame lad by calling him "Limpy"; and who, when they stopped to think, would not use the nickname; of the rare acquaintances who were tactful enough to treat him as if he were not different from other boys.

But there came a day when he learned something better than ignoring his handicap. He turned a liability into an asset when, after years of shrinking from his nickname, he realized that a nickname is a help to good fellowship.

The boy took another step when his self-pity gave place to pity for one who was less fortunate than himself. When Limpy met an old soldier with a peg-leg his affection went out to the man, and from that moment he had a stouter heart. He marveled to hear the unfortunate man laugh. He was amazed that Jonas belittled his infirmity. "You can have just as much fun 'with one leg as with two, and you're even better off, for if you break your wooden leg it doesn't hurt."

The author succeeded in his purpose of cheering the afflicted even better than he had hoped, for the book was soon put in raised type for those most afflicted people, the blind, and he began to receive from some of his new readers the most wonderfully cheerful and philosophic letters.

Is there ever a plausible reason for being cast down; for while "all chastening seemeth for the present to be not joyous but grievous; yet afterward it yieldeth peaceable fruit unto them that have been exercised thereby," and the "Victory that overcomes the world" is found in misfortune and difficulty when the eye is turned to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.

Ill

CALM FOR THE TROUBLED MIND

AGAIN and again the question has been asked by anxious Christians, "How shall we defend Christ against the attacks of His enemies ?" A sensible answer was given by one who said that he had found that the bare narrative of the life of Christ was a mightier weapon of defense than any book written about Him. He called special attention to a feature of His life often passed by in the succession of surprises accompanying His sayings and works from first to last. One of these instances was when Christ was with His disciples, asleep in a boat on the sea of Galilee. Suddenly one of the fierce storms so common in Galilee swept down upon the frail boat. Terrified, the disciples all turned to the sleeper, "Save, Lord; we perish!"

Christ's response was immediate. Pausing only to chide the disciples for their little faith, He rebuked the winds and sea. Instantly there was a great calm. The Lord had spoken. Nature obeyed Him. And the men marveled, asking one another in wonder: "What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?"

A traveler who had learned victory over worry once wrote: "It is a pitiable thing to see vigorous men and women who have inherited godlike qualities and bear the impress of divinity, wearing anxious faces and filled with all sorts of fear and uncertainty; worrying about yesterday, to-day, to-morrow — everything imaginable. In entering New York by train every morning, I notice business men with hard, tense faces, leaning forward when the train approaches the station, as if they could hasten its progress and save time. Anxiety is in every movement, a hurried nervousness in their manner; and their hard, drawn countenances — all these are indications of an abnormal life."

And yet Christ is just as able to calm the troubled mind as He was so long ago to quiet the waves of the sea. There is magic in the soothing voice of Christ. Care vanishes in thin air as they who lean on Him hear that voice in loving invitation, "Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."

IV With Jesus On Life's Sea

SOMETIMES troubles crowd so thick and fast that the calmest become unnerved and act as if the foundations of life and faith had been removed.

A time like this came to the disciples during a night when Jesus remained on the shore in prayer while they attempted to cross the Galilean lake. Soon Jesus realized that the disciples were in trouble; they were in the midst of the sea and, the wind being contrary, the waves were dashing against the boat. Perhaps Jesus could see the boat, for it was the time of full moon, and there were probably breaks in the clouds. But even if He could not see the danger, He would know of it, for He always knows, and instantly, every anxiety, every fear, every heart-throb of His people.

Perhaps at that very moment the men were thinking, "If only Jesus were here, as He was that other time when the waves were boisterous!" But Jesus was there. In the early morning hours He came to them, walking on the water.

The disciples were afraid at first, for they thought they saw a ghost; but Jesus reassured them. Instantly Peter, recognizing Him, asked and obtained leave to go to Him on the water. He stepped from the boat, and so long as he kept his eyes on Jesus all was well, but when he began to observe swelling waves and howling wind, he began to sink. In answer to his cry, Jesus reached out His hand and helped him. Then He gently rebuked His timorous disciple. Why could Peter not believe that He who had told him to walk on the water was able to keep him from danger? After such proofs, the disciples could not but worship Him as the Son of God.

Sometimes one is led -to think, as he reads this record, what a splendid thing it would be to be able to walk with Christ on the water as Peter did. This power is not given to-day because it is not needed. God does not waste His gifts. He gives his people the power they need for their everyday life. Moody taught this truth to an inquirer, who asked him: "Have you grace enough to be burned at the stake? Do you not wish that you had?" "No, sir, for I do not need it. What I need just now is grace to live in Milwaukee three days and hold a convention."

Because power to walk with God on this prosaic earth is needed, the power is given. "We may have God's presence in our shops and offices as well as in the church," one has put it. "As we walk the streets we may hear the noiseless steps of the Unseen Guide in the doing of daily work; even in our times of recreation God may be with us, and we may walk with God. I do not mean that daily life is to be an ecstasy. We need not be always conversing with our Friend. We are to do our work, and take our play. But we are always to feel Him near, so that when we have aught to say, we may say it; when we need aught, we may ask for it; when we desire, we may converse with Him."

But because men are so slow to take advantage of their opportunity to live thus in companionship with the Lord, there is darkness- and trouble in the world.

OUR UNSEEN DEFENDERS

YES'M, she's pretty well, Mother is," said the old man, pausing with his foot on the wagonwheel to answer an inquiry concerning his wife; "pretty well, if only 'twa'nt for worryin' about the children. 'Lizabeth's up to Conway this season, and mother's all the time afraid she'll be took sick away from home. Samuel's got a good place at Tanfield, and he's doin' well, too; but his boardin' place is across the river. Sometimes he goes by skiff, and mother, she can't get over the feelin' that he's likely to be drowned. The two younger ones is home yet, but she says she's anxious about the time John'll be wantin' to strike out for himself, and she's always been afraid we'd never raise Car'line. No'm, there's nothin' special the matter with any of 'em now, and the truck has done fine this year. Mother hain't had a touch of her rheumatism all summer, and she'd be pretty well off if 'twasn't for worryin'. Christian ? Bless you, yes, this forty year! She ain't afraid but what the Lord'll take care of her and all the rest of the world; but seems like she ain't got faith yet to believe He's to be trusted with the children."

That was the way a writer put the message of a Bible story in which a man learned how foolish he was to be afraid while God's messengers were guarding him.

This is the story: The king of Syria was making excursions with his army into the territory of the king of Israel. Several times he was unsuccessful because, evidently, some one had carried word to the king of Israel about his plans. Of course the king of Syria was very angry. He accused his servants of betraying his plans. The servants told him, however, that the man to blame was God's prophet, Elisha. In a rage the king sent armed men to take the prophet.

The force came near the home of Elisha early in the morning. Elisha's servant caught sight of them and was filled with terror. "Alas, my master! how shall we do?" Elisha answered, "Fear not, for they that be with us are more than they that be with them." Then Elisha prayed that the young man might understand. The prayer was answered. The servant's eyes were opened, and he saw the mountain full of horses and chariots round about them. No earthly host could break that phalanx!

The king of Syria had made his plans with great craft and secrecy, but one omission spoiled all. He left God out of account. He did not realize that no word spoken in his council chamber could be hidden from God. When men work with God they are invincible. But when they work without Him their work deserves to fail.

Let it be remembered that God promises to bring those who trust Him safely through the dangers that threaten them. Sometimes the deliverance is given them by warding off the danger entirely; again God permits them to go through the peril, but He sees that they are not harmed by it. He has His own way of delivering, and that way is the best way. Yet always He delivers; that is the point to be remembered. He delivered the king of Israel by sending him a warning. He once delivered a home missionary who was lost in a blizzard by showing the missionary's horse how to find the nearest shelter. He has delivered you times without number.

Echoing the cry of the prophet's frightened servant, many have asked in terror, "What shall I do?" The answer to the question is very simple. The first thing to do is to tell God our trouble. The second thing is to do what God says.

It is certain that there is a heavenly host standing guard over every one of God's children. Does any one feel that he has not seen that host? Then there is need for him to offer a prayer like Elisha's — "Lord, open my eyes that I may see!" By faith he can behold that heavenly host of which Psalm 91: II tells, "For He will give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways." That is not a figure of speech. God does exactly what He says He will do.

VI Real Manhood

BRITISH soldiers in France wondered at the ability of their commander to be so simple, so gentle, and yet so valorous; so quiet and calm, and at the same time so sturdy and dependable. But they learned the reason. "At dawn he sat at his tent door, his Bible in his hands. He had no fear; he knew that underneath were the Everlasting Arms." And as the men looked on him they realized that — to quote the words of the soldier's biographer — they were seeing "manhood raised to its highest power, and valor transfigured by faith." They were glad that they were guided by one in whom was "a touch of loftiness, a touch of serenity, a touch of the divine," because he "lived in the still air of the peace that passeth understanding."

How the touch of serenity can come to a man in the midst of the things that try his soul is seen in the story of James Stewart of Lovedale, the African missionary. No matter what his difficulties, he gained comfort in reading the Bible and in prayer. Once he prayed: \

"Make me patient under calumny, whether it be at home or abroad. Give me patience to labor at details as much as if they were the highest work. I Let me not get disappointed with the opposition; that may be thrown in my way. If it shall prove not to be Thy call to labor here, help me to take the lesson Thou givest for my good. Help me to be content with Thy work in me if not by me, and out of all vexation and trial it has brought only let my heart be brought nearer Thee/'

James Robertson, the Canadian home missionary pioneer, agreed that self-poise comes through keeping in touch with God. Once when he was tempted to leave his chosen work by an offer of a more prominent position and larger salary, he said, "The time for self is gone for us. It would be a fearful thing to think of in our future course that we had regarded self and selfish considerations and not our Master's work."

It is not easy thus to bid self take a back seat. Yet those whose lives count most heavily, who have the greatest satisfaction in life, learn to do this through their companionship with Him who taught that real peace and rest come through service. Francis Coillard, in writing of William Waddell, the lowly artisan missionary to the Zambesi, said, "We have had missionary helpers of that stamp, but they are rare. It is because it needs a more than ordinary measure of grace cheerfully to occupy this humble place in the mission field, and to glorify God in it."

There is just one way to possess the "manhood raised to its highest power" and the "valor transfigured by faith," as shown in the lives of men like these: the way of prayer, the way of Bible reading, the way of friendship with Christ.

THROUGH CONFLICT TO VICTORY

'The clouds hang heavy 'round my way,

I cannot see; But through the darkness I believe

God leadeth me. 'Tis sweet to keep my hand in his

While all is dim; To close my weary, aching eyes,

And follow Him.

Through many a thorny path He leads

My tired feet; Through many a path of tears I go,

But it is sweet To know that He is close to me,

My God, my Guide.

He leadeth me, and so I walk

Quite satisfied.

To my blind eyes He may reveal

No light at all; ut while I lean on His strong arm

I cannot fall."