1 Tim. iv. 8. 8. Sufficient Day is the Matt. vi. 34. a loyal life, food and raiment. Why, then, are ye The The eighth and last consideration which the Lord urges why we should trust the Father is this: The future will bring cares enough of its own: "Be not anxious then for the morrow; for the morrow will be anxious for the things of itself; sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof." There is a touch of melancholy in this last saying of the Son of Man, tinging with a hue of gentle somberness His bright picture of the unanxious, trustful child of God. It is as though He had said : "However trustful in God you are, and however much He may care for you, yet you live in a fallen world, where sorrow as well as trust is one of your Father's appointments. Each day has its inevitable toil and grief-dark shadows dogging the sun-lit hours. To-day's burdens are heavy enough without the added burdens of to-morrow. To anticipate is to double. Why, then, torment yourself about to-morrow, as though to-day were free from every care and disquietude? Why be so foolish? Why distrust your Heavenly Father as though He were ignorant of your wants, although He hears the ravens when they cry; or as though He scorned you, although He disdains not to clothe the lily? Why presumptuously invade that dread futurity which is His own domain? Why multiply uselessly, foolishly, distrustfully, unfilially, against His will, the burdens with which to-day loads your weary spirits? Oh, is it not enough that He gives you to-day's burdens to bear, without your wresting from His grasp, as with a suicide's hand, the unappointed sorrows of to-morrow?" the Cure of Care. This, then, is the lesson of to-day: Trust in Trust in God God the cure of care. How much we need this lesson in these days of returning prosperity! Till within a few months you had for years suffered a certain kind of anxiety; it was anxiety lest you should lose everything. To-day you are suffering another kind of anxiety; it is anxiety to become rich. It was hard to trust God in adversity; it is harder to trust God in prosperity. Nevertheless, brethren, the Christian life, whether in adversity or in prosperity, is a life of child-like trust in God's Fatherhood. Does your little child distrust you, worrying about to-morrow's bread? Why, then, O child of God, distrust your Heavenly Father, and worry about your to-morrow? In respect to anxiety, it is your privilege and duty to live the life of the lily, the robin, the babe. Do you wish to provide for the future? The true providence is to trust Providence, which is but another word for Fatherhood. Cast, then, all your 1 Peter v. 7. Phil. iv. 6, 7. Collect. care upon Him, for He careth for you. Be anxious about nothing, but in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God; and the peace of God which passeth all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. O God, who art the author of peace and lover of concord, in knowledge of whom standeth our eternal life, whose service is perfect freedom, defend us, Thy humble servants, in all assaults of our enemies, that we, surely trusting in Thy defense, may not fear the power of any adversaries, through the might of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. |