On Being Happy Without Music

Behold, how independent of outward circumstances the Holy Ghost can make the Christian! What a bright light may shine within us when it is all dark without! How firm, how happy, how calm, how peaceful we may be, when the world shakes to and fro, and the pillars of the earth are removed! Even death itself, with all its terrible influences, has no power to suspend the music of a Christian's heart, but rather makes that music become more sweet, more clear, more heavenly, till the last kind act which death can do is to let the earthly strain melt into the heavenly chorus, the temporal joy into the eternal bliss! Let us have confidence, then, in the blessed Spirit's power to comfort us. Dear reader, are you looking forward to poverty? Fear not; the divine Spirit can give you, in your want, a greater plenty than the rich have in their abundance. You know not what joys may be stored up for you in the cottage around which grace will plant the roses of content. Are you conscious of a growing failure of your bodily powers? Do you expect to suffer long nights of languishing and days of pain? O be not sad! That bed may become a throne to you. You little know how every pang that shoots through your body may be a refining fire to consume your dross--a beam of glory to light up the secret parts of your soul. Are the eyes growing dim? Jesus will be your light. Do the ears fail you? Jesus' name will be your soul's best music, and his person your dear delight. Socrates used to say, "Philosophers can be happy without music;" and Christians can be happier than philosophers when all outward causes of rejoicing are withdrawn. In thee, my God, my heart shall triumph, come what may of ills without! By thy power, O blessed Spirit, my heart shall be exceeding glad, though all things should fail me here below. -- Charles Spurgeon

The Author and Perfecter of My Faith

    My most recent, ardent and repeated prayer has been that the Lord would give me more faith.  He has answered by underlining His provisions markedly.  By taking them away.  And then restoring them. 
    1) A blessing of insurance that reduced a $1052 dental bill to $200.  (Praise God!) Followed by a letter saying the insurance would not cover the bill. (Despair.) Followed by several phone calls that revealed the dentist had submitted the wrong insurance number for our family! (Double praises and realization of how tied to circumstances my weak faith is.)
    2) A blessing of substantial college scholarships for Leah.  (Praise you, Lord!) Followed by an Award Letter that has the scholarships greatly reduced.  (Despair.)  Followed by a phone call and an almost immediate correction to the original amount promised. (Oh, Lord, thank you for this generous provision. I wasn't nearly grateful enough the first time, took it as Leah's just desserts for working so hard.  Thank you for giving, thank you for taking away and thank you for giving again to make my heart so much more grateful.)
   3) A blessing of substantial college scholarships for John.  (Praises to Our Provider!!)  Followed by an Award Letter that the scholarships would be about half what we had been told.  (Doubt, mixed with hope -- but also acceptance: If this is your will for John, Lord, we accept it as best.)  Followed by a short period of waiting, and then ... a corrected Awards Letter.  (Oh, Lord, I think I'm getting it.  I think my faith is growing.  I've been missing your provisions, taking them too much in stride or as something that somehow we earned.  And I've been too easily daunted by circumstances.)
   We are in a period where we have had and will continue to have some large, necessary expenses, most of them dental.  I raise my Ebeneezer;  Thus far, the Lord has provided.  How He will do it in the future, I really don't see.  But, thus far, the Lord has provided.  All we have needed, Thy hand has provided. Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me.
     There are so many more dental expenses.  But He has already provided money to cover at least some of these through a surprise refund from a reinvestment.  We can trust Him to give us this day our daily bread -- not tomorrow's daily bread -- just today's.  I thank you, Lord, for building my faith and meeting our needs in a way that makes it clear that the provision comes directly from your hand at just the right moment.