And Father God, we do commit today. And all that
today holds, we commit our tomorrows into your
care and your keeping. Whatever happens, we have
this confidence. Our God maketh not. one mistake
who is among you that feareth the lord that obeyeth
the voice of his servant that walketh in darkness
and hath no light let him trust in the name of
the lord and stay upon his god Thus reads a portion
of the Word of God as found in the 50th chapter
of Isaiah. One reason that I am bringing you
these heart -to -heart talks on sorrow, heartbreak,
afflictions, tragedy that often comes into the
home or life of one of God's children, is because...
So very often you'll find someone who will point
an accusing finger at one of God's precious children
and will say in judgment, surely this has happened
in that life because of sin in the life. Sometimes
when a Christian is seen to be in darkness and
trouble and tears, that superficial critic will
pounce upon him and say, this trouble comes as
a result of some sin. That somebody will, in
judgment, point an accusing finger at that one
who's having troubles. And tragedy. And say it's
sin. Someplace, somewhere in that life. There
must be sin and God is punishing. God is sending
judgment. Remember something, beloved. The word
of God is not that cruel. And don't you ever
be that cruel. and point a finger at some one
and say, God is sending judgment. God is punishing
that one. The Word of God does not teach that
doctrine. That doctrine is as false as it is
cruel, and as cruel as it is false. For when
you turn to the Word of God, it's perfectly clear
that whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth. As
many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. I thought
it was about time that I would bring a heart
-to -heart talk on this very thing. Now remember,
we're talking only to those who are God's children.
Know that. god deals with the unregenerated in
a very different way than he deals with his own
we are dealing with this subject only from the
standpoint of a heavenly father and his child
and again i say if you are born again If you
are His child living a daily victorious Christian
life, if you are living in the center of His
will, a life of full surrender and complete obedience
unto Him, then nothing can come to you or touch
your life or come into your life but what He
permits. And if he allows it, as he allowed certain
things to come into the life of Job, if he permits
it, then, beloved, he will be there to be your
strengthener and to take you through victoriously.
You'll come forth a better person. The one thing
that I want to talk, with you about in the next
few minutes is his wonderful love in dealing
with his children. This thing of love, God's
love, is the most precious thing in the world.
And never forget, even when the sun has ceased
to shine in your own life that he is still there
loving you caring for you i have loved thee with
an everlasting love and when god says anything
is everlasting it's everlasting it's for always
I have loved thee with an everlasting love. And
never doubt that love, whatever you do, no matter
what happens to you. No matter what comes into
your life. Death, tragedy, affliction. Not for
one second doubt. the love of the heavenly father
for you never doubt the master's love i mean
exactly that you ask me why god loves like that
why he loves his children with an everlasting
love you might just as well ask why the sun shines
all i can say to you is it just can't help shining
Neither can God help loving, for God is love
himself. He is love. Maybe someone is saying,
if he really loves me with the depth of love
as you're saying, if he really loves me like
that, why has he sent so many troubles? into
my life why the affliction that is come upon
me every branch that beareth fruit he purges
it that it might bring forth more fruit a woman
battled within herself wondering if god really
loved her because of her many afflictions and
one day she was out walking and she champs to
pass a vineyard in rich autumn glow a great wealth
of leaves beautiful leaves and walking over she
just bent over lifted the leaves and she was
amazed to find there was no fruit on the vine
whatsoever it was just a wealth of leaves that's
all in that moment something marvellous happened
to her it was as though the heavenly father literally
spoke and yet it was just to her. And this is
what the heavenly gardener whispered. Are you
wondering at the trials in your life? Are you
wondering why the troubles, the heartaches? The
earthly gardener ceases to... prune to trim to
harrow when he expects nothing from the vine.
I am the heavenly gardener. I expect fruit from
my children. Do you want me to stop my harrowing,
my pruning, my trimming in that life of yours
do you want me to expect no fruit from you just
leaves and in that moment she looked up the tears
streaming down her cheeks and she said i understand
for the very first time i understand if a sorrow
will make me more and i can help another then
lord send that sorrow if a broken heart having
my own heart broken will give me sympathy and
understanding for another whose heart has been
broken then break my heart if going through the
valley of suffering if living hours in Gethsemane
will make me more tender will give me a greater
capacity for understanding the sorrows in the
life of another and I can be of help to another
then lead me through my gethsemane you know there
never was any heart truly great and gracious
that was not also tender and compassionate And
you can never know real compassion. You can never
have real compassion for another. You can never
know a depth of tenderness for someone else.
You can never have a truly great heart without
suffering. You can't do it. you can never give
to another any more than you have experienced
yourself wherever showers fall most there the
grass is greenest and wherever you find great
fogs of tears and mists of sorrow you always
find hearts that are full of the beautiful virtue
of the comfort and the love of god beloved above
all when god hides his face say not that he hath
forsaken thee that he hath forgotten thee he
is but tearing a little to make you love him
a little better i walked a mile with pleasure
and she chattered all the way and then left to
me none the wiser for all that she had to say
but one day one day i walked a mile with sorrow
and not one word said she but oh the things i
learned that day when sorrow walked with me You'll
never know the full depth of the love of Jesus
until you go through a Gethsemane. Never. And
the amazing thing is that these are the experiences
you have to go through alone. Do you want to
know? How real the Heavenly Father is? Do you
want to know the reality of Jesus Christ? Do
you want to know the depth of His love for you?
Do you want to know the tenderness of His love?
You pray, O God, give me a greater capacity for
you. Give me a greater capacity for your love.
give me a greater capacity for loving and understanding
and yet when he begins to answer that prayer
you shrink from it you're afraid of it i have
loved thee with an everlasting love i'll never
forget something that came to me when i was very
young i'm sure i was not more than fifteen sixteen
perhaps seventeen years of age whether it was
told to me or whether i read it i cannot tell
you but it has never left me a young lad betrayed
a trust that his father had in him. And one day,
after a bitter fight, cruel, harsh words were
spoken, and the young lad slammed the back kitchen
door in the face of his bed and said, I never,
I never want to see you again. Never. This is
the last time I'll ever. looked upon your face
i hate you and with that the young teenager walked
down the road and they say that never again did
he come home could his father ever find him did
he ever look upon his father's face in life.
The father died. The neighbors said he died of
a broken heart. They tried to find Willie. Years
had passed. And finally, after much searching,
they found him. a grown man now with a family
of his own and they said willie the funeral service
will be to -morrow willie came not a tear did
he shed not one as he stood there before the
open casket and looked upon his father's face
death. Out of the cemetery they lowered the casket.
Not one tear did Willie shed. Not one. Cold.
Stealed. Unemotional. A few days later they went
into the attorney's office where the last will
and testament of his father was read. The family
was there. and when the attorney opened and read
the last will and testament of his father this
is what he read to my son willie i leave my all
and in that moment that man stood to his feet
and he began to weep and cried like a baby i
never dreamed that my father loved me like that
i never knew that my father loved to be like
that. One of these days when we stand in His
glorious presence, one of these days when we
look upon His face, we're going to have the full
answer to the why. of all of our questions and
when he gives us not a partial but the full answer
to all of our whys i believe that we too will
say i never dreamed my heavenly father loved
me like