LOOKING UNTO JESUS
and not at the instruments, whatever they may be which He employs to form the path which He has appointed for us. Looking beyond man, beyond circumstances, beyond the thousand causes so rightly called secondary, let us ascend as far as the first cause,-- His will; let us ascend even to the source of this very will,-- His love. Then our gratitude, without being less lively towards those who do us good, will stop at them; then in the testing day, under the most unexpected blow, the most inexplicable, the most overwhelming, we can say with the Psalmist: 'I was dumb, I opened not my mouth, because Thou didst it.' (Psalm 39:9) And in the silence of our dumb sorrow the heavenly voice will gently reply: 'What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter.' (John 13:7).
When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"
Hebrews 12:2
