“The good we hoped to gain has failed us. Well,
We do not see the ending; and the boon
May wait us down the age,—who can tell?—
And bless us amply soon.
In God’s eternal plan, a month, a year,
Is but an hour of some slow April day,
Holding the germs of what we hope and fear
To blossom far away.”
There is one class of mercies and blessings of which we are not sufficiently ready to take note. These are the things that God keeps from us. We recount, with more or less gratitude, the good gifts that we receive from him; but there are many blessings that consist in not our receiving. In one of Miss Havergal’s bright flashes of spiritual truth, she quotes these words of Moses to the Israelites: “As for thee, the Lord thy God hath not suffered thee so to do.” Then she adds, “What a stepping-stone! We give thanks, often with a tearful, doubtful voice, for our spiritual mercies positive; but what an almost infinite field there is for mercies negative! We cannot even imagine all that God has suffered us not to do, not to be.” There is not doubt that very many of the Lord’s greatest kindnesses are shown in saving us from unseen and unsuspected perils, and in keeping from us things that we desire, but which would surely work us harm instead of blessing, were we to receive them.
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