Hidden Springs of Inward Strength

ALMIGHTY GOD! when Thou sendest forth Thy word and the great winds blow; when the storm comes and the thunder rolls; when the rain falls and the earth is flooded, and man’s thoughts are sad, for the seed is not sown and the fruit is swept away, and the mountains send down torrents and the valley is overflowed, and all looks dead and life seems low;—Thou hast Thy great mysteries to work and Thy loving deeds to do. We thank Thee for what all our knowledge teaches us; that when man cries out, it is but the cry of impatience that sees not into deep things, the cry of those who feel more than they understand. Lord God! teach us all, that about these outward things Thou art truly wise in Thy doings. Down to the deep springs of the earth these rains shall sink; and when, in days to come, the hot sun shall burn and the cloud come not, and the blue sky shall weary us because it is so blue and blue so long; when, Lord God! the parching day shall come; then, in Thy deep store-houses, there shall be the hidden waters: men will go to the deeps, and know why they were flooded aforetime, that they may be filled now.

And, Lord God! when in the soul’s story, in the strange wondrous world that each of us bears about within him, that land of loves and hates, of trust and truth, or of meanness and falseness; when, within us, dark clouds come again after the rain, and life is weary, and the heavy weight of unintelligible things presses us down, and the life within us sinks, when trust is gone and hope is feeble, and the storm is loud and the night is dark,—let it be that through Thy love there may go on in us what goes on in the outer life; and in these dark days, when all things seem to press upon us, down into the deep wells of trust and love, into the springs of work, and courage, and hope, the Spirit of God may come, that by-and-by, in these gathered treasures, we may find blessing.

Help us in the dark day of the valley of the shadow of death; in the days of loss, when friends are false and lovers few; in the days when the blood creeps but slowly and the soul knows no light. Grant that all outward pressure may but deepen our inward strength, and the failure of outward light but increase our inward life, whose pleasures go beyond death, whose riches transcend time.

Lord God! if any of us have been impatient and have cried out against Thy dealings with us, make us to be wise and to know that all things go well in God; that where God is, good is, and may we be quiet. Lord God! believing that Thou hearest us, help us to pray: “Thy will be done in earth, as it is done in heaven.” Let Thy will be done in our hearts as it is in Thy kingdom; for when Thy will shall be done in our hearts, Thy kingdom will have come, for we shall have entered the kingdom of God. Hear us in Thy loving mercy, through Jesus Christ our Lord.—AMEN.