April 5

Contentment in any sphere

“I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content” (Phil. 4:11).
“I will praise thee for ever, because thou hast done it: and I will wait on thy name; for it is good before thy saints” (Psa. 52:9).

Nothing in this world can equal the religion of the Lord Jesus Christ, especially when the love of God becomes the ruling principle of the soul. To struggle with outward sin is hard work, to fight with the risings of evil nature is hard work; but when the soul receives that all-cleansing blood, when the mind enjoys this indwelling God, when He reigns alone, then we find the benefit of this great salvation. All is quiet, all is calm. You stand unmoved. Water, fire, devils, men—all cannot disturb your rest.
—William Bramwell.


Madame Guyon, persecuted and imprisoned for her love for God and souls, could say in her imprisonment: “I passed my time in great peace, content to pass the rest of my life there if such was the will of God. I sang songs of joy, which the maid who served me learned by heart as fast as I made them, and we together sang Thy praises, O my God! The stones of my prison looked, in my eyes, like rubies. I esteemed them more than all the gaudy brilliancies of the world. My heart was full of that joy Thou givest to them that love Thee in the midst of their greatest crosses.”

I sought earth’s gold, and gained more greed;
I sought earth’s fame, and found more need;
I sought earth’s pleasures, and found more pain.
Who follows earth’s phantoms follows in vain.
I heeded God’s call, took up my cross;
Forsook the world—its tinseled dross;
I gave myself to God and man,
Fell in with God’s unselfish plan,
And found the gold of undug mines
For fadeless crowns whence life’s light shines;
And fame, beyond the hurt of years;
And joy that jewels all my tears.
Who follows Christ follows not in vain,
For life or death, with Christ, is gain.

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