
OUR joys and sorrows, like the varied products of nature, lie very close  together. One moment we are singing the joyous song of victory on the shores of  the Red Sea, and vow we will never again mistrust our God; and then, by a sudden  transition, we find ourselves standing beside the Marah waters of pain and  disappointment, inclined to murmur at our lot.
There is, however, a tree,  which, when cast into the waters, makes them sweet. It is the tree of the cross.  "He bare our sins in His own body on the tree." The cross means the yielding up  of the will. Now, it is in proportion as we see God's will in the various events  of life, and surrender ourselves either to bear or do it, that we shall find  earth's bitter things becoming sweet, and its hard things easy.
We must yield  our will to God. - The secret of blessedness is in saying "Yes" to the will of  God, as it is shown in the circumstances of our lot or the revelations of His  Word. It is the will of a Father whose love and wisdom are beyond  question.
We must accept what He permits. - It may be that our pains  emanate from the malevolence or negligence of others; still, if He has permitted  them, they are His will for us. By the time they reach us they have become  minted with His die, and we must patiently submit.
We must do all He  bids. - The thread of obedience must always be running through our hands. At all  costs to our choice and feeling we must not only have His commands, but keep  them. Our Lord perpetually lays stress on obeying His words. This is the spirit  of the Cross, and the properties of this tree sweeten earth's bitterest sorrows.  "Disappointments become His appointments.