Patience is hard, sometimes. Whilst I am climbing the mountains, passing through the wilderness, daring dangers, I feel comparatively quiet, or even glad. But to sit down when the angel tells me to sit, and not to stir till he comes back again—who can do it?
There are lines of retreat in every great life, when Christ must be driven into Egypt, when the prophet must be banished into solitude, w hen John the Baptist must be in the desert eating locusts and wild honey, when Saul of Tarsus must be driven off into Arabia—times when “in patience we must possess our souls.” But an asylum need not be a tomb, retreat need not be extinction. Make the best of your leisure. You want to be at the front, instead of that you have been banished to the rear.
It is for a wise purpose. Gather strength, let the brain sleep, yield yourself to the spirit of the quietness of God, and after what appears to be wasted time or unprofitable waiting, there shall come an inspiration into thy soul that shall make thee strong and fearless, and the banished one shall become the center of nations.—PARKER.
