“Between our hope, which shines afar
Against life’s sky like some bright start,
And fate’s most stern, relentless bar,
All joys and woes exist;
So if our lives, which seem so bright,
Should be obscured by some dark night,
Remember there’s a brighter light
No darkness can resist.”
We are not apt to think of discouragement as either dangerous or sinful. Some people seem to think it rather a pleasant experience than otherwise; at least, they appear to find a sort of relief and satisfaction in dropping down now and then into a dispirited mood. They make no effort to overcome their disposition to sadness, or to climb out of the deep valley of shadows up to the mountain tops where the sun is shining. They resent the kindly efforts of those who would help them to be cheerful, as if they were meddling with matters which do not belong to them.
We should settle it once for all that the ideal Christian life is one of habitual cheerfulness. It has its experiences of difficulty, or disappointment, of suffering; but these are meant to be only lessons set for us to learn, and we are not expected to fail in them. Provision is made for us in the grace of God by which we may overcome in every such experience, and be more than conquerors through him who loved us.
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