Letter 69. To a Lady

Paris, Jan. i6, 1619.

I WAS afraid you were made anxious by your father^s illness Indeed we need to learn the lesson, that this life is given us only that we may attain to eternal life. For lack of remembering this, we fix our affections on the things of this fleeting world, and when the time comes that we must quit it, we are all aghast and terrified I

Believe me, dear child, if we would pass contentedly through our pilgrimage, we must keep the hope of arriving at our true Home ever before our eyes, else we shall continually be halting. God calls us to Him, and He watches us as we go, and allows nothing to happen save what is for our real good; He knows what we are, and when we come to rough places He will always uphold us with His Fatherly Hand, so that we be not hindered. But to correspond to this grace, we need an absolute trust in Him.

Do not look forward to the changes and chances of this life in fear; rather look to them with full hope that as they arise, God, Whose you are, will deliver you out of them. He has kept you hitherto, do you but hold fast to His Dear Hand, and He will lead you safely through all things; and when you cannot stand. He will bear you in His Arms. What need you fear, my child, remembering that you are God^s, and that He has said, ‘‘ All things work together for good to them that love Him." Do not look forward to what may happen to-morrow; the same Everlasting Father Who cares for you to-day, will take care of you to-morrow, and every day. Either He will shield you from suffering, or He will give you unfailing strength to bear it Be at peace, then; put aside all anxious thoughts and imaginations, and say continually, “ The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart hath trusted in Him, and I am helped” * He is not only with me, but in me, and I in Him.

What can a child fear, surrounded by such a Father^s Arms? Be truly as a child, my daughter. You know children do not trouble themselves with looking forward; they leave that to others, and are perfectly content so long as they are near their father. Do this, my dear child, and you will be.at rest Amen.

t«o.l LXXIL