p. 74 | JOY AND PEACE IN BELIEVING by Dudley Marvin Canright

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Aug 31, 1869

JOY AND PEACE IN BELIEVING.

By Dudley Marvin Canright

Says Paul, “Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.” Rom. xv, 13. This is a sentiment often repeated in the Bible, that the child of God should be full of joy and peace by believing in God. It is his privilege to walk in the light; to have peace that passeth all understanding; to have a firm hope in God; to know that he has passed from death unto life, &c. So holy men of the Bible have said and felt, and so it is promised to every child that will walk with God. Now does our experience correspond with this? Do we enjoy our religion, or is it a yoke of bondage? Do we ever enjoy sweet seasons of communion with God and Heaven? If we do not, sin lies at the door.

With sorrow I have to confess that I have not always served God because I loved to; that my soul has not always been in my prayers; that my own heart has not always been moistened and wet with the dews of Heaven while I have been trying to water others; and that my spirit has not always been warmed with the love of Jesus while I have tried to warm others. But it is hard laboring for God and for souls in this way. It is like working alone, and with man's strength, against overwhelming odds. Very little fruit ever appears from such labor.

But I am glad that all my experience has not been of this kind. I have found many bright spots, happy hours, and deep joy and peace, in serving my God. How many sweet seasons my soul has enjoyed when I have sought the Lord by repentance, humiliation, meditation, and earnest prayer. How near Heaven has seemed! how light, and full of peace and love! How great, then, has appeared the goodness of God, and the love of Jesus! Then could I go forth with a full heart, and it was sweet to work for Jesus. Then could I reach the hearts of those who heard me. When the heart is full of the love of God, and his truth, how easy it is to talk it out, and pray it out. How precious souls seem then, and how small self appears, and all our labors and trials are nothing. Why can we not always live there! Ah! it is the deceitfulness of sin, the carnal heart, that shuts out the light of Heaven, and cuts us off from the joy of God's salvation.

I find that it is easier to make a mighty effort and seek the Lord than it is to continue to walk with him after I have found him. A continual seeking God, a daily conversion, is what is needed. This I am trying to obtain, and the Lord often waters my soul with his good Spirit. Oh! let us taste and see that God is good.

D. M. CANRIGHT.

Sigourney, Iowa.