"We are tossed and driven On the restless sea of time, Sombre skies and howling tempest Oft succeed the bright sunshine. In that land of perfect day When the mists have rolled away, We will understand it better by and by.
"By and by when the morning comes And all the saints of God are gathered home, We'll tell the story, how we've overcome, For we'll understand it better by and by.
"We are often destitute Of the things that life demands, Want of shelter and of food Thirsty hills and barren lands. We are trusting in the Lord, And according to His word, We will understand it better by and by.
"Trials dark on every hand, And we cannot understand All the ways that God would lead us To the blessed promised land, But He guides us with His eye And we'll follow till we die, For we'll understand it better by and by.
"Temptations, hidden snares, Often take us unawares, And our hearts are made to bleed For a thoughtless word or deed, And we wonder why the test When we try to do our best, But we'll understand it better by and by."
"Wonder why the test When we try to do our best."
"Trials dark on every hand And we cannot understand,"
But they and all the redeemed, God's real children, can say,
"We will understand it better by and by."
Till then they can rest upon His word, that "the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ,"--1 Peter 1:7; for "we know that all things work together for good to those that love God, to those who are the called according to his purpose."--Rom. 8:28.
"Thou art as much His care as if beside, Nor man nor angel lived in Heaven or Earth."
_FOR FURTHER STUDY_:--Some readers may conclude, because trials come to the lives of the unredeemed as well as the redeemed, to those who are not God's children, as well as to those who are God's children, that, therefore, their characters are likewise developed by trials. Let such readers consider two facts:--
First, it is a creature of God being developed in one case; in the other, it is one who has been redeemed and adopted as a child of God (Gal. 4:4-7), and born of the Spirit (John 3:8), that is being developed.