Briars and Myrtles

BRIERS AND MYRTLES

“Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree: and it shall be to the LORD for a name. ” – Isaiah lv. 13.

MY BLESSED LORD, how tender and pitiful art Thou to me! What a delight it is to tell of Thy mercy and grace to one so unworthy! Yet it is no singular story, for this is Thy sweet way and wont, dear Lord, towards all who put their trust in Thee. When depression and sadness come to me, by reason of the sin within, or the discouragements without; when the thorns and briers of daily cares and vexations prick and tear the weary pilgrim’s feet and hands; then Thou dost turn my footsteps to where the pines and myrtles of Thy loving mercies grow, and in their shelter and
fragrance my troubled spirit finds rest. 

     Nay, more than this, dear Lord, Thy power is so great that Thou dost sometimes transform the very things that hurt and grieved me into means of grace and blessing to my heart and life. Disappointments in my work, obstacles to its performance, the estrangement of friends, conscious incompetence and weakness, and often an overpowering sense of deepening responsibility, these experiences are all like thorns and briers, which irritate and worry by their persistent and close contact; yet all these vanish when Thou, my gracious God, dost give the word, and I wonder as I find myself walking peacefully among the fir trees, where the pine needles lie thick upon the ground, spreading the softest of carpets under my tired feet; and where the myrtle’s snowy blossoms and glossy leaves promise perfume and sweetness even to those who bruise them. Thy ways, O Lord, are past finding out, but they are very gracious and tender; and this turning of seeming evil into good, of making Thy children’s trials grow into triumphs, and their pains into pleasures, is a wonderful proof both of Thy pity and Thy power. 

     “It shall be to the Lord for a name.” My Father, can this be really so? Does Thy great Name receive added glory when Thou dost thus manifest Thy sovereignty on my behalf? When I come to the next sharp thorn-hedge in my path, will it honor Thee if, instead of trying to force my way through it, and getting wounded for my pains, -or attempting to avoid it by some roundabout course, and plunging deeper into the thicket, I should just calmly sit down before it, and pray, and wait for Thee to wither it up, or turn it into a myrtle grove ? Yes, I believe it will, and I seek faith and grace from Thee to do constantly this otherwise impossible thing. Past mercies and deliverances should strengthen me to expect yet greater manifestations of Thy marvelous love.

     Dear Lord, when troubles come, I should like to learn to look upon them as ways and means of glorifying Thee, to accept them as tests and trials of my faith, and to meet them with a brave heart, expecting the salvation of God ! If my pathway were always smooth and pleasant, with never a thorn or brier to vex and trouble me, there would be no opportunity for the glorious exercise of Thy love and mercy in deliverance from them. Courage, my soul! Thy God will give thee grace to say, as did His servant Paul, “Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”