"All
things are naked and opened unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do"
(Heb. 4:13).

It is a blessed
thing to know that we "have to do" with God (Heb. 4:13). If we are
seeking happiness, where shall we find it, except in God? He is not only the
source of our blessing, but the blessing itself.

Once we really
come to know God, we will know Him as love (1 John 4:8). Then, knowing that
everything comes to us from Him—no matter what the circumstances—we interpret
all by His love. I may be called on to pass through pain and sorrow and trial
as part of His discipline; but everything that comes from God comes from a
source and spring in which I have confidence. I look, through the
circumstances, to Him, and nothing can separate me from His love.

Where God is but
little known, and where there is not therefore confidence in His love, there
will be murmuring and rebellion at circumstances. In such a case, the sense of
having to do with God will cause more fear than gladness.

Is it not true
that we often stop, practically, at the circumstances in which we find
ourselves placed and consider only our feelings and judgment about them? This
is a proof that our souls are not living in the fullness of communion with God.
That with which we should be occupied is, not the circumstances, but what God
intends by them.

There may be
some secret evil working in my heart of which I am as yet unaware. Then God
sends some circumstance that discovers to me the evil in order that it may be
put away. Is not this a blessing? The circumstance does not create the evil
which it excites; it only acts upon what it finds to be in my heart and makes
it manifest. The evil being discovered, circumstances are all forgotten; God’s
end alone is seen.

If there are
circumstances that try and perplex our hearts, let us ask the question,
"What is God up to with me?" The moment the soul finds itself in
communion with God about the circumstances, all is well.

(From Collected
Writings, Vol. 16.)