Dec 13

"I will give thee the treasures of darkness" (Isa.45:3)

In the famous lace shops of Brussels, there are certain rooms devoted to the spinning of the finest and most delicate patterns. These rooms are altogether darkened, save for a light from one very small window, which falls directly upon the pattern. There is only one spinner in the room, and he sits where the narrow stream of light falls upon the threads of his weaving. "Thus," we are told by the guide, "do we secure our choicest products. Lace is always more delicately and beautifully woven when the worker himself is in the dark and only his pattern is in the light."

May it not be the same with us in our weaving? Sometimes it is very dark. We cannot understand what we are doing. We do not see the web we are weaving. We are not able to discover any beauty, any possible good in our experience. Yet if we are faithful and fail not and faint not, we shall some day know that the most exquisite work of all our life was done in those days when it was so dark.

If you are in the deep shadows because of some strange, mysterious providence, do not be afraid. Simply go on in faith and love, never doubting. God is watching, and He will bring good and beauty out of all your pain and tears. ━J. R. Miller

The shuttles of His purpose move,

To carry out His own design;

Seek not too soon to disapprove,

His work, nor yet assign,

Dark motives, when, with silent tread,

You view some somber fold;

For lo, within each darker thread,

There twines a thread of gold.

Spin cheerfully,

Not tearfully,

He knows the way you plod;

Spin carefully,

Spin prayerfully,

But leave the thread with God.

━Canadian Home Journal

十二月十三日

「我要将暗中的宝物......赐给你。」 （赛四十五:3）

在比京勃鲁赛尔有几家著名的花边店，他们有几间特别的房间，专门为纺织最精致，最优美的花边用的。这些房间是全黑的，只从一扇极小的窗外射进一线日光来，这一线日光恰正照在花样上面。引导我们参观的那位告诉我们说：「最上等的出产就是这样得到的。最优美的花边，都是工人坐在黑暗中织成的」。

我们不也这样么？有时，环境非常黑暗。我们自己也不能明白我们到底在做甚么。我们看不见我们自己所织的东西。我们看不见一点美丽、一点好处。但是如果我们忠忠心心去做，不沮丧、不失望，有一天我们就要看见我们生命中最精美的工作，乃是在黑暗中做成的。

亲爱的，如果你正在黑暗中，不要惧怕。只要凭信心和爱心前进，切勿怀疑。神必从你一切痛苦和眼泪中找出良善和美丽来。━密勒

照祂的旨意投梭,

织出祂拟定图案;

不要急躁,不要对工作非难,

看到了阴暗的色泽,

也不要灰心悲观,

因为在每朿深黑的线里;

都夹杂着金线的灿烂。

带着笑脸去织,不必流泪,

祂知道你的辛苦和忧患;

以祈祷的心,谨慎工作,

用甚么线,让神来置配。

━加拿大家庭日志
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