Chapter 26—The Fight of Faith
Many of the youth have not a fixed principle to serve God. They
sink under every cloud, and have no power of endurance. They do not
grow in grace. They appear to keep the commandments of God, but
they are not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. Their
carnal hearts must be changed. They must see beauty in holiness: then
they will pant after it as the hart panteth after the water-brooks; then
they will love God and His law; then the yoke of Christ will be easy,
and His burden light.
If your steps are ordered by the Lord, dear youth, you must not
expect that your path will always be one of outward peace and pros-
perity. The path that leads to eternal day is not the easiest to travel,
and at times it will seem dark and thorny. But you have the assurance
that God’s everlasting arms encircle you, to protect you from evil. He
wants you to exercise earnest faith in Him, and learn to trust Him in
the shadow as well as in the sunshine.
Living Faith
The follower of Christ must have faith abiding in the heart; for
without this it is impossible to please God. Faith is the hand that takes
hold of infinite help; it is the medium by which the renewed heart is
made to beat in unison with the heart of Christ.
In her endeavors to reach her home, the eagle is often beaten down
by the tempest to the narrow defiles of the mountains. The clouds, in
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black, angry masses sweep between her and the sunny heights where
she secures her nest. For a while she seems bewildered, and dashes this
way and that, beating her strong wings as if to sweep back the dense
clouds. She awakens the doves of the mountains with her wild cry in
her vain endeavors to find a way out of her prison. At last she dashes
upward into the blackness, and gives a shrill scream of triumph as she
emerges, a moment later, in the calm sunshine above. The darkness
and tempest are all below her, and the light of heaven is shining about
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