Someday we will understand that God has a reason behind every no He gives us through the course of our lives. Yet even in this life, He always makes it up to us. When God’s people are worried and concerned that their prayers are not being answered, how often we have seen Him working to answer them in a far greater way! Occasionally we catch a glimpse of this, but the complete revelation of it will not be seen until later.

If God says yes to our prayer, dear heart, And the sunlight is golden, the sky is blue, While the smooth road beckons to me and you, And songbirds are singing as on we go, Pausing to pick the flowers at our feet, Stopping to drink of the streams that we meet, Happy, more happy, our journey will grow, If God says yes to our prayer, dear heart.

If God says no to our prayer, dear heart, And the clouds hang heavy and dull and gray; If the rough rocks hinder and block the way, While the sharp winds pierce us and sting with cold; Yet, dear, there is home at the journey’s end, And these are the trials the Father does send To draw us as sheep to His Heavenly fold, If God says no to our prayer, dear heart.

If only we had the faith not to rush into things but to “be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him” (Psalm 37:7)—waiting for His full explanation that will not be revealed until Jesus Christ comes again! When has God ever taken anything from a person without restoring it many times over? Yet what are we to think if He does not immediately restore what has been taken? Is today His only day to work? Does He have any concerns beyond this little world of ours? Can He still work beyond our death, or does the door of the grave open on nothing but infinite darkness and eternal silence?

Even if we confine our thinking to this life, it is true that God never touches the heart with a trial without intending to bestow a greater gift or compassionate blessing. The person who knows how to wait has grown to an exceptional degree in God’s grace. SELECTED

When the frosts are in the valley, And the mountaintops are gray, And the choicest blooms are blighted, And the blossoms die away, A loving Father whispers, “This all comes from my hand”; Blessed are you if you trust When you cannot understand.

If, after years of toiling, Your wealth should fly away And leave your hands all empty, And your hair is turning gray, Remember then your Father Owns all the sea and land; Blessed are you if you trust When you cannot understand. SELECTED

What a task lay before the Lord on that day! There were five thousand men, besides women and children. To feed such a crowd at a moment’s notice might well-nigh seem impossible. Well might the disciples say, “Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food” (v. 15). Well might they look startled when the reply came back. “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.” Their hearts must have sunk within them as their eyes again and again scanned that surging crowd.

The prospect of feeding that multitude did not alarm the Lord. He asked Philip, indeed, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” (John 6:5) but we learn immediately that He said this “to test him” (v. 6). The Lord Jesus is perfectly confident that He can meet our needs and He would have us confident, too; for He is the One who for thousands of years has met the needs of those who put their trust in Him. As the God of providence He keeps the barrel of meal from wasting, and the cruse of oil from failing. He draws from one the testimony: “I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread” (Psalm 37:25). And from another, “Not one word has failed of all the good promises he gave” (1 Kings 8:56).

Say not, my soul, “From whence Can God relieve my care?” Remember that Omnipotence Hath servants everywhere. His help is always sure, His methods seldom guessed; Delay will make our pleasure pure: Surprise will give it zest. His wisdom is sublime, His heart profoundly kind; God never is before His time, And never is behind.

Hast thou assumed a load Which none will bear with thee? And art thou bearing it for God, And shall He fail to see? Be comforted at heart, Thou art not left alone; Now thou the Lord’s companion art— Soon thou shalt share His throne.

J. J. Lynch

Jesus fed the multitude in a desert place.