Oh, how Heaven must have wondered! How the stars must have stood still in astonishment! And how the angels must have paused in their songs when, for the first time, God showed how He could be both just and merciful! "Oh, sinner," He said, "my heart has conceived a plan: my Son, the pure and perfect one,

will stand in your place and be counted guilty, and you, the guilty one, will stand in my Son's place and be counted righteous!" It would make us leap to our feet in amazement if we fully understood this—the incredible mystery of Christ taking the sinner's place and the sinner taking Christ's place.

What a calm and peaceful life you could lead if you left your worries to the God of providence. With just a little oil in a jar and a handful of flour in a barrel, Elijah survived a famine, and you will too. If God cares for you, why should you worry?

Can you trust Him with your soul but not with your body? He has never refused to carry your burdens, and He has never grown tired under their weight, so why should you struggle under them yourself?