November 19

God’s Will is Best

“Put your sword back in its sheath!” Jesus said to Peter. “Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given Me?” — John 18:11 BSB

The “cup” represents our portion in life, including all the experiences we go through. Since our Father gives us the cup, we can trust that it is the best that the wisest love can offer. When death enters a Christian home, there is great comfort in knowing that God has done the very best for the friend He has taken away. We prayed for God to bless our loved one with His richest blessings, and isn’t that exactly what He has done? Here is a little poem that beautifully illustrates this idea.

First, a prayer for a friend:

Give her, I pray, all good:
Bid all the buds of pleasure grow
To perfect flowers of happiness
Where‘er her feet may go;
Bid Truth’s bright shield and Love’s strong arm
Protect her from all earthly harm.

Lest there should be some other thing,
Better than all the rest,
That I have failed to ask, I said,
Give thou the very best
Of every gift that thou dost deem
Better than aught I hope or dream.

Then comes the answer to this prayer:

She lies before me still and pale;
The roses that I prayed
Might bloom along her path of life
Are on her bosom laid.
Crowned with a strange, rapt calm, she lies,
Like one made dumb with sweet surprise.

Better than I can ask or dream!
This was my prayer, and now
That she is lying still and pale,
With God’s peace on her brow,
I wonder, sobbing, sore dismayed,
If this be that for which I prayed.