ordering thy lot, has laid these cares
upon thee, and who still holds them about thee, and permits no escape
from them? And as his great, undivided object is thy spiritual
improvement, is there not some misapprehension or wrong use of these
cares, if they do not tend to advance it? Is it not even as if a scholar
should say, I could advance in science were it not for all the time and
care which lessons, and books, and lectures require?

How, then, shall earthly care become heavenly discipline? How shall the
disposition of the weight be altered so as to press the spirit upward
towards God, instead of downward and away? How shall the pillar of cloud
which rises between us and him become one of fire, to reflect upon us
constantly the light of his countenance, and to guide us over the sands
of life's desert?

It appears to us that the great radical difficulty is an intellectual
one, and lies in a wrong belief. There is not a genuine and real belief
of the presence and agency of God in the minor events and details of
life, which is necessary to change them from secular cares into
spiritual blessings.

It is true there is much loose talk about an overruling Providence; and
yet, if fairly stated, the belief of a great many Christians might be
thus expressed: God has organized and set in operation certain general
laws of matter and mind, which work out the particular results of life,
and over these laws he exercises a general supervision and care, so that
all the great affairs of the world are carried on after the counsel of
his own will; and in a certain general sense, all things are working
together for good to those that love God. But when some simple-minded,
childlike Christian really proceeds to refer all the smaller events of
life to God's immediate care and agency, there is a smile of
incredulity, and it is thought that the good brother displays more
Christian feeling than sound philosophy.

But as life for every individual is made up of fractions and minute
atoms--as those things which go to affect habits and character are small
and hourly recurring, it comes to pass that a belief in Providence so
very wide and general, is altogether inefficient for consecrating and
rendering sacred the great body of what comes in contact with the mind
in the experience of life. Only once in years does the Christian with
this kind of belief hear the voice of the Lord God speaking to him. When
the hand of death is laid on his child,