A Word of Cheer

Be of Good Courage.

My fellow-laborers, never let your courage fail. Never complain. Never talk unbelief because appearances are against you. As you work for the Master, you will feel pressure for want of means, but the Lord will hear and answer your petitions. Let your language be, «The Lord God will help me; therefore shall I not be confounded; therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed.»

Look on the Bright Side.

Difficulties will arise that will try your faith and patience. Face them bravely. Remember that Christ has said, «Be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.» You are not asked to fight alone. Christ and the heavenly angels are fighting with you. Look on the bright side. If the work that you are doing is hindered, be sure that it is not your fault, and then go forward, rejoicing in the Lord. Heaven is full of joy. It resounds with the praises of him who made so wonderful a sacrifice for the redemption of the human race. Should not the church on earth be full of praise? Should not Christians publish throughout the world the joy of serving Christ? Those who in heaven join with the angelic choir in their anthem of praise must learn on earth the song of heaven, the keynote of which is praise and thanksgiving.

Turn Defeat into Victory.

If you make a mistake, turn your defeat into victory. The lessons that God sends will always, if well learned, bring help in due time. Put your trust in God. Pray much, and believe that in his work the Lord will guide you step by step. Trusting, hoping, believing, holding fast the hand of infinite power, you will be more than conquerors.

The Water of Life Free.

Come to the water of life, and drink. Do not stay away, and complain of thirst. The water of life is free for all. Spend much time on your knees in prayer. Believe that God hears your prayers, and you will see of his salvation.

Study the Word.

Depend on this: If you study the Word of God with a sincere desire to get help, the Lord will fill your soul with light. Your work will be approved by God, and your influence will be a savor of life.

Work in Faith.

Have faith in God. Unbelief can only deny and destroy. Faith lifts the head in confidence and trust. True workers walk and work by faith. Sometimes they grow weary with watching the slow advance of the work, when the battle wages strong between the powers of good and evil. But if they refuse to fail or be discouraged, they will see the clouds breaking away, and the promise of deliverance fulfilling. Through the mist with which Satan has surrounded them, they will see the shining of the bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness.

Work in faith, and leave the results with God. Pray in faith, and the mystery of God’s providence will bring its answer. At times it may seem that you can not succeed; but work and believe, putting into your efforts faith and life and hope and courage. After you have done what you can, wait for the Lord, declaring his faithfulness, and he will bring his word to pass. Wait, not in fretful anxiety, but in undaunted faith and unshaken trust.

«For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace; the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree; and it shall be to the Lord for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.»

Victory through Christ.

«If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? . . . Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.» Mrs. E. G. White. —