In his wonderful booklet, When Life Tumbles In, the late Batsell Barrett Baxter skillfully brought together the best of his knowledge of life and biblical precepts, and amalgamated them with the inspirational themes of contemporary artists, to produce a worthy compilation of information. The presumptive title of the booklet seems to insist that everyone is familiar with the problems of life. The Patriarch Job, of the long ago, said it this way, “Man that is born of woman is of few days and full of trouble” (Job 14:1). The idea then, is not “if life should bring me trouble” but rather, how shall I react when life brings me trouble? We can cringe in anxiety and frustration, and pitch a big “pity party,” but that will only exacerbate the existing problem. Brother Baxter’s book points us to resolutions of the problems of life and the resultant happiness that follows. In the chapter entitled, “The Problem of Loneliness,” he has this to say:
I have found the following paragraphs from the book “Light from many lamps,” a source of strength. Henry Francis Lyte walked into his study…an old man…near the end of the journey. He was tired and ill. The doctor told him that he had only a few months to live. He thumbed the well-worn Bible on his desk, and it fell open at one of his favorite passages: “Abide with us; for it is towards evening and the day is now far spent” (Luke 24:29). In the quiet of his curtained study, he read and reread those comforting words.
All at once he was no longer old and tired! All at once he was no longer sad and burdened, no longer discouraged. Words sang through his mind; and he put them down on paper; and in less than an hour he had written one of the most beautiful and inspiring hymns of all time: “Abide With Me.”
When the famous nurse, Edith Cavell, went before a German firing squad, she whispered the words of “Abide With Me.” When the HMS Stella was sinking with 105 victims during the Second World War, a woman—one of the noble unidentified of the world—stood on the bridge and sang “Abide With Me” until the others were singing with her, and they went down bravely.
We are reminded of Paul’s great statement to the Romans, “If God be for us who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31). It is quite possible that we may face some dire circumstances in life, as we face the trials of the “daily grind,” but I am reminded of the simple thought we often expressed to our children, as they prepared to leave the house for school, or some recreational pursuit. We often said to them: “They who walk with God are never alone.” It is only when we have separated ourselves from the loving care of family and friends, and have turned our backs upon the admonition of God, that our prospects are at low ebb, and seem hopeless. “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1). That should be a comfort and a consolation, no matter what the conflict! Abraham Lincoln once observed, “I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go. My own wisdom, and that of all about me, seemed insufficient for the day.”
Wouldn’t it be wonderful, if when in great perplexity and turmoil of spirit, we would stop and consider that God Almighty is in charge, and He has expressed through the Ephesian writer, our final task: “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil” (Ephesians 6:10-11).
