It may be that
God has sent that sadness to make you think of him. It may be that
God has cut the very ground from under your feet that you may rest on
him, the true and only ground of all created things; as it is
written: 'Who is he among you who walketh in darkness and hath no
light? Let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his
God.'
Some will tell you, that if you are sorrowful it is a time for self-
examination, and for thinking of your own soul. I answer--In good
time, but not yet. Think first of God; for how can you ever know
anything rightly about your own soul unless you first know rightly
concerning God, in whom your soul lives, and moves, and has its
being?
Others may tell you to think of God's dealings with his people. I
answer--In good time, but not yet; think first of God. For how can
you rightly understand God's dealings, unless you first rightly
understand who God is, and what his character is? Right notions
concerning your own soul, right notions concerning God's dealings,
can only come from right notions concerning God himself. He is
before all things. Think of him before all things. He is the first,
and he is the last. Think of him first in this life, and so you will
think of him last, and for ever in the life to come. Think of the
Father, that he is a Father indeed, in spirit and in truth.
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