Choosing to Be Where You Are

One  of those things which particularly characterizes the holy mind, in distinction from the unholy or natural mind, and also in distinction from the partially sanctified mind, is, that in the allotment which falls to it in life,  it chooses to be, and loves to be, where it is; and has no disposition and no desire to be any where else, till the providence of God clearly indicates that the time has come for a removal.

— Religious Maxims (1846) CXXXII.

God's Will is Good

The will of God includes every possible good. He who seeks conformity to the will of  God, necessarily seeks whatever is most desirable and best for himself.

— Religious Maxims (1846) CXXXI.

To Endure and to Suffer God's Will

To be willing to execute or do the will of God, cannot be acceptable to Him, unless we are willing, at the same time, to endure and suffer his will.

— Religious Maxims (1846) CXXX.

The Hidden Life

"Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is  hid with Christ in God."  Col. iii. 2, 3.

My life is folded in the life of Jesus,
No longer mine, but purchased by that tide,
That crimson tide, which shed on Calvary, frees us
From those dark stains that in our hearts abide.
MY LIFE IS HID WITH CHRIST, and I am His.
Whate'er his will, that am I bound to do;
If He doth call me to far lands and seas,
I hear his summons, and his steps pursue.
Where'er He goes, I cannot stay behind;
In what He does, my hand shall have employ;
Whene'er He suffers, sorrow fills my mind;
When He rejoices, I partake the joy.
He bought me by his blood, and I am his;
I have no other will, no other grief nor bliss.

— American Cottage Life (1850) XIII.

The Place of Refuge

"For thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in distress, a refuge from  the  storm."

"A man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest."  Is. xxv. 4-xxxii. 2.

The clouds are gathering in the distant sky;
I hear the fiercely muttering thunders roll;
Terrors invade my breast; my trembling soul
Looks forth around, but sees no refuge nigh.
Ah, whither shall I flee? What friendly hand
Shall guide me to some safe, select retreat,
Where, while the dark, perpetual tempests beat,
Unscathed, uninjured, I may safely stand?
He comes! He comes! I see the platted crown;
I see the bleeding feet, the wounded side.
Now let the bellowing storm rush fiercely down,
Thy smile shall comfort me, Thine arms shall hide.
With Thee, Thou dear Redeemer, are no fears;
Thou scatterest all my doubts, and wipest all my tears.

— American Cottage Life (1850) XII.

Consolation in the Gospel

"That we might have a strong consolation,  who  have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us: which hope we have as an anchor to the soul both sure and steadfast."  Heb. vi. 18, 19.

How beautiful, as fades the gloom of night,
How beautiful the early sunbeams fall
In long and leveled lines of light, o'er all
The wide expanse of plain, and vale, and height,
And clothe them with a young and purple bloom!
So, when my heart environed is with sorrow,
And from the earth no ray of hope can borrow,
The Gospel's glory dissipates its gloom.
That Gospel plants a sun within my breast,
Which hath the power to change dark shades to day;
Unchanged, unfailing, it transmits its ray,
And e'en in sorrow makes my bosom blest.
The vales throw off their shades, the mists take wing,
The flowers unfold their leaves, the birds start up and sing.

— American Cottage Life (1850) XI.

The Sanctification of Desire as the Foundation of a Holy Will

When the Desires, including the various Appetites, Propensities, and Affections, are reduced to their proper position by being brought under the controlling influence of divine love, and are truly sanctified to the Lord, there is a foundation laid for the right action of the Will.

It is well understood, I suppose, that the Will acts, if it acts at all, in accordance either with natural and interested motives on the one hand, or of moral motives on the other. In a mind, that is not the subject of any degree of alienated action, and which, therefore, in the ordinary sense of the terms, may properly be called a sound mind, the moral sense will always act right and act effectively, and will always furnish a powerful motive to the Will, unless it is perplexed and weakened in its action, (which, however, is very likely to be the case in the natural man,) by the influence of unsanctified desires.

If, therefore, the desires are sanctified, and the perplexing and disordering influence from that source is taken away, the feelings of desire and the sentiment of justice will combine their action in the same direction, and the action of the Will cannot be otherwise than holy. To possess holy desires, therefore, in their various modifications, or what is the same thing, to possess, as we sometimes express it, a holy HEART, is necessarily to possess a holy WILL. There is no reason, under such circumstances, why the will should not act right. And a right will is a holy will. To secure such a consummation — the appetites subdued, the propensities regulated, the affections sanctified, the will just in its action, and consequently united with the will of God — to secure a result so immensely important in itself and its relations, how devoutly should we pray! How constantly and ardently should we labor!

"Create, O God, my powers anew,

Make my whole heart sincere and true;

Oh, cast me not in wrath away,

Nor let thy soul-enlivening ray

Still cease to shine."

— edited from The Interior or Hidden Life (1844) Part 2, Chapter 9.