Days of Heaven Upon Earth

Devotional For

January 8

      "It is I, be not afraid" (Mark vi. 50).
      
      Someone tells of a little child with some big story of sorrow upon its little heart, flying to its mother's arms for comfort, and intending to tell her the story of its trouble; but as that mother presses it to her bosom and pours out her love, it soon becomes so occupied with her and the sweetness of her affection that it forgets to tell its story, and in a little while even the memory of the trouble is forgotten. It has just been loved away, and she has taken its place in the heart of the little one.
      
      This is the way God comforts us Himself. "It is I, be not afraid," is His reassuring word. The circumstances are not altered, but He Himself comes in their place, and satisfies every need of our being, and we forget all things in His sweet presence, as He becomes our all in all.
      
      I am breathing out my sorrow
          On Thy kind and loving breast;
      Breathing in Thy joy and comfort,
          Breathing in Thy peace and rest.
      
      I am breathing out my longings
          In Thy listening, loving ear;
      I am breathing in Thy answer,
          Stilling every doubt and fear.