The Bright Light in the Clouds

LK And now men see not the bright light which is in the clouds.” — Job xxxvii. 21.

My soul, the greatest truth about thee is that which thou hast not learned — the secret of thine own joy, the source of the light .that is in thee. Thou art seeking thy light in the dispersion of the cloud, and all the time Thy light is in the cloud. Thou art like the old patriarch of Uz. Thou art asking God for an explanation of thy darkness, and thou art expecting an answer from all quarters but one — the darkness itself. Yet it is there, and nowhere else, that the secret lies. Thy cloud is thy fire-chariot; thy trial is thy triumph.

The best gift of divine love to thee has been thy pain; it has taught thee what is the difference between being virtuous and being innocent. Thou hast been self-deceived, 0 my soul. Thou hast been down in the valley of the shadow, and thou hast been looking up to the calm heavens to find thy God. The calm heavens have not answered thee, and thou hast said, “Verily Thou art a God that hidest Thyself.” Yet all the time thy God has been beside thee in the valley, a sharer in the shadow of thy life. Thou hast been looking too far to find Him; thou has cried to the heavens when He was at the very door. He was speaking. in the voices that seemed to deny His presence; He was manifested in the shades that appeared, to veil His form. He came to thee in the night, that His glory might be concealed. He came to thee unaccompanied and unadorned, that He might know whether He were loved for Himself alone. The night under which thou hast murmured has been hiding in its folds a wondrous treasure — the very presence of the King of kings; w7herefore didst thou not see the brio-ht light in the cloud?