streams in the desert

A friend of mine recommended this devotional to me. It has been so very good for my soul. I just had to share what I read this morning. I hope it encourages someone out “there” as much as it encouraged me. Nothing slips through the Father’s hands.

Streams in the Desert by: L.B. Cowman {edited by Jim Reimann}

I once saw a man draw some black dots on a piece of paper. Several of us looked at it yet saw nothing but an irregular arrangement of dots. Then he also drew a few lines, put in a few rests, and added a treble clef at the beginning. Suddenly we realized that the dots were musical notes, and as we began to sound them out, we were signing.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow,
Praise Him all creatures here below.

Each of us has many black dots or spots in our life, and we cannot understand why they are there or why God permitted them. But when we allow Him into our life to adjust the dots in the proper ways, to draw the lines He desires, and to put rests at the proper places to separate us from certain things, then from the black dots and spots He will compose a glorious work!

Would we know that the major chords were sweet,
If there were no minor key?
Would the painter’s work be fair to our eyes,
Without shade on land or sea?
Would we know the meaning of happiness,
Would we feel that the day was bright,
If we’d never known what it was to grieve,
Nor gazed on the dark of night?

Many people owe the grandeur of their lives to their tremendous difficulties. {Charles Spurgeon}
When an organist presses the black keys of a great organ, the notes are just as beautiful as when he presses the whites ones. Yet to fully demonstrate the capabilities of the instrument, he must press them all.