I was guided by the Hand of Providence to send this to you:

THE RAINBOW

You have seen the arch of heaven as it spans the plain: glorious are its colors and rare its hues. It is beautiful, but, alas, it passes away, and lo, it is not. The fair colors give way to the fleecy clouds, and the sky is no longer brilliant with the tints of heaven. It is not established.

How can it be? A glorious show made up of transitory sun-beans and passing rain-drops, how can it abide? The graces of the child of God character must not resemble the “rainbow” in its transitory beauty, but, on the contrary, must be established, settled, abiding. Seek, O child of God, that every good thing you have may be an abiding thing. May your character not be writings upon the sand, but inscriptions upon rocks!

May your faith be no “baseless fabric of vision,” but may it be built of material able to endure that awful fire which shall consume the wood, hay, and stubble of the hypocrite. May you be rooted and grounded in love. May your convictions be deep, your love real, your desires earnest. May your whole life be so settled and established, that all the blasts of hell, and the storms of earth shall never be able to remove you.

But notice how this blessing of being “established in faith” is gained. The Apostle’s words point us to suffering as the means employed; (I Peter 5:10) “After that ye have suffered awhile.” It is of no use to hope that we shall be well rooted if no rough winds pass over us. Those old gnarling on the root of the oak tree, and those strange twisting of branches, all tell of the many storms that have swept over it, and are also indicators of the depth into which the roots have forced their way.

So the child of God is made strong, and firmly rooted by all trials and storms of life. Shrink not them from tempestuous winds of trials, and take comfort, believing that by their rough discipline God is fulfilling the “benediction” to you!