April 5

"Thou shalt shut the door upon thee and upon thy sons." (2 Kings 4:4)

They were to be alone with God, for they were not dealing¹ with the laws of nature, nor human government, nor the church, nor the priesthood, nor even with the great prophet of God, but they must needs be isolated² from all creatures, from all leaning circumstances, from all props³ of human reason, and swung off, as it were, into the vast blue inter-stellar space, hanging on God alone, in touch with the fountain of miracles.

Here is a part in the programme of God's dealings, a secret chamber⁴ of isolation⁵ in prayer and faith which every soul must enter that is very fruitful.

There are times and places where God will form a mysterious wall around us, and cut away all props, and all the ordinary ways of doing things, and shut us up to something Divine, which is utterly⁷ new and unexpected, something that old circumstances do not fit into, where we do not know just what will happen, where God is cutting the cloth of our lives on a new pattern, where He makes us look to Himself.

Most religious people live in a sort of treadmill⁸ life, where they can calculate almost everything that will happen, but the souls that God leads out into immediate⁹ and special dealings, He shuts in where all they know is that God has hold of them, and is dealing with them, and their expectation is from Him alone.

Like this widow, we must be detached from outward things and attached inwardly to the Lord alone in order to see His wonders. --Soul Food.

In the sorest trials God often makes the sweetest discoveries of Himself. --Gems.

"God sometimes shuts the door and shuts us in,

That He may speak, perchance through grief or pain,

And softly, heart to heart, above the din⁶,

May tell some precious thought to us again."

　 　 四月五日

“关上门，你和你儿子在里面”（王下四：4）。

　　他们必须关上门，与世隔别，专一亲近神；因为他们不是靠自然的定律，不是靠世人的方法，不是靠教会的帮助，不是靠先知的神迹；他们必须从可借助的人们，从可靠的环境，从可信的理由中出来，专一到密室中去亲近神。

　　这里就是神课程中的一段，每一个信徒在隔离的密室中操练祷告和信心是非常有效果的。

　　许多时侯，许多地方，神特地在我们四周围一层神秘的墙来环绕我们，不让我们和人的计谋和办法接触；在那里神要我们依靠一个新而出乎常情的办法；绝非旧环境所能适合，在没有进入这个环境之先，亦非事先可以料想；换一句话说，就是在那里神替我们裁一件新式的服装，叫我们穿了像他自己。

　　多数的信徒都过着刻板文章一般的生活，他们知道什么事情在什么时侯发生，该用什么方法对付；但是神抱有特别盼望的信徒，常被神圈在一个隔离的处境中，和一切常情向例断绝，使他们知道只有神在维护他们，他们的希望也唯有仰望于神。

　　让我们像这个寡妇一样：外面与世隔离，里面与神亲近；这样，我们就会看见神的神迹了。——译自灵食

　　在最痛的试炼中，神常给你们的最甜。——选

神有时关了门，使我们与世隔绝，

或许还要经过了悲愁与苦痛，

向我们倾吐胸臆。

此时已经外界的尘嚣，

心心相印，给我们宝贵的信息。

1 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

2 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。

3 props   

小道具； 支柱( prop的名词复数 )； 支持者； 道具； （橄榄球中的）支柱前锋

参考例句：

• Rescuers used props to stop the roof of the tunnel collapsing. 救援人员用支柱防止隧道顶塌陷。
• The government props up the prices of farm products to support farmers' incomes. 政府保持农产品价格不变以保障农民们的收入。

4 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

5 isolation   

n.隔离，孤立，分解，分离

参考例句：

• The millionaire lived in complete isolation from the outside world.这位富翁过着与世隔绝的生活。
• He retired and lived in relative isolation.他退休后，生活比较孤寂。

6 din   

n.喧闹声，嘈杂声

参考例句：

• The bustle and din gradually faded to silence as night advanced.随着夜越来越深，喧闹声逐渐沉寂。
• They tried to make themselves heard over the din of the crowd.他们力图让自己的声音盖过人群的喧闹声。

7 utterly   

adv.完全地，绝对地

参考例句：

• Utterly devoted to the people,he gave his life in saving his patients.他忠于人民，把毕生精力用于挽救患者的生命。
• I was utterly ravished by the way she smiled.她的微笑使我完全陶醉了。

8 treadmill   

n.踏车；单调的工作

参考例句：

• The treadmill has a heart rate monitor.跑步机上有个脉搏监视器。
• Drugs remove man from the treadmill of routine.药物可以使人摆脱日常单调的工作带来的疲劳。

9 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。