October 5

"It came to pass . . . that the brook¹ dried up" (1 Kings 17:7)

The education of our faith is incomplete if we have not learned that there is a providence² of loss, a ministry³ of failing and of fading things, a gift of emptiness. The material insecurities of life make for its spiritual establishment. The dwindling⁴ stream by which Elijah sat and mused⁵ is a true picture of the life of each of us. "It came to pass…that the brook dried up"━that is the history of our yesterday, and a prophecy of our morrows.

In some way or other we will have to learn the difference between trusting in the gift and trusting in the Giver. The gift may be good for a while, but the Giver is the Eternal Love.

Cherith was a difficult problem to Elijah until he got to Zarephath, and then it was all as clear as daylight. God's hard words are never His last words. The woe⁶ and the waste and the tears of life belong to the interlude and not to the finale.

Had Elijah been led straight to Zarephath he would have missed something that helped to make him a wiser prophet and a better man. He lived by faith at Cherith. And whensoever in your life and mine some spring of earthly and outward resource has dried up, it has been that we might learn that our hope and help are in God who made Heaven and earth. ━F. B. Meyer

Perchance thou, too,

hast camped by such sweet waters,

And quenched⁷ with joy thy weary,

parched⁸ soul’s thirst;

To find, as time goes on,

thy streamlet alters

From, what it was at first.

Hearts that have cheered, or soothed⁹, or blest,

or strengthened, Loves that have lavished¹⁰ so unstintedly; Joys, treasure joys ━ have passed,

as time hath lengthened¹¹, Into obscurity.

If thus, ah soul, the brook thy heart hath cherished,

Doth fail thee now - no more thy thirst assuage¹²,

If its once glad refreshing¹³ streams have perished,

Let HIM thy heart engage.

He will not fail, nor mock, nor disappoint thee,

His consolations¹⁴ change not with the years,

With oil of joy He surely will anoint thee,

And wipe away thy tears.

━J.Danson Smith

十月五日

「过了些日子，溪水就干了。」 （王上十七:7）

如果我们不知道损失是祝福，失败是成功，空虚是礼物的话，我们所受的信心教育还不完全。物质的缺乏常是灵力的建设。伊莱贾坐在基立溪旁注视那日渐干涸的溪水，正是我们生活的写眞。「过了些日子，溪水就干了。」━这是我们昨天的历史，明天的豫言。

有一天我们总会知道信靠恩赐和信靠赐恩者有甚么不同。恩赐也许有一时好用，可是赐恩者是永久的爱。

伊莱贾在未到撒勒法之前，基立对于他是一个难题。等他到了撒勒法之后，他就清楚明白了。神严厉的对付并不是最后的对付。生活中的灾祸、沙漠、眼泪，都是一些插入的音乐，并不是最后的精采。

如果伊莱贾不经过基立，直接由基列往撒勒法去的话，他必定会失去许多帮助他的东西，因为他在基立过的是信心生活。在你我的生活中，甚么时候属地的泉源干了，属人的方法完了，我们就该知道我们的希望和帮助是在乎创造天地的神。━梅尔

你可能也曾露营歇息,

在这样美好的溪水之旁,

消除了你的疲倦,滋润了你的灵魂,

可是后来溪水枯干,不再有当日的风光。

安慰和福佑,曾经鼓舞你的心,

无穷的爱,无限的欢欣,

可是随着时光消逝,一切变了,

没有了温情,一片冷冷清清。

灵魂啊!假若曾使你欣喜的溪水干枯,

不能再给你解渴,你将如何?

祇要你投入神的怀抱,你无需烦恼。

祂不会使你失望,更不会对你讥笑,

祂的安慰不随时光流逝而改变,

擦去你的眼泪,把你的创伤医好。

━司密斯

1 brook   

n.小河，溪；v.忍受，容让

参考例句：

• In our room we could hear the murmur of a distant brook.在我们房间能听到远处小溪汩汩的流水声。
• The brook trickled through the valley.小溪涓涓流过峡谷。

2 providence   

n.深谋远虑，天道，天意；远见；节约；上帝

参考例句：

• It is tempting Providence to go in that old boat.乘那艘旧船前往是冒大险。
• To act as you have done is to fly in the face of Providence.照你的所作所为那样去行事，是违背上帝的意志的。

3 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

4 dwindling   

adj.逐渐减少的v.逐渐变少或变小( dwindle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The number of wild animals on the earth is dwindling. 地球上野生动物的数量正日渐减少。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He is struggling to come to terms with his dwindling authority. 他正努力适应自己权力被削弱这一局面。 来自辞典例句

5 mused   

v.沉思，冥想( muse的过去式和过去分词 )；沉思自语说（某事）

参考例句：

• \"I wonder if I shall ever see them again, \"he mused. “我不知道是否还可以再见到他们，”他沉思自问。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• \"Where are we going from here?\" mused one of Rutherford's guests. 卢瑟福的一位客人忍不住说道：‘我们这是在干什么？” 来自英汉非文学 - 科学史

6 woe   

n.悲哀，苦痛，不幸，困难；int.用来表达悲伤或惊慌

参考例句：

• Our two peoples are brothers sharing weal and woe.我们两国人民是患难与共的兄弟。
• A man is well or woe as he thinks himself so.自认祸是祸，自认福是福。

7 quenched   

解（渴）( quench的过去式和过去分词 )； 终止（某事物）； （用水）扑灭（火焰等）； 将（热物体）放入水中急速冷却

参考例句：

• He quenched his thirst with a long drink of cold water. 他喝了好多冷水解渴。
• I quenched my thirst with a glass of cold beer. 我喝了一杯冰啤酒解渴。

8 parched   

adj.焦干的；极渴的；v.（使）焦干

参考例句：

• Hot winds parched the crops.热风使庄稼干透了。
• The land in this region is rather dry and parched.这片土地十分干燥。

9 soothed   

v.安慰( soothe的过去式和过去分词 )；抚慰；使舒服；减轻痛苦

参考例句：

• The music soothed her for a while. 音乐让她稍微安静了一会儿。
• The soft modulation of her voice soothed the infant. 她柔和的声调使婴儿安静了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

10 lavished   

v.过分给予，滥施( lavish的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• I lavished all the warmth of my pent-up passion. 我把憋在心里那一股热烈的情感尽量地倾吐出来。 来自辞典例句
• An enormous amount of attention has been lavished on these problems. 在这些问题上，我们已经花费了大量的注意力。 来自辞典例句

11 lengthened   

（时间或空间）延长，伸长( lengthen的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The afternoon shadows lengthened. 下午影子渐渐变长了。
• He wanted to have his coat lengthened a bit. 他要把上衣放长一些。

12 assuage   

v.缓和，减轻，镇定

参考例句：

• The medicine is used to assuage pain.这种药用来止痛。
• Your messages of cheer should assuage her suffering.你带来的这些振奋人心的消息一定能减轻她的痛苦。

13 refreshing   

adj.使精神振作的，使人清爽的，使人喜欢的

参考例句：

• I find it'so refreshing to work with young people in this department.我发现和这一部门的青年一起工作令人精神振奋。
• The water was cold and wonderfully refreshing.水很涼，特别解乏提神。

14 consolations   

n.安慰，慰问( consolation的名词复数 )；起安慰作用的人（或事物）

参考例句：

• Recent history had washed away the easy consolations and the old formulas. 现代的历史已经把轻松的安慰和陈旧的公式一扫而光。 来自辞典例句
• When my anxious thoughts multiply within me, Your consolations delight my soul. 诗94:19我心里多忧多疑、安慰我、使我欢乐。 来自互联网