The Hidden Life
Gleanings from the journal of Whitmore Winslow
written at the age of 14.
His journal, which was previously unknown to his family,
was found among his papers after his unexpected death,
at the age of 21. He died in 1856, and was the son of
Octavius Winslow.
How frail the thread!
How short is time, and what a small portion
is allotted to man to prepare for another world!
And yet how careless is he of that time!
How frail the thread upon which life hangs!
A few hours' illness may carry him away into
a world of endless happiness or of endless woe!
What a vain world it is!
What a fallen creature is man!
Day by day calls forth more hidden depravity
of his heart; and yet his whole affections are
set upon the very object which is fostering
and encouraging that depravity.
His great ambition is to win the approbation
of the world; a world that slew the King of kings;
a world full of sin and sorrow, the medium by
which Satan endeavors to blind the eyes of the
children of men.
And yet, after all, what a vain world it is!
It promises much, but realizes nothing.
The more we expect pleasure, the more are we
disappointed in it.
Oh, what would man be, if instead of seeking
the friendship and the love of a dying world, he
would seek that of Jehovah!
And yet how prone are we to lament when we
are frowned upon by the world. If we did not
seek its smiles, we would not mind its frowns.
But the more we are delighted at the world's
praise, the more are we discomforted and made
unhappy by its disapprobation.
But take the world as a whole; what is it?
A speck in the universe; a ball floating in
the air, surrounded by other worlds greater
and more magnificent than itself.
Shall we love the world which hated and scorned,
and ultimately slew our loved Redeemer?
That ever promising, yet ever deceiving world?
How little have appearances to do with realities!
The outward show has often the effect of deceiving.
Deceit is, indeed, one of the prominent features
in man; he deceives others, he deceives himself.
The world is truly a false world. And does it not
show the depravity of man's heart when after tasting
its bitters, feeling its pains, and experiencing its
disappointments and sorrows, he should still cling
to that ever promising, yet ever deceiving world?
Changeable!
What a changeable world is this, and what
changeable creatures are we! But what a
glorious thought that there is a Being who
changes not!
We chase it like a bubble in the air!
What could the Christian do in a poor world
like this if he had not Christ for his Friend?
Truly is he often seeking other friends, but
God will make him know, by sad yet blessed
experience, that there is no friend like Jesus;
and that while other friends are fickle and
changeable, He changes not.
Oh that we followed not this poor world as we do!
We chase it like a bubble in the air, and with
all its apparent beauty, it fades into nothing!
But oh, when we taste the preciousness of Jesus,
what a heavenly morsel it is! It raises our drooping
spirits to contemplate the joy that awaits us in
another world, the happiness that is laid up for
us above, the glory that will crown the final end
of our weary pilgrimage through a dying and
unsatisfying world.
Pride eats at the root of all happiness!
Ah! blessed is he to whom God shows his own weakness
and insufficiency to do anything of himself. Deem it not
a curse, but a blessing, when God humbles your pride,
however severe the discipline may be by which He does it.
When He teaches you to lean upon Him alone for support,
thank Him for it.
Pride eats at the root of all happiness; and a proud
spirit God will abase, but the humble spirit He will exalt.
Toilsome journey through this weary world
I had some sweet sights of Jesus by faith, some
feeble glimmerings of the happiness and glory
which we shall realize above. It is only these
glorious feelings that will solace the Christian in
his toilsome journey through this weary world.
Come what may, pleasure or pain, happiness or
woe, life or death, I am in the hands of the Lord
of Creation, the King of kings, and in His keeping
no evil will befall me.
Surrounded with trouble at almost every step?
Today I have been surrounded with trouble at
almost every step. But with all this, I can fly to
Jesus as my never failing Friend, and He can give
me all I need.
A bountiful Savior and a needy sinner just suit
each other!
This precious jewel, where can it be located?
Happiness! Where is it to be found?
This precious jewel, where can it be located?
Is it to be obtained in the world, its pleasures and
delights? No! the Christian will answer it cannot!
Happiness, if there be such a thing in this world,
can only be obtained from Jesus. In His bosom
alone can we find repose.
I am persuaded that the more the believer has
of sanctified sorrow, tribulation, and affliction in
this dying world, the more he will have of happiness
and glory in the blessed realms above.
I feel now as if death would be a welcome messenger
to my soul, to waft me from this sinful world to
Canaan's joyful shore. Ah! it is a blessed thing to
be able to meet death with a beaming countenance
and a gladsome heart.
There have been times when amid pleasure and
enjoyment I have loathed the very thought of death.
But when God afflicts a man, then he feels the vanity
and deceitfulness of the world; and if he is a believer
in the Lord Jesus Christ, he will long to see his Redeemer,
and be with Him in the abodes of happiness and light
throughout an endless eternity!
I'm a poor sinner, and nothing at all,
But Jesus Christ is my all in all.
All the troubles and afflictions of His people
How gracious has the Lord been to me today! His
promises, they never fail. They have been indeed
my chief support.
Oh, to have a simple trust in the Savior! He will not
betray your confidence. He is a faithful and just God,
merciful and gracious, and ever ready to lend an ear
to all the troubles and afflictions of His people.
Open all your heart to Jesus, and He will open the
fountain of His mercy to you.
Afflictions come from God!
How soon can God change a man's circumstances!
He is elevated today, and is cast down tomorrow.
So it is, and so it will be in this changeful world,
until we arrive at a better and brighter one, where
there will be no sin, and consequently no sorrow.
But oh, we should remember, that afflictions come
from God! When a Christian neglects prayer, for
instance, God places him, perhaps, in a situation
of great trial, and he is driven to pray.
Or, when a man's affections are set upon the world,
God makes that world his greatest enemy (and I feel
it to be mine), and he is compelled to make Christ
his Friend.
Oh, may every afflicted saint of God profit by the
trials which God shall see fit to lay upon him! But
even in judgment, our heavenly Father will remember
mercy.
If the world satisfies you?
No being knows the trials I have undergone the past
week, but Jesus. And as He only knows, so He only
can help me through.
I have felt such a willingness to die! a feeling that