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A tourist writes of a spring as sweet as any that ever gushed from sunny hillside, which one day he found by the sea, when the tides had ebbed away. Taking his cup he tasted the water and it was sweet. Soon the sea came again and poured its bitter surf over the little spring, hiding it out of sight.
“Like a fair star, thick buried in a cloud,
Or life in the grave’s gloom,
The well, enwrapped in a deep watery shroud,
Sank to its tomb.”
When the tide ebbed away again, the tourist stood once more by the spring to see if the brackish waves had left their bitterness in its waters; but they were sweet as ever.
“While waves of bitterness rolled o’er its head,
Its heart had folded deep
Within itself, and quiet fancies led,
As in a sleep;
“Till, when the ocean loosed his heavy chain
And gave it back today,
Calmly it turned to its own life again,
And gentle way.”
This is a picture of the peace in the heart of the Christian, when floods of bitter sorrow and trial roll over his life. From secret wells the sweet waters flow, crystal and fresh as ever. We know where these secret wells are, where these pure fountains rise. They have their source in the heart of God. It is Christ’s own peace that he gives to us. He gives us his own life. It is divine life in the soul that makes peace for us in the time of earthly distress.