Article February 14, 1942 Issue

Signs of the Times

Topic: Righteous Thinking

with contributions from D. V. Parry-Williams, C. R. McBride, William Garbutt, E. L. Schwan, Walton D. Cole

[Rev. D. V. Parry-Williams, in the Widnes Weekly News, Liverpool, England]

The New Testament tells us that a great time before day Jesus departed into a desert place to pray. While in this early communion with his Father he gained the insight which saw deep into His will, and found the power to meet whatsoever the day brought forth. He won the morning, and so he won the day. In the noonday noise of the market place he healed, guided, and comforted out of the resources he had received in the silent communion of the early hour. His mastery over the demands of men, over the evil that confronted him, and over his own weakness sprang from this first dedication of himself and the new day to God. If he needed this, surely all of us need to do it much more. ... Try beginning each day with God and see what happens.

When people during the day become irritable and ill-tempered we say "they have got out of bed on the wrong side"—they lost the morning, and so they lost the day. May I make a plea that we use the first waking minutes for getting close to God, realizing His presence, in its love and might; then seek His guidance throughout the day, and refer our decisions to His leading. We humans are so arrogant that we think our own unaided reason can lead us to the place where we would be, and yet how tragically we find ourselves in the slough of despond. That anxiety, that pain, that disappointment, that unresolved problem, that broken friendship, that business problem, that question of conduct, have you tried seeing them in the early morning in the light and will of God? Try, and see what happens. It is my experience that if a man looks into the face of his Father in the morning he cannot look into the face of his fellow men during the day with hate, anger, distrust, and unfriendliness. If we win the morning with God, we shall win the day for God.

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