When Abraham’s servant was sent to “the city of Nahor” (Gen. 24: 10) he had only one business. He did not attempt to alter the religion of the place, or improve its social conditions or interfere with its government. His one business was to secure a bride for Isaac. How much disappointment the people of God would escape if they realized God’s great purpose at the present time, and the special mission of the Holy Spirit in this world! What is that mission? To secure a bride out of this world for Christ!
Believers are often disappointed with themselves. Desiring to do some great work for the Lord, they find they are left to do some quiet work in a hidden corner and are dissatisfied. Again, they may get sadly disillusioned with the local company of saints with whom they walk in fellowship. They had hoped that God would convert great numbers and bring their little company into prominence as a centre of blessing with the Lord’s public approval, and instead they find weakness and failure, and so are disappointed. Again, we may be disenchanted with the people of God generally. We perhaps had visions of getting the scattered fragments of God’s people to walk together in unity and love, and instead find only discord and further disintegration, and we grow disappointed.
Again, the people of God may entertain great hopes for the mission field. With thousands of missionaries working in all parts of the world they had hoped that the strongholds of heathendom, Buddhism and Islam would be broken down before the light of Christianity, and yet they find these false systems are hardly touched, and they are disappointed.
Others again have entertained the thought that after twenty centuries of the light of Christianity the world would be morally better, but instead they have to admit that never was society more corrupt, lawlessness so prevalent and unrest so general, hence they feel let down.
If, however, we abandon our own thoughts and rise up to God’s thoughts we shall not be disappointed. Our expectations are often too limited, our outlook too circumscribed. We think of the present moment and look only at things seen. Let us, however, look to the great end to which God is working, whereby out of the wreck and ruin of this world He will secure a bride that will be suited for the love of Christ. To this end the Father sent the Spirit. To this end the Spirit is working on earth. To this end Christ is waiting in heaven. Will God fail in this great end? Impossible. Thus we shall not be disappointed if we think God’s thoughts with God, and keep in view God’s great purpose—the marriage of the Lamb!
