It is no strange thing that the body should feel the wounds of the spirit. The vessel of flesh is knit closely to the soul, and when the heart is vexed, the limbs often cry out. You speak of a pain in the chest and legs that returns, and you link it to the presence of these women. Let me not dismiss this as mere fancy, for the tempter can use even the sight of unkind faces to strike a blow at our peace, and peace is the very health of the inward man. But look beyond the second cause. The Lord permits the trial, and the enemy would have you fix your eyes on the instruments, that you may be filled with gall and forget your high calling. To walk in love is indeed your aim, and it is a heavenly path, but remember that your love for them must flow from a deeper well, the love of Christ for you.
Dwell not so much upon your struggle to love them as upon His delight in you. You are His Hephzibah; He says, "My delight is in her." When the heart is full of a sense of His joy in us, it overflows readily to others. Their coming, their watching, their unspoken slights, these are but the little foxes that would spoil the vines. Do not let them rob you of the banquet. Eat, O friend, and drink abundantly at His table, and you will find strength to bear their presence without your soul fainting and your body following suit. The great peace comes not from the absence of the troubler, but from the presence of the Master.
Your mind, you see, is tossed. It is not stayed. You are looking at the waves, at the unkindness of the sisters, at your own struggling heart. This is why the calm departs and the pain returns. A mind stayed on Jehovah is fixed, steadfast, leaning on its rest. When it shifts to the fretting circumstances, peace retreats. Yet you say you trust Him. Then trust Him now, in this very sickness, in this very vexation. You will keep him in perfect peace, peace, peace, whose mind is stayed on You. That double peace, the very perfection of rest, is the portion of the soul that refuses to leave its grip on the Faithful One. It is not a peace that comes when the relatives depart; it is a peace that abides while they are yet at the door.
And what of these pains in chest and legs? The Great Physician’s tree bears not only fruit for eternal life, but leaves for the healing of the nations. Observe, the very leaves are for healing, the smallest, most tender, most common things about Christ have virtue in them. Touch but the hem of His garment. Look not for some great sign, some mighty deliverance that shall make the sisters vanish. Look to the simple promise, the common mercy, the leaf that grows near your hand. The blood of Jesus whispers peace within. That whisper is for the quieting of the heart, and a quiet heart makes a rested body. Covet not their approval; cease from that hidden covetousness, and great peace will come.
You cannot see your way. This is darkness, and darkness tries all the faculties. But that is the very school for faith. When you cannot trace His hand, you are thrown upon His heart. Trust in the Lord, and stay yourself upon your God. His love in time past forbids you to think He will leave you now. Did you not do well before? He is the same. Let your mind recall His past deliverances. The God of hope would fill you with all joy and peace in believing, not in understanding the motives of those who trouble you. It is of no use to quarrel with these women, nor with God’s permission of them. Acquiescence in His will is the secret.
Now, hear this dismissing word, and let it enter your soul: your faith has saved you; go in peace. Not “go in peace if the sisters depart,” nor “go in peace when the pain lifts.” Go in peace. The Savior speaks it this very hour to you who trust His blood and righteousness. A woman once came trembling, and she left in the sunlight of full assurance. You may have it, too. The peace is yours, purchased by His blood, and no visitor can snatch it from you. Walk in the light as He is in the light, and the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses you from all sin, and from the sin of a disturbed and fretting spirit, too.
Rise, then, from this sick-room of the soul. The leaves of the tree are for your healing. A sweet quietness from the Holy Spirit will be better medicine than any earthly physician’s draught. The Lord bless you with a double peace, and bid your very body be still, knowing that He is God.