THE horizon of a man standing upon a plain is limited to a few miles, while that of a man standing on a high mountain is almost measureless. Our idea of what is around us is according to our standpoint, and it is generally the case, that the less a man sees, the more he thinks he knows. This is distinctly so in Christian things―for the narrower a Christian’s horizon, the more positive he is about the things lying beyond it, which are utterly out of his knowledge.
We strongly advise every Christian to exercise his soul by climbing the mountain at times, and thence let him take a good look round at what God is doing for the glory of Christ in saving sinners and cheering on His saints. He will get a sight that will enlarge his soul. He will come back to his own circle a wiser and humbler man.
Let us set the goodness of God before our eyes, and not so much the badness of our times! The great prophet of Israel thought he was the only man left in Israel who had not bowed to Baal, but Jehovah showed him there were seven thousand like himself, whose knees He had kept, and whom He had rescued from idolatry for His own glory. Looking at our own things, and not at the things of others, we become mournful prophets; we grow apt to judge of the people of God by the measure of our own small ideas, and in secret we are ready to say, “I, only I, am left alone to serve Thee.”
From the mountain top we shall see what the Lord is doing amongst His people, and what, by His grace, they are doing in His strength; and, having seen the zeal, holiness, and love of very many of His people, we shall return to our small corner, and, looking around, discover that what we considered was our breadth of vision was simply the result of looking at our things from the low place of our own standpoint.