I WAS leaving the room, in which my little boy remained. On the table was an article of some value, which, should the little one meddle with, might have been destroyed, and thus cause me much extra labor to replace it. I thought of this, and so placed the article on the shelf above, where it would be out of his reach.
While doing this, the thought came to me that there are many things in this world, which God, our Father, places beyond our reach, which our desire and ambition would fain cause us to put forth our hand and take.
And there is still the “forbidden fruit” in the path of every Christian, which his soul may lust after and seek to acquire. But our Father, in perfect love and grace, instead of saying, “Thou shalt not eat of it,” often simply places it beyond our reach. And then follows what men in this world call “Failure.” Ah, is it failure indeed, when God afterward shows us that it was only our selfish pride and ambition that led us to seek it?
Had we gained our purpose, perhaps it would have been to our destruction here in this world, or would have marred much precious work that God had been doing in our souls.
ML 02/15/1903