Thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness. Ps. 30:11.

In these times, the world is too much with us, clamoring loudly and insistently for our time and our energy. Our problem is that we talk too much with men and too little with God. We talk to men until we get weary of it, seeking to unload our burdens and our anxieties. We need to open our hearts in confidence to God, who knows everything about us. He can best sustain and comfort us.

All too often we are tempted to compare ourselves with others. We become unhappy because we seem not to have achieved what we desire or feel capable of. We strive to move up the ladder of status and achievement. One cannot remain in sackcloth and ashes while experiencing the abundant life in Christ.

God has wonderful ways to strengthen and deliver us from all that destroys our peace, our love, and our joy. Amid trying days and conflicts we should learn how to keep silent before men and trust simply to God. Fellowship with God avails. He has set us behind and before. This assurance raises one's sense of dignity and security, and helps him to be content with whatever lot he has.

By His love God breaks down the tyranny of fear and gloom. He turns our sorrows into joy, and for the spirit of heaviness He gives us the garment of praise. We need never despair. Whatever comes into our lives is sent or controlled by One who seeks only our happiness and spiritual growth. To be agitated by cares and tortured by problems is not part of the life with God.

There is in each of its a desire for going it alone, a will to plan our own lives, to shape our own course, to arrange our own circumstances. Let us believe that divine power and the resources of heaven are available for every duty, small and great. We are not bound to succeed in everything we undertake. We are bound to be true to the best we know.

How much gladness we lose by wrestling with problems apart from Christ. One is amazed at the spirit of gladness that can radiate from us when we come to believe that in waiting upon the Lord He will renew our spirits.