Notes for Little Book of Courage - Samuel Rutherford
She is not sent away, but only sent before, like unto a star, which going out of our sight doth not die and vanish, but shineth in another hemisphere. We see her not, yet she doth shine in another country.
what she wanteth of time that she hath gotten of eternity; and ye have to rejoice that ye have now some plenishing up in heaven.
His cross i the sweetest burden that ever I bare; it is such a burden as wings are to a bird, or sails are to a ship, to carry me forward to my harbor. I have not much cause to fall in love with the world; but rather to wish that He who sitteth upon the floods would bring my broken ship to land, and keep my conscience safe in these dangerous times;
When you are come to the other side of the water, and have set down your foot on the shore of glorious eternity, and look back again to the waters and to your wearisome journey, and shall see, in that clear glass of endless glory, nearer to the bottom of God's wisdom, you shall then be forced to say, 'If God had done otherwise with me than He hath done, I had never come to the enjoying of this crown of glory.' It is your part now to believe, and suffer, and hope, and wait on;
...better to be sick, prodding Christ come to the bedside and draw by the curtain, and say, 'Courage, I am thy salvation', than to enjoy health, being lusty and strong, and never to be visited by God
'We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed' IICorinthians4.8,9)
...the way to overcome is by patience, forgiving, and praying for your enemies
your Lord shall open a door to you in your trouble: wait upon Him, as the night watch waiteth for the morning. He will not tarry...but by prayer, and faith, and hope, wait on. When the sea is full, it will ebb again..
...your one foot is here, and your other foot in the life to come, and to leave off loving, desiring, or grieving, for the wants that shall be made up when your Lord and you shall meet. Then shall you rejoice 'with joy unspeakable and full of glory - and your joy shall no one take from you.' It is enough that the Lord has promised you great things; only let the time of bestowing them be His own."
...your way to heaven lieth through a more wild and waste wilderness than the way of many of your fellowship travellers--not only through the midst of this wood of thorn, the cumbersome world, but also through these dangerous paths
...cast all our cares over upon God. Look for crosses, and while it is fair weather , mend the sails of the shilp