quires but an earnest recognition of the feminine mission and obligation, and of the implanted strength which can alone give a sanctified influence. None are more ready than men to recognise the beauty and dignity of woman's character, thus shining from amidst the shadows of solitude and obscurity— none more ready to be benefited by its influence. It is obvious that the single woman, with few household cares and family anxieties, and with small restriction upon her time, must have a large amount of special and visible work in her power. The poor, the sick, the afflicted, and the ignorant, have manifest claims upon her leisure; but upon this branch of the subject we shall not enlarge, as it comes under the head of "Special Work" for all. To perform the mission of single women aright, an especial portion of the joy of the Lord is needful, for a higher purpose than that of smoothing their own path and alleviating their own sorrows. It is not enough that the old maid's home shall be one of comfort and content,it is of real importance to the circle around each, that they who are experiencing the undefined sadness of departing youth, should learn to "sing as in the days of their youth;"* and that they whose affections have been torn or left lonely by the adverse circumstances of life, should be seen rejoicing because they have fixed them upon the home and the affections above. *Hosea ii. 15. " VII. WAITING WORK. Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord."-Psalm xxvii. 14. "God doth not need Either man's work, or his own gifts; who best Bear his mild yoke, they serve him best; his state Is kingly; thousands at his bidding speed, MILTON'S SONNETS. It is always easier to act than to wait; it is pleasanter to the natural heart, full of its own energy and excitement, to do a great action than a small one, or apparently to do nothing at all. The men of war, who, like the war-horse scented the battle afar off, found it a hard service to walk around Jericho seven times seven. It must have been difficult for the Israelites on the banks of the Red Sea, to stand still and see the salvation of God, instead of rushing upon the hosts of Pharaoh. The Syrian Captain was wroth when with no pain or trouble he had but to wash in the waters of Jordan. Yet the one species of service is as needful as the other. The strength and courage will come to those only who have waited for the good time of their Giver; and most of the Lord's servants who are called to work that is seen, have gone through a course of waiting discipline, often unsuspected and unseen. Dear, anxious, somewhat impatient believer, to whom we have before addressed a few homely words, bear with us yet a little, while we suggest that another part of the work which you have to do at present may be a waiting work. You need such discipline far more than the sinless angels, who yet stand and wait, joyfully and unrepiningly, and in so doing equally serve their Master. You require to be taught humility. If you were an open, active labourer in the Lord's vineyard, observed of all observers, you would perhaps become puffed up with pride, and you would say, "Oh, well done!" as it happened to Bernard, into whose ear, even while preaching, Satan whispered "Bene fecisti Bernarde.” So you must needs learn that all manner of active service can go on upon the earth without your aid,that God has workers in abundance ready for his purposes; and that when he chooses you to work for him, it is because of his good pleasure and tenderness, not because he cannot do without you. You require to be taught patience. All eagerness and excitement, you would rush forward impatient to be employed, and perform the Lord's work in a hurried and imperfect manner, peculiarly distasteful to Him who loveth to "have all things done in order;" so he wills a period of patient quiet waiting and restraint for you. You require to be taught childlike submission to your Father's will. Perhaps you have attained to so much of it as to lay your hand upon your You feel as if it mouth, and your mouth in the dust, during times of chastening; and in difficulty and perplexity, you can cry unhesitatingly, "My Father, my Father, thou art the guide of my youth!" But you are not equally submissive when you desire to do active work for God, and he will not allow it. were a duty to be impatient, and so God must check this unchildlike spirit, and bring you into subjection to His will in all things. Then, above all, you require to wait for greater degrees of that sanctification which is to fit you for active work. "If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the Master's use, and prepared unto every good work.” A blessed way of spending the waiting time,-thus uniting the warfare work,-scarcely less blessed than the sinless services of the angels, who have never required to yearn and struggle after holiness. Frequently the "waiting" is in the chamber of sickness-in" the fires" of bodily suffering. Very trying is it to the Christian, when life and activity have been throbbing high in his heart, to be laid upon a bed of languishing; when he has been longing to prove that he is a living branch of the fruitful Vine to feel himself but a dry twig,—a withered leaf. Even more trying than a season of decided and dangerous illness, is the protracted time of languor, and weakness, and weariness,-when usefulness seems forbidden by the jarred and thrilling nerves, giving greater intensity to the irritating self-condemnation, and injurious struggles to escape from the hand of the Lord, so common in such a position. Be still, oh weak, and nervous, and restless sufferer! consider that the Lord Jesus knoweth thy frame, and remembereth that thou art dust, for He I was made like unto His brethren." Others may weary of thy incapacity, but He never does; others may forget their own past sufferings, but every pang is still fresh in His memory. "Thou who didst sit on Jacob's well The weary hour of noon; The languid pulses thou canst tell, He is proving what of faith and submission is in thy heart; and oh, disappoint Him not! let Him find a patient spirit amidst the languor and nervousness, a waiting heart upon the wearisome couch. During this season there must also be a good hope within you. Without hope you cannot wait and cannot war; without hope you will sink down contented with your inaction. Cultivate then, an earnest, loving, active principle of hope, which is in itself work. It will be the salt that preserves the grace of patience from degenerating into indolence. It will be the light that illumines what might else be a dark place. Hope against hope, wait against weariness, and you will yet be chosen and meet for active work here, and for the inheritance hereafter. |