But WE are our SOULS,
and when God visits, it is our souls He visits, not merely our
bodies. There is the whole secret. People forget God, and therefore
they are glad to fancy that He has forgotten them, and has nothing to
do with this world of His which they are misusing for their own
selfish ends; and then God in His mercy visits them. He knocks at
the door of their hearts, saying: "See! I was close to you all the
while." He forces them to see Him and to confess that He is there
whether they choose or not. God is not away from the world. He is
away from people's hearts, because He has given people free wills,
and with free wills the power of keeping Him out of their hearts or
letting Him in. And when God visits He forces Himself on our
attention. He knocks at the door of our hard hearts so loudly and
sharply that He forces all to confess that He is there--all who are
not utterly reprobate and spiritually dead. In blessings as well as
in curses, God knocks at our hearts. By sudden good fortune, as well
as by sudden mishap; by a great deliverance from enemies, by an
abundant harvest, as well as by famine and pestilence. Therefore
this cholera has been a true visitation of God. The poor had fancied
that they might be as dirty, the rich had fancied that they might be
as careless, as they chose; in short, that they might break God's
laws of cleanliness and brotherly care without His troubling Himself
about the matter.
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