answer
us. The answer may not be relief; it may be only cheer. We are taught
to cast our burden upon the Lord, but we are not told that the Lord
will take it away. The promise is that he will sustain us under the
burden. We are to continue to bear it; and we are assured that we
shall not faint under the load, for God will strengthen us. The
assurance is not that we shall not be tempted, but that no temptation
but such as man can bear shall come to us, and that the faithful God
will not suffer us to be tempted above that we are able to endure.

This, then, is what divine friendship does. It does not make it easy
for us to live, for then we should get no blessing of strength and
goodness from living. How, then, are our prayers answered? God
sustains us so that we faint not; and then, as we endure in faith and
patience, his benediction is upon us, giving us wisdom, and imparting
strength to us.

The friendship of Jesus was always sympathetic. Many persons, however,
misunderstand the meaning of sympathy. They think of it as merely a
weak pity, which sits down beside one who is suffering or in sorrow,
and enters into the experience, without doing anything to lift him up
or strengthen him. Such sympathy is really of very little value in the
time of trouble. It may impart a consciousness of companionship which
will somewhat relieve the sense of aloneness, but it makes the sufferer
no braver or stronger. Indeed, it takes strength from him by
aggravating his sense of distress.

It was not thus, however, that the sympathy of Jesus was manifested.
There was no real pain or sorrow in any one which did not touch his
heart and stir his compassion. He bore the sicknesses of his friends,
and carried their sorrows, entering with wonderful love into every
human experience. But he did more than feel with those who were
suffering, and weep beside them. His sympathy was always for their
strengthening. He never encouraged exaggerated thoughts of pain or
suffering--for in many minds there is a tendency to such feelings. He
never gave countenance to morbidness, self-pity, or any kind of
unwholesomeness in grief. He never spoke of sorrow or trouble in a
despairing way. He sought to inculcate hope, and to make men braver
and stronger. His ministry was always toward cheer and encouragement.
He gave great eternal truths on which his friends might rest in their
sorrow, and then bade them be of good cheer, assuring them that