The Scattering Time2

January 27  The Scattering Time2

 

Then Jesus said to them, . . ."I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered." Matt. 26:31, RSV.

If William Miller dreaded one thing above others, it was fanaticism. His movement had been fairly free from it up until October 1844. But by spring 1845 fanaticism and charismatic excesses were running wild among certain segments of the spiritualizers.

By April 1845 Miller was beside himself with the developing fanaticism. That month he wrote to Himes that "this is a peculiar time. The greatest variety of fanciful interpretations of Scripture are now being prescribed by new luminaries, reflecting their rays of light and heat in every direction. some of these are wandering stars, and some emit only twilight. I am sick of this everlasting changing; but, my dear brother, we must learn to have patience. If Christ comes this spring, we shall not need it long; and if he comes not, we shall need much more. I am prepared for the worst, and hope for the best."

Unfortunately for Miller, time continued to last, and he and his followers witnessed something less than the hoped-for "best." Eighteen months later an ailing Miller penned: "I have not done with pain. I have been troubled with head-ache, teeth-ache, bones-ache, and heart-ache, since you left; but much more of the last ache, when I think of so many of my once dearly beloved brethren, who have since our disappointment gone into fanaticism of every kind, and left the first principles of the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior, Jesus Christ."

He wasn't the only one confused and perturbed by the welter of disorientation among the spriritualizers in early 1945. Himes noted in May that "the seventh month movement [had] produced mesmerism seven feet deep."

The problem of all Millerites in early 1945 was the question of identity. Different sectors of the movement produced different answers to it, but they were all dealing with the same issues.

To put it bluntly, it is hard to keep stright in times of great trouble. It always has been and it always will be. Our daily prayer must be that God will help us keep both feet on the ground and our mind at its clear-thinking best, especially in troublous times.

And like Miller, we must enter such times of trail hoping for the best, but prepared for the worst.

Help us this day, our Father, to have both a balanced attitude and  a prayer in our heart.

The infinite God, said Jesus, makes it your privilege to approach Him by the name of Father. Understand all that this implies. No earthly parent ever pleaded so earnestly with an erring child as He who made you pleads with the transgressor. No human, loving interest ever followed the impenitent with such tender invitations. God dwells in every abode; He hears every word that is spoken, listens to every prayer that is offered, tastes the sorrows and disappointments of every soul, regards the treatment that is given to father, mother, sister, friend, and neighbor. He cares for our necessities, and His love and mercy and grace are continually flowing to satisfy our need(TFMB 105).