Greetings All,
The words that follow are wise words from a man who did much for the Lord, but also suffered much (physically and emotionally) in the process. In that sense he shares what he learned from personal experience, and not from the perspective of a sheltered and pampered person trying to tell others how to handle struggles and adversities he himself never had to endure. I trust that for those who have had to walk through difficult times, his words will ring true. Enjoy.
"A child of God is not expected to be a stoic, for God's grace takes away the unfeeling heart of stone. When we endure trials, we feel the pain. Do not ask to be made hard, numb and callous, for this is not how grace works. Grace makes us strong to bear trials, but we still have to bear them. Grace gives patience and submission, not stoicism. We feel, and we benefit by the feeling [even if it is painful in nature].
My dear friend, when grief
presses you to the dust, worship there! Remember David's
words, 'Pour out your heart.' But do not stop there; finish the
quotation: 'Pour out your heart before the Lord.' Turn your heart upside down, empty it, and let every drop run
out. 'Pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us' (Psalm
62:8). When you are bowed down beneath a heavy burden of sorrow,
worship and adore God there. In surrender to His divine will, say with
Job, 'Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him' (Job 13:15). This kind of
worship subdues the will, arouses the affections, stirs the whole mind, and
presents you to God in solemn consecration. This worship sweetens sorrow and
takes away its sting...
Sanctified adversity
quickens spiritual sensitivity. Sorrow after sorrow will wake the spirit
and infuse a delicacy of perception that perhaps will not come in any
other way. I purposely said 'perhaps', for I believe that some choice saints
are favored to reach God by smoother ways. But I think they are few. Most of us
are so coarse that we need melting to attain that sacred softness by which the
Lord God is joyfully perceived.
Child of God, if you are
suffering as much as Job, and if your suffering permits you to see the Lord
with a spiritually enlightened eye, be thankful for the sorrowful process. Who
would not go with John to the island of Patmos if they could see John's visions
(Rev. 1:9-19 / Rev. 21). Who would not sit with Job in the ashes and cry, 'Yet
in my flesh I shall see God, I myself will see Him with my own eyes -- I and
not another. How my heart yearns within me!'... In prosperity God is heard, and
that is a blessing. In adversity, God is seen, and that is a greater
blessing."
Trials that cause deep
emotional pain are very hard indeed, often the hardest of all. In fact, sometimes
it seems they will break the heart beyond repair. Yet, painful
as they are, they are one of the ways God instructs, purifies and grows
us. The pain or hurt that comes is not meant to harm us, but
to heal us.
This process is an
example of what Isaiah says even in regard to the unbelieving
Egyptians: "The Lord will strike
Egypt with a plague: He will strike them and heal them. They will turn to the
Lord, and He will respond to their pleas and heal them" (Is. 19:22).
Psalm 119:67 gives us the same message: "Before I was afflicted I went astray, but
now I obey your word." Verse 72 repeats it again: "It was good for me to be afflicted, so that I
might learn your decrees." As much as we might wish it were different, it often
takes pain to bring gain -- as God well knows.
In the Bonds of Christian
Affection, Pastor Jeff
