Suffering, cf trials

His Billows (Psalm 42:7)

They are His billows, whether they go over us
Hiding His face in smothering spray and foam,
Or, smooth and sparkling, spread a path before us,
And to our haven bear us safely home.

They are His billows, whether, for our succour,
He walks across them, stilling all our fear,
Or to our cry there comes nor aid nor answer,
And in the lonely silence none is near.

They are His billows, whether we are toiling
Through tempest-driven waves that never cease,
While deep to deep with clamor loud is calling,
Or at His word they hush themselves in peace.

They are His billows, whether He divides them,
Making us walk dry shod where seas had flowed,
Or lets tumultuous breakers surge about us
Rushing unchecked across our only road.

They are His billows, and He brings us through them;
So has He promised, so His love will do;
Keeping and leading, guiding and upholding,
To His sure harbor, He will bring us through.

- Annie Johnson FlintV. Raymond Edman, But God!, (Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids; 1962), p. 142

Counted Worthy

Rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer—Acts 5:41.

If so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together—Romans 8:17.

This weighty burden thou dost bear,
This heavy cross,
It is a gift the Lord bestows,
And not a loss;
It is a trust that He commits
Unto thy care,
A precious lesson He has deigned
With thee to share.

Rejoice that He so honors thee
And so esteems
Of highest worth; the crown of thorns
With Him to wear,
And all the suffering of that crown
With Him to bear,
That by and by His glory, too,
With Him thou’lt share.

- Annie Johnson Flint

V. Raymond Edman, But God!, (Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids; 1962), p. 131

Answered Prayers

We know not what we should pray for as we ought—Romans 8:26.

I prayed for strength, and then I lost awhile
All sense of nearness, human and divine;
The love I leaned on failed and pierced my heart;
The hands I clung to loosed themselves from mine;
But while I swayed, weak, trembling, and alone,
The everlasting arms upheld my own.

I prayed for light; the sun went down in clouds,
The moon was darkened by a misty doubt,
The stars of heaven were dimmed by earthly fears,
But all my little candle flames burned out;
But while I sat in shadow, wrapped in night,
The face of Christ made all the darkness bright.

I prayed for peace, and dreamed of restful ease,
A slumber drugged from pain, a hushed repose;
Above my head the skies were black with storm,
And fiercer grew the onslaught of my foes;
But while the battle raged, and wild winds blew,
I heard His voice, and perfect peace I knew.

I thank Thee, Lord, Thou wert too wise to heed
My feeble prayers, and answer as I sought,
Since these rich gifts Thy bounty has bestowed
Have brought me more than I had asked or thought.
Giver of good, so answer each request
With Thine own giving, better than my best.

- Annie Johnson Flint

V. Raymond Edman, But God!, (Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids; 1962), p. 103

Passing Through

When thou passest through the waters, they shall not overflow thee—Isaiah 43:2

“When Thou passest through the waters,”
Deep the waves may be, and cold,
But Jehovah is our refuge
And His promise is our hold;
For the Lord Himself hath said it,
He the faithful God and true;
“When thou comest to the waters,
Thou shalt not go down, but through.

Seas of sorrow, seas of trial,
Bitterest anguish, fiercest pain,
Rolling surges of temptation,
Sweeping over heart and brain,
They shall never overflow us,
For we know His word is true;
All His waves and all His billows
He will lead us safely through.

Threatening breakers of destruction,
Doubt’s insidious undertow,
Shall not sink us, shall not drag us
Out to ocean depths of woe;
For His promise shall sustain us,
Praise the Lord, whose word is true!
We shall not go down or under,
He hath said, “Though passest through.”

- Annie Johnson Flint

V. Raymond Edman, But God!, (Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids; 1962), p. 77

Attention-Getter

Do you believe in the sun when it is pitch dark?

We are always getting ourselves into tight corners (coming to our “wit’s end”). The Bible has just such an expression and shows us how God makes full provision for His children who need more than human wisdom.

The apostle Paul five times uses a Greek word which means “in a tight corner,” or, as we would say, “at our wit’s end.” Note these passages and see how God always opened the way of escape.

1. 2 Corinthians 6:3-7. In the midst of a long list of hectic circumstances faced by Paul, he says (v. 4) “In all things approving ourselves [or demonstrating our confidence ]...in distresses” (Lit., when in tight corners).

We do not need to be panicky: His grace will enable us to commend ourselves and to have a victorious testimony, even when it appears, humanly speaking, that there is no way out.

2. 2 Corinthians 4:8-11. “We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed” (v. 8) Lit., “Not completely cornered.” Rotherham trans., “not hemmed in.”

No tight corner can hold us if Christ is with us in it. Wit’s end corner is a blessing in disguise, if it presses us nearer to Him.

3. 2 Corinthians 12:9-10. “I take pleasure in...distresses [lit., tight corners] for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong” (v. 10).

God plans nothing less than our completeness and holiness. He knows what process to use. We need never be morbid.

4. Romans 8:35-37. “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall...distress [lit., being in tight corners]?...Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.”

One who is sheltered under His love finds God’s worst better than the devil’s best. Disappointment is His appointment. Glorious victory is assured those who love Him—in His good time.

Keith L. Brooks, Essential Themes, (Moody Press, Chicago; 1974), pp. 92-93

Quote

• I take great comfort in God. I think He is sometimes much amused at the human race, but on the whole He loves us. He would never have let us get at the matchbox if He had not known that the framework of the universe is fireproof. - James Russell Lowell

Quoted in Herlooms, quoted in Reflections, Christianity Today, June 16, 1997, p. 45

Missionary Going Through Great Trials

In Green Leaf in Drought, Isobel Kuhn relates the story of a missionary family going through great trials. The theme is

“But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit” Jer. 17:7-8.

Here is the passage (p. 59) that has encouraged some to a higher vision of trials. “These ‘four anchors’ they found in Andrew Murray’s formula for trial.

1. Say, He brought me here. It is by His will I am in this strait place and in that fact I will rest.

2. He will keep me here in His love and give me grace to behave as His child.

3. Then He will make the trial a blessing, teaching me the lessons He intends for me to learn.

4. In His good time He can bring me out again—how and when He knows.

So let me say, I am

1. here by God’s appointment;

2. in His keeping;

3. under His training;

4. for His time.

Oasis Books, Logan, Utah

Annie Johnson Flint Song Writer

Consider the witness we give when we are faithful through suffering. My mind is drawn to Annie Johnson Flint, author of 6,000 hymns and gospel songs. She was an orphan. She lived with crippling arthritis. She was stricken with cancer. Yet her faith was especially evident in this hymn:

He giveth more grace as the burdens grow greater
He sendeth more strength when the labors increase;
To added afflictions He addeth His mercy,
To multiplied trials His multiplied peace.

Our Daily Bread, March-May, 1996, p. for March 30

Morals of the Story

A little bird was flying south for the winter. It got so cold it froze up and fell to the ground in a large field. While it was lying there, a cow came by and dropped some manure on it. As it lay there in the pile of manure, it began to realize how warm it was. The manure was actually thawing him out! He lay there all warm and happy, and soon began to sing for joy. A passing cat heard the little bird singing, and came to investigate. Following the sound, the cat discovered the bird under the pile of manure, and promptly dug him out—and then ate him.

The morals of the story are:

1. Not everyone who drops manure on you is your enemy.

2. Not everyone who digs you out of a pile of manure is your friend. S

3. When you’re in the manure, keep your mouth shut!

Source unknown

Elizabeth Prentiss’s Story

Elizabeth Prentiss, the wife of a Presbyterian minister, spent most of her adult life as an invalid, seldom knowing a day without constant pain throughout her body. Yet she was described by her friends as a bright-eyed, cheery woman with a keen sense of humor.

Elizabeth was always strong in faith and encouraging to others, until tragedy struck the Prentiss family beyond what even she could bear. The loss of two of their children brought great sorrow to Elizabeth’s life. For weeks no one could console her. In her diary she wrote of “empty hands, a worn-out, exhausted body, and unutterable longings to flee from a world that has so many sharp experiences.”

During this period of grief, Elizabeth cried out to God, asking Him to minister to her broken spirit. It was at this time that Elizabeth’s story became a living testimony! For over 100 years the Body of Christ has been encouraged as they sing the words penned by Elizabeth Prentiss in her deepest sorrow:

More love to Thee, O Christ, more love to Thee!
Hear Thou the prayer I make on bended knee;
This is my earnest plea:
More love, O Christ, to Thee...

Once earthly joy I craved, sought peace and rest;
Now Thee alone I seek—Give what is best;
This all my prayer shall be:
More love, O Christ, to Thee...

Let sorrow do its work, send grief and pain;
Sweet are Thy messengers, sweet their refrain,
When they can sing with me,
More love, O Christ, to Thee...

Then shall my latest breath whisper Thy praise;
This be the parting cry my heart shall raise;
This still its prayer shall be:
More love, O Christ, to Thee.

Tom White, “Living Testimonies,” The Voice of the Martyrs, July, 1998, p. 2

Nontranscendent Religious Options

The problem that arises in a view of the world that is tacitly closed to any transcendent reality is that if suffering occurs it must be resolved in this life. That means it must be (1) justified by the conviction that everyone gets what he or she deserves, (2) justified on the basis of some compensation within life or (3) denied as unreal and illusory. Those three responses are nontranscendent religious options, as well as explanations within a secular world view.

A. J. Conyers, The Eclipse of Heaven, (InterVarsity Press, Downers Grove, Illinois), p. 66

How Satan Brings Sickness and Suffering

I believe that Satan works in three major ways to bring sickness and suffering on people:

1. Satan causes sickness directly. An obvious tactic is demonization. For example, approximately 25 percent of Jesus’ healings as recorded in the Gospel of Mark involve demons. The direct influence of the devil is explicitly demonstrated when Jesus healed a crippled woman and was scolded by a synagogue leader for doing it on the Sabbath. Jesus said, “Ought not this woman being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound—think of it—for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath?” (Luke 13:16). Satan’s direct role is also explicit in the case of Job. What percentage of sickness is directly caused by Satan we do not know, but unquestionably much is.

2. Satan indirectly uses the natural results of the Fall to cause sickness and suffering. He uses bacteria, viruses, malnutrition, accidents, fights, poison, old age, rapists, murderers and on and on. In all probability most sickness falls into this category.

3. Satan tempts people to fall into sin, and God at times uses sickness to punish them for it. There are many examples in the Old Testament of plagues, which God sent on His own people to punish them for sin. When some Israelites rebelled against Moses and Aaron, God sent a plague and killed 14,700 (see Num. 16:45-50). Then God killed another 50,070 Israelites at Beth Shemesh when they disobeyed him by looking into the ark of the Lord (see 1 Sam. 6:19), just to cite two examples. In the New Testament, God made Elymas the sorcerer blind as part of a power encounter (see Acts 13:6-12). In Corinth some believers were sick and some had died as a result of abusing the Lord’s supper (see I Cor. 11:30).

No matter what the immediate cause, the usual outcomes of sickness are pain, suffering and death, all the works of Satan.

C. Peter Wagner, How to Have a Healing Ministry Without Making Your Church Sick!, (Regal Books, Ventura, CA; 1988), pp. 109-110

How American’s Deal with Suffering

At the end of a tour of the United States in 1963, Helmut Thielicke, the distinguished German preacher-theologian, was interviewed by a group of journalists and theological students. One of those present at the press conference asked Thielicke what he considered to be the most important question of that time for Americans. His carefully measured answer is just as relevant now as it was then, particularly in a discussions of excellence:

I would rather—if you will permit me to make a judgment—mention an entirely different problem as being the most important question which you are facing. Not a single person ever raised it in any discussion I had in this country (it would therefore appear that people are astonishingly unconscious of it); and whenever I raised it myself, it seemed to evoke a kind of disconcerted amazement, I might almost say, a kind of embarrassment, which was probably the reason why nobody ever broached the subject. I mean the question of how Americans deal with suffering. Yes, you have heard aright; I mean the problem of suffering. If I have not been totally blind on this journey, I believe I have seen that Americans do not have this color on their otherwise so richly furnished palette....

Again and again I have the feeling that suffering is regarded as something which is fundamentally inadmissible, distressing, embarrassing, and not to be endured. Naturally, we are called upon to combat and diminish suffering. All medical and social action is motivated by the perfectly justified passion for this goal. But the idea that suffering is a burden which can or even should be fundamentally radically exterminated can only lead to disastrous illusions. One perhaps does not even have to be a Christian to know that suffering belongs to the very nature of this our world and will not pass away until this world passes away. And beyond this, we Christians know that in a hidden way it is connected with man’s reaching for the forbidden fruit, but that God can transform even this burden of a fallen world into a blessing and fill it with meaning.

Gary Inrig, A Call to Excellence, (Victor Books, a division of SP Publ., Wheaton, Ill; 1985), p. 119

We are Not God’s, We are Creatures

Ought we to be surprised when we find ourselves baffled by what God is doing? No! We must not forget who we are. We are not gods; we are creatures, and no more than creatures. As creatures, we have no right or reason to expect that at every point we shall be able to comprehend the wisdom of our Creator. He himself has reminded us, “My thoughts are not your thoughts. . . .As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are. . .my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isa. 55:8-9). furthermore, the King has made it clear to us that it is not his pleasure to disclose all the details of his policy to his human subjects. As Moses declared when he had finished expounding to Israel what God has revealed of his will for them: “The secret things belong unto the Lord our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us. . .that we may do all the words of this law” (Deut. 29:29, KJV). The principle illustrated here is that God has disclosed his mind and will so far as we need to know it for practical purposes, and we are to take what he has disclosed as a complete and adequate rule for our faith and life. But there will remain “secret things” that he has not made known and that, in this life at least, he does not intend us to discover. And the reasons behind God’s providential dealings sometimes fall into this category.

Job’s case illustrates this. Job was never told about the challenge God met by allowing Satan to plague his servant. All Job knew was that the omnipotent God was morally perfect, and that it would be blasphemously false to deny his goodness under any circumstances. He refused to “curse God” even when his livelihood, his children, and his health had been taken from him (Job 2:9-10). Fundamentally he maintained this refusal to the end, though the well-meant platitudes that his smug friends churned out at him drove him almost crazy and at times forced out of him wild words about God (of which he later repented). Though not without struggle, Job held fast his integrity throughout the time of testing, and maintained his confidence in God’s goodness. And his confidence was vindicated. For when the time of testing ended, after God has come to Job in mercy to renew his humility (40:1-5; 42:1-6), and Job had obediently prayed for his three maddening friends, “the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before” (42:10, KJV). “Ye have heard of the patience of Job,” writes James, “and have seen the end of the Lord, that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy” (James 5:11, KJV). Did the bewildering series of catastrophes that overtook Job mean that God has abdicated his throne or abandoned his servant? Not at all, as Job proved by experience. But the reason God had plunged him into darkness was never revealed to him. Now may not God, for wise purposes of his own, treat others of his followers as he treated Job?

J. I. Packer, Hot Tub Religion, (Living Books, Tyndale House Publ., Inc., Wheaton, Ill; 1987), pp. 19-21

Suffering for Christ

• Suffering for righteousness’ sake 1 Peter 3:14
• Suffering for Godly living 2 Tim. 2:12
• Suffering for the kingdom of God 2 Thess. 1:5
• Suffering as a Christian 1 Peter 4:16
• Suffering for Christ’s sake Phil. 1:29
• Suffering and glory 1 Peter 5:1

From the Book of 750 Bible and Gospel Studies, 1909, George W. Noble, Chicago

Why Me?

“In all fairness, if we ask the ‘Why me?’ question in regard to our burdens, we should also ask it in regard to our blessings.

“We take for granted 100 days of perfect health, and then grumble about one day of aches and pains.

“We drive the freeway hundreds of times without incident, and then ask, ‘Why me?’ the one time we have a flat tire or engine trouble.

“We casually accept the fact when our family is together for the holidays, but when we are separated, we dwell on our loneliness.

“How often do we say, ‘Why me?’ as we count our blessings?

“Rather than feeling sad about what we don’t have, doesn’t it make more sense to feel a kind of rollicking rejoicing over everything we do have?”

Dr. Dale Turner, quoted in MSC Health Action News, Vol. XVII, No. 11, Nov./Dec., 1997, p. 1

Quote

• If God sends us on stony paths, He will provide us with strong shoes. - Alexander MaclarenQuoted in Prokope,’ Vol. 1, No. 4, October-December, 1997, p. 2

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We Saw Your Smoke Signal

The only survivor of a shipwreck washed up on a small uninhabited island. He cried out to God to save him, and every day he scanned the horizon for help, but none seemed forthcoming.

Exhausted, he eventually managed to build a rough hut and put his few possessions in it. But then one day, after hunting for food, he arrived home to find his little hut in flames, the smoke rolling up to the sky. The worst had happened; he was stung with grief.

Early the next day, though, a ship drew near the island and rescued him.

“How did you know I was here?” he asked the crew.

“We saw your smoke signal,” they replied.

Though it may not seem so now, your present difficulty may be instrumental to your future happiness.

John Yates, Falls Church, Virginia, quoted in Leadership, Winter Quarter, 1992, p. 57

He Becomes the Light in the Darkness

Patricia St. John, who has been described as an ordinary woman with an extraordinary faith, poured out her life ministering to people in the neediest places on our planet. She was in Sudan when war refugees flooded that country. They had suffered terribly and had lost everything, yet those among them who were Christians still gave thanks to God.

Patricia said that she stood one night in a crowded little Sudanese church listening to those uprooted believers singing joyfully. Suddenly a life-changing insight burned its way into her mind. “We would have changed their circumstances,” she said, “but we would not have changed them.” She realized that God “does not always lift people out of the situation. He Himself comes into the situation. . . He does not pluck them out of the darkness. He becomes the light in the darkness.”

Our Daily Bread, August 19, 1997

Story of the Three Trees

Once upon a mountain top, three little trees stood and dreamed of what they wanted to become when they grew up.

The first little tree looked up at the stars and said: “I want to hold treasure. I want to be covered with gold and filled with precious stones. I’ll be the most beautiful treasure chest in the world!”

The second little tree looked out at the small stream trickling by on its way to the ocean. “I want to be traveling mighty waters and carrying powerful kings. I’ll be the strongest ship in the world!”

The third little tree looked down into the valley below where busy men and women worked in a busy town. “I don’t want to leave the mountain top at all. I want to grow so tall that when people stop to look at me, they’ll raise their eyes to heaven and think of God. I will be the tallest tree in the world.”

Years passed. The rain came, the sun shone, and the little trees grew tall. One day three woodcutters climbed the mountain.

The first woodcutter looked at the first tree and said, “This tree is beautiful. It is perfect for me.” With a swoop of his shining axe, the first tree fell.

“Now I shall be made into a beautiful chest. I shall hold wonderful treasure!” the first tree said.

The second woodcutter looked at the second tree and said, “This tree is strong. It is perfect for me.” With a swoop of his shining axe, the second tree fell.

“Now I shall sail mighty waters!” thought the second tree. “I shall be a strong ship for mighty kings!”

The third tree felt her heart sink when the last woodcutter looked her way. She stood straight and tall and pointed bravely to heaven.

But the woodcutter never even looked up. “Any kind of tree will do for me,” he muttered. With a swoop of his shining axe, the third tree fell.

The first tree rejoiced when the woodcutter brought her to a carpenter’s shop. But the carpenter fashioned the tree into a feedbox for animals.

The once beautiful tree was not covered with gold, nor with treasure. She was coated with sawdust and filled with hay for hungry farm animals.

The second tree smiled when the woodcutter took her to a shipyard, but no mighty sailing ship was made that day. Instead, the once strong tree was hammered and sawed into a simple fishing boat. She was too small and too weak to sail on an ocean, or even a river; instead, she was taken to a little lake.

The third tree was confused when the woodcutter cut her into strong beams and left her in a lumberyard.

“What happened?” the once tall tree wondered. “All I ever wanted was to stay on the mountain top and point to God...”

Many, many days and night passed. The three trees nearly forgot their dreams.

But one night, golden starlight poured over the first tree as a young woman placed her newborn baby in the feedbox.

“I wish I could make a cradle for him,” her husband whispered.

The mother squeezed his hand and smiled as the starlight shone on the smooth and the sturdy wood. “This manger is beautiful,” she said.

And suddenly the first tree knew he was holding the greatest treasure in the world.

One evening a tired traveler and his friends crowded into the old fishing boat. The traveler fell asleep as the second tree quietly sailed out into the lake.

Soon a thundering and thrashing storm arose. The little tree shuddered. She knew she did not have the strength to carry so many passengers safely through with the wind and the rain.

The tired man awakened. He stood up, stretched out his hand, and said, “Peace.” The storm stopped as quickly as it had begun.

And suddenly the second tree knew he was carrying the king of heaven and earth.

One Friday morning, the third tree was startled when her beams were yanked from the forgotten woodpile. She flinched as she was carried through an angry jeering crowd. She shuddered when soldiers nailed a man’s hands to her.

She felt ugly and harsh and cruel.

But on Sunday morning, when the sun rose and the earth tremble with joy beneath her, the third tree knew that God’s love had changed everything.

It had made the third tree strong.

And every time people thought of the third tree, they would think of God.

That was better than being the tallest tree in the world.

The next time you feel down because you didn’t get what you want, sit tight and be happy because God is thinking of something better to give you.

Source unknown

Things You Don’t Want to Hear During Surgery

• Better save that. We’ll need it for the autopsy.
• Someone call the janitor. We’re going to need a mop.
• Accept this sacrifice, O Great Lord of Darkness.
• Bo! Bo! Come back with that! Bad dog!
• Wait a minute, if this is his spleen, then what’s that?
• Oops! Hey, has anyone ever survived 500ml of this stuff before?
• Sterile, shcmerile. The floor’s clean, right?
• OK, now take a picture from this angle. This is truly a freak of nature.
• And now we remove the subject’s brain and place it in the body of the ape.

Source unknown

Be Not Terrified by Adversity

One of the most treasured pieces in the Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe, Vermont, is a rug bearing the Latin inscription Nec Aspera Terrent (Be Not Terrified by Adversity).

It always has had special meaning for Baroness Maria von Trapp and her children—the famous Trapp Family Singers—because the rug, a gift from a friend, arrived on December 21, 1980, a day after a fire razed the famous lodge, killing a guest and injuring seven others.

It took three years and $7 million to rebuild the lodge, but the Trapps never had any doubts about rebuilding. To battle adversity was nothing new to them. The family, immortalized in the musical The Sound of Music, fled Austria in 1938 rather than submit to orders directing Baron von Trapp, a former submarine captain, to return to the German Navy. On arrival in the United States, the family had only $3.50.

When work on their first Vermont lodge was nearing completion, the structure was destroyed by a storm, so they started all over with a second lodge—the one that burned down in 1980.

On December 18, 1983, the day the successor to the burned-down lodge opened, Johannes von Trapp recalled that, when the rug arrived right after the fire, he had decided it would be prominently placed in the lobby of the new hotel.

Adversity is a fact of life. It can’t be controlled. What we can control is how we react to it.

Minutes a Day, Vol. 24, Christopher Books, quoted in Bits & Pieces, March 2, 1995, pp. 14-16

Once I Heard a Song

An unknown poet has written:

Once I heard a song of sweetness as it cleft the morning air,
Sounding in its blest completeness like a tender, pleading prayer;
And I sought to find the singer whence the wondrous song was born;
Till I found a bird, sore wounded, pinioned by an ugly thorn.

I have seen a soul of sadness while its wings with pain were furled,
Giving hope and cheer and gladness that should bless the weeping world;
Soon I learned a life of sweetness was of pain and sorrow born,
For that stricken soul was singing with its heart against a thorn!’

You are told of One who loves you, of a Savior crucified,
You are told of nails that pinioned, and a spear that pierced His side;
You are told of cruel scourging, of a Savior bearing scorn,
And He died for your salvation with His brow against the thorn.

You are not above the Master! Will you breathe a sweet refrain?
Then His grace will be sufficient when your heart is pierced with pain;
Will you live to bless His loved ones though your life be bruised and torn,
Like a bird that sang so sweetly with its heart against a thorn?

If you have thorns in your life, thank God for the roses of grace that inevitably go with them.

H.G.B., Our Daily Bread, Friday, February 6

Thank God for Your Thorns

We don’t often thank God for our trials, heartaches, and difficulties. Although we are willing to praise Him for His goodness, we sometimes fail to realize that even adverse circumstances are blessings in disguise.

Scottish preacher George Matheson had that problem. He realized that he was not as ready to praise God when things went wrong as he was when they went right. However, after he began to lose his eyesight, he changed his thinking. He struggled for some months with this weary burden until he reached the point where he could pray, “My God, I have never thanked You for my thorn. I have thanked You a thousand times for my roses, but not once for my thorn. I have been looking forward to a world where I shall get compensated for my cross, but I have never thought of my cross as itself a present glory. Teach me the value of my thorn.”

When we count our blessings, we should include the weaknesses, the hardships, the burdens, and the trials we face. If we do, we might find that God has used our difficulties more than the “good” things to help us grow spiritually. Why is that? Because it is in those difficult places that we discover the sufficiency of His grace. In our trials, we turn to God. As we depend on Him, we find that His strength is made perfect in our weakness (2 Cor. 12:9). Take a moment and think about the way God has led you. When you praise God for your blessings, do you remember to thank Him for the thorns? P.R.V.,

Our Daily Bread, Thursday, April 14

The Greatest Blessing

For our light affliction...worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. - 2 Corinthians 4:17

If we could ask the apostle Paul what he saw as life’s greatest blessing, I suspect he would answer something like this: “Personal salvation with its provision of the present and the future.” For him, nothing else really mattered. He constantly looked beyond his trials and adversities, sensing the presence of Jesus Christ and rejoicing in the prospect of happiness in heaven with Him.

Romanian pastor Richard Wurmbrand spent 14 years in prison for preaching the gospel. Although his captors smashed four of his vertebrae and either cut or burned 18 holes in his body, they could not defeat him. He testified, “Alone in my cell, cold, hungry, and in rags, I danced for joy every night.” During this time he turned to a fellow prisoner, a man he had led to the Lord before they were arrested, and asked, “Have you any resentment against me that I brought you to Christ?” His response: “I have no words to express my thankfulness that you brought me to the wonderful Savior. I would never have it another way.” These two men exemplify the supernatural joy that can be experienced by believers who live on the edge of death as the result of being severely persecuted.

Salvation, which brings strength for today and hope for tomorrow, lasts forever. Therefore, we don’t have to be defeated by troublesome circumstances. When we know we are saved, we have the assurance that God is at work in our lives, preparing us for the eternal realities of the better world. Yes, salvation is life’s greatest blessing. - H.V.L.

Our Daily Bread, Thursday, February 21

The Acid Test

A severe trial is sometimes called an “acid test.” this term originated during times when gold was widely circulated. Nitric acid was applied to an object of gold to see if it was genuine or not. If it was fake, the acid decomposed it; if it was genuine, the gold was unaffected.

In God’s view, our faith is “much more precious than gold,” and it too must be tested (1 Pet. 1:7). But these “acid tests” are positive ones. The Lord is working to reveal genuine faith, not to expose false faith.

During hard times, though, we may feel overwhelmed with the fear that our faith is decomposing. Ronald Dunn, a Bible teacher who has experienced much personal tragedy, knows what we are going through. He writes, “I’m often mystified....I don’t understand why it is that as I endeavor to live for God and pray and believe, everything seems to be falling apart. Sometimes I struggle, and I say, ‘Dear Lord, why are You allowing this to happen?’” Dunn concludes, “It’s good for us to remember that God is not an arsonist; He’s a refiner.”

Our Daily Bread, January 28, 1997

What Became of the Twelve Disciples?

1. John died of extreme old age in Ephesus.

2. Judas Iscariot, after betraying his Lord, hanged himself.

3. Peter was crucified, head downward, during the persecution of Nero.

4. Andrew died on a cross at Patrae, in Achaia, a Grecian Colony.

5. James, the younger brother of the Savior, was thrown from a pinnacle of the Temple, and then beaten to death with a club.

6. Bartholomew was flayed alive in Albanapolis, Armenia.

7. James, the elder son of Zebedee, was beheaded at Jerusalem.

8. Thomas, the doubter, was run through the body with a lance at Coromandel, in the east Indies.

9. Philip was hanged against a pillar at Heropolis (Abyssinia).

10. Thaddeus was shot to death with arrows.

11. Simon died on a cross in Persia (now Iran).

Source unknown

The Things God Has Planned

It’s sometimes very difficult
For us to understand
The wisdom and the love behind
The things that God has planned.

But we wouldn’t have the rainbow
If we didn’t have the rain;
We wouldn’t know of pleasure
If we never tasted pain.

We wouldn’t love the sunrise
If we hadn’t felt the night;
And we wouldn’t know our weakness
If we hadn’t sensed God’s might.

We couldn’t have the springtime
Or the yellow daffodil
If we hadn’t first experienced
The winter’s frosty chill.

And though the brilliant sunshine
Is something God had made
He knew too much could parch our souls
So he created shade.

So God’s given us a balance:
Enough joys to keep us glad,
Enough tears to keep us humble,
Enough good to balance bad.

And if you’ll trust in Him you’ll see
Though yesterday brought sorrow,
The clouds will part and dawn will bring
A happier tomorrow.

Source unknown

Suffering and Adversity

Why? Why me? Why my family? What is the meaning of this suffering?

These are familiar questions which are asked by Christians and non-Christians alike. No one is immune to suffering and adversity. “Man is born unto trouble as the sparks fly upward” (Job 5:7, KJV). There are the pressures of want, need, sorrow, persecution, unpopularity, and loneliness. Some suffer for what they have done; others suffer because of what people do to them. Many suffer because they are victims of circumstances which they cannot control.

Pain is distressing. There can be nights of agony when God seems so unfair and it seems that there is no possible help or answer. Temporary relief may seem adequate, but the real solution to suffering is not to isolate it in an attempt to do away with it, nor even to grit our teeth and endure it. The solution, rather, is to condition our attitudes so that we learn to triumph in and through suffering. When the Apostle Paul sought relief from his “thorn in the flesh,” God did not take it away, but reassured him with: “My grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9, KJV). In another encouragement to the Corinthians, he wrote, “And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work” (2 Corinthians 9:8, KJV).

Except for physical pain, handling suffering seems to be a question of attitude: “What am I going to do in the face of suffering in order to learn from it and use it for my advantage as far as God’s eternal purposes are concerned?”

Billy Graham comments: “Nowhere does the Bible teach that Christians are exempt from the tribulations and natural disasters that come upon the world. Scripture does teach that the Christian can face tribulation, crisis, calamity, and personal suffering with a supernatural power that is not available to the person outside of Christ.”

Some of the most pathetic people in the world are those who, in the midst of adversity, indulge themselves by wallowing in self-pity and bitterness, all the while taking a sort of delight in blaming God for their problems.

Job’s attitude is an inspiration: “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him” (Job 13:15).

The sufferer will be blessed if, in the midst of great agony and despair, he can look into the face of his Heavenly Father and, because of His eternal love and presence, be grateful. Our response to suffering should lead us to look beyond it in the attempt to see God’s higher purposes and what He wants to teach us.

Source unknown

Reasons for Human Suffering?

1. We may bring suffering upon ourselves. Dissipation and lack of discipline bring unhappy consequences. Long-term abuse of our bodies may bring on sickness. Wrong choices come back to haunt us. You may ask the caller: “Do you think this is happening to you because of your own bad judgment or intemperate actions? What can you do to alleviate your suffering?”

2. Sometimes God is taking corrective action because of sin and disobedience. God will correct and discipline His own. Through chastening He proves that He loves us and that we are truly His own (Hebrews 12:5-11).

3. God may permit suffering so we learn to respond to problems in a biblical way. Scripture tells us that Jesus “learned obedience from what he suffered” (Hebrews 5:8, NIV). Our goal should be not merely relief from suffering but rather learning to please God by being responsive and obedient to Him and to His Word (see Romans 12:1, 2).

4. Sometimes God permits us to suffer to teach us that pain is a part of life. Nowhere does the Bible say that the Christian will not suffer adversity! Paul points out in Philippians 1:29, KJV, that it is “given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake.” Adversity can be a gift from God.

Christ did not evade the Cross to escape suffering. Hebrews 12:2 says he “endured the cross, despising the shame.” Why? “For the joy that was set before him.” He knew that the final word was not crucifixion (suffering); it was resurrection (victory).

We may suffer briefly, or all our lives. But let us not give up hope or engage in self-pity or bitterness. The end-result is what we all look forward to. Being with the Lord in heaven will put all things into perspective!

5. God may permit suffering for our well-being. “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28, NIV). We must accept this by faith and pray that God’s highest good will come as a result of our suffering. Only through adversity are some of the deeper lessons of life learned. Trust God to work out His own will and purpose in us so that we might be more Christlike (see Romans 8:29).

There is no redemptive merit in our suffering as there was in that of Jesus, but if we are faithful under adversity we may be able to share in “the fellowship of his sufferings” (Philippians 3:10, KJV).

6. Sometimes God permits suffering to speak through our life and testimony to comfort others. Jesus said that the sufferings of the blind man in John 9 were so “that the work of God might be displayed in his life” (NIV).

God might work in your life through suffering to inspire others by your example in adversity. Those who endure adversity can sympathize and identify more effectively with others in their sufferings. We comfort others in the way we are comforted. “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God” (2 Corinthians 1:3, 4, (NIV).

The Billy Graham Christian Worker’s Handbook, (Minneapolis: World Wide Publ., 1984), pp. 223-225

Many Unanswered Questions

Pastor William E. Sangster told of an experience in his youth when he went on a vacation with some friends. Within a short time he had spent all the funds given him for the trip, so he wrote home for more. His father, thinking he should teach his son the value of money, did not respond to the request. Sangster’s companions wondered why he had been turned down and suggested several reasons. Young William said to them, “I’ll wait till I get home, and he’ll tell me himself.”

That’s the kind of attitude we as Christians should have toward our Heavenly Father. Life itself holds many unanswered questions. But we know that God is sovereign and that He works all things after the counsel of His own will (Eph. 1:11). Our Lord has said, “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts” (Isa. 55:9). We are limited in our comprehension of all that He is doing in our lives 1 Cor. 13:12). An explanation for many of the problems that confront us, the trials through which we pass, and the wounds that bring such hurt will have to wait until we get to heaven. Although God does not need to explain the reasons for His dealings with us, someday He will unveil His matchless wisdom to us.

We need patience to wait for the final answer. In that day when we awake in glory, we shall be fully satisfied. Though now we may not trace God’s hand, we can always trust His heart. - P.R.V.

Our Daily Bread, December 7

Hymn Writer, George Neumark

The hymnwriter George Neumark was a dedicated Christian who was afflicted with blindness in his later years. This infirmity was just one more trial in a life already filled with heartache. While still a young man, he had been reduced to poverty and was down to his last penny. Yet his trust in God did not fail, for he found great strength in the promise, “Cast your burden on the Lord, and He shall sustain you.” He prayed earnestly for God’s help. The answer came in the form of an unexpected appointment as tutor for the family of a rich judge. Relieved and delighted, he was prompted to compose one of his best-known hymns, “If Thou But Suffer God to Guide Thee,” to thank the Lord for His sustaining grace. Later Johann Sebastian Bach saw such beauty in the hymn that he used it as the basis for a cantata, and Mendelssohn included it in his oratorio Saint Paul.

Our Daily Bread, Friday, May 8.

A Song in the Heart

Every Christian should have a song in his heart. In Ephesians 5:19 the apostle Paul speaks of “singing and making melody” in our hearts to the Lord. This verse should encourage everyone who finds it difficult to carry a tune that’s suitable for listening ears. Whether with the lips or in the heart only, singing can characterize our lives, even under the worst of circumstances. Many times that is precisely when God gives us a song to sing.

American pastor and author James H. Brookes told of visiting a friend’s house and hearing the music of a bird singing. It was not the ordinary sound of chirping; instead it resembled the strains of a lovely melody. At first Brookes didn’t know where it was coming from; but when he glanced around the room, he saw a beautiful bullfinch in a birdcage. The lady of the house explained that it had been taught to sing that way at night. The teacher would repeat the notes time and again until the bird was able to mimic them. But this was possible only because it was dark and the bird’s attention would not be diverted.

How often we learn our sweetest songs when the blackness of trial closes in around us. This was David’s experience. Cast down and almost despairing of life, he said,”...in the night His song shall be with me.” Elihu spoke of God giving “songs in the night” (Job 35:10).

Oh, friend, let’s not despair when the darkness of trouble descends upon us. God is with us; God will help us; God will give us a song.

Our Daily Bread, Monday, May 23.

No Scar?

Hast thou no scar?
No hidden scar on foot, or side, or hand?
I hear thee sung as mighty in the land,
I hear them hail thy bright ascendant star,
Hast thou no scar?

Hast thou no wound?
Yet I was wounded by the archers, spent,
Leaned Me against a tree to die; and rent
By ravening wolves that compassed me, I swooned:
Hast thou no wound?

No wound? no scar?
Yet, as the Master shall the servant be,
And pierced are the feet that follow Me;
But thine are whole: can he have followed far
Who hath no wound nor scar?

- Amy Carmichael

From TOWARD JERUSALEM by Amy Carmichael. Used by permission of the publishers, Society for Promotion of Christian Knowledge, London.

Resource

• The Disciplines of Life, by V. Raymond Edman (Minneapolis: World Wide Publ., 1948), p. 90.
• The Fight, J. White, IVP, pp. 111ff

.

Welcome Cross

“Tis my happiness below
Not to live without the cross,
But the Saviour’s power to know,
Sanctifying every loss:
Trials must and will befall;
But with humble faith to see
Love inscribed upon them all,
This is happiness to me.

God in Israel sows the seeds
Of affliction, pain, and toil;
These spring up and choke the weeds
Which would else o’erspread the soil:
Trials make the promise sweet,
Trials give new life to prayer;
Trials bring me to His feet,
Lay me low, and keep me there.

Did I meet no trials here,
No chastisement by the way,
Might I not with reason fear
I should prove a castaway?
Bastards may escape the rod,
Sunk in earthly vain delight;
But the true-born child of God
Must not—would not, if he might.

Olney Hymns, William Cowper, from Cowper’s Poems, Sheldon & Company, New York

Afflictions Sanctified by the Word

Oh how I love Thy holy Word,
Thy gracious covenant, O Lord!
It guides me in the peaceful way;
I think upon it all the day.

What are the mines of shining wealth,
The strength of youth, the bloom of health!
What are all joys compared with those
Thine everlasting Word bestows!

Long unafflicted, undismay’d,
In pleasure’s path secure I stray’d;
Thou mad’st me feel thy chast’ning rod,
And straight I turn’d unto my God.

What though it pierced my fainting heart,
I bless’d Thine hand that caused the smart:
It taught my tears awhile to flow,
But saved me from eternal woe.

Oh! hadst Thou left me unchastised,
Thy precepts I had still despised;
And still the snare in secret laid
Had my unwary feet betray’d.

I love thee, therefore, O my God,
And breathe towards Thy dear abode;
Where, in Thy presence fully blest,
Thy chosen saints for ever rest.

Olney Hymns, William Cowper, from Cowper’s Poems, Sheldon & Company, New York

In Ordinary Times We Get Along Suprisingly Well

In ordinary times we get along surprisingly well, on the whole, without ever discovering what our faith really is. If, now and again, this remote and academic problem is so unmannerly as to thrust its way into our minds, there are plenty of things we can do to drive the intruder away...But to us in wartime, cut off from mental distractions by restrictions and blackouts, and cowering in a cellar with a gas mask under threat of imminent death, comes in the stronger fear and sits down beside us. “What,” he demands rather disagreeably, “do you make of all this? What do you believe? Is your faith a comfort to you under the present circumstances?”

Dorothy Sayers, Christian Letters to a Post-Christian World

A Touch of Wonder

Arthur Gordon writes in A Touch Of Wonder: “There is not enough darkness in all the world to put out the light of one candle....

“This inscription was found on a small, new grave stone after a devastating air raid on Britain in World War II. Some thought it must be a famous quotation, but it wasn’t. The words were written by a lonely old woman whose pet had been killed by a Nazi bomb.

“I have always remembered those words, not so much for their poetry and imagery as for the truth they contain. In moments of discouragement, defeat or even despair, there are always certain things to cling to. Little things, usually: remembered laughter, the face of a sleeping child, a tree in the wind—in fact, any reminder of something deeply felt or dearly loved.

“No man is so poor as not to have many of these small candles. When they are lighted, darkness goes away...and a touch of wonder remains.”

Source unknown

How Lucky Can I Be?

Sergeant Kenneth E. Neu was stationed in the U.S. Airborne unit in Germany, where the parachute drop zone was located next to a Mercedes-Benz test track. One windy day, a gust of wind blew his parachute over the track. Knowing how hard a landing on asphalt can be, he braced himself, landed and checked for broken bones. Amazingly, he was fine.

Suddenly the wind inflated Neu’s parachute and started dragging him down the track. He hit the chute’s canopy release and looked up just in time to see a car speeding toward him. Acting quickly, he grabbed his chute and ran to the edge of the track. Out of breath but uninjured, he thought, “How lucky can I be?”

Relieved, he turned, stepped into a gopher hole and twisted his ankle.

Today in the Word, March 19, 1995

The Bells of Heaven

In my first film series, “Focus on the Family,” I shared a story about a 5-year-old African-American boy who will never be forgotten by those who knew him. A nurse with whom I worked, Gracie Schaeffler, took care of this lad during the latter days of his life. He was dying of lung cancer, which is a terrifying disease in its final stages. The lungs fill with fluid, and the patient is unable to breathe. It is terribly claustrophobic, especially for a small child.

This little boy had a Christian mother who loved him and stayed by his side through the long ordeal. She cradled him on her lap and talked softly about the Lord. Instinctively, the woman was preparing her son for the final hours to come. Gracie told me that she entered his room one day as death approached, and she heard this lad talking about hearing bells.

“The bells are ringing, Mommie,” he said. “I can hear them.”

Gracie thought he was hallucinating because he was already slipping away. She left and returned a few minutes later and again heard him talking about hearing bells ringing. The nurse said to his mother, ‘I’m sure you know your baby is hearing things that aren’t there. He is hallucinating because of the sickness.”

The mother pulled her son closer to her chest, smiled and said, “No, Miss Schaeffler. He is not hallucinating. I told him when he was frightened—when he couldn’t breathe—if he would listen carefully, he could hear the bells of heaven ringing for him. That is what he’s been talking about all day.

That precious child died on his mother’s lap later that evening, and he was still talking about the bells of heaven when the angels came to take him. What a brave little trooper he was!

Focus on the Family, September, 1993, p. 3

Response to an Insurance Company

I am writing in response to your request for additional information. In block #3 of the accident form, I put “trying to do the job alone” as the cause of my accident. You said in your letter that I should explain more fully, and I trust that the following details will be sufficient.

I am a bricklayer by trade. On the date of the accident I was working alone on the roof of a new six story building. When I completed my work, I found that I had about 500 pounds of brick left over. Rather than carry the bricks down by hand, I decided to lower them in a barrel by using a pulley which fortunately was attached to the side of the building at the 6th floor. Securing the rope at ground level, I went up to the roof, swung the barrel out, and loaded the bricks into it. Then I went back to the ground and untied the rope, holding it tightly to insure a slow descent of the 500 pounds of brick. You will note in block #11 of the accident report that I weigh 135 pounds. But to my surprise at being jerked off the ground so suddenly, I lost my presence of mind and forgot to let go of the rope. Needless to say, I proceeded at a rather rapid rate up the side of the building. In the vicinity of the third floor, I met the barrel coming down. This explains the fractured skull, and broken collar bone. Slowed only slightly, I continued my rapid ascent, not stopping until the fingers of my right hand were 2 knuckles deep into the pulley. Fortunately, by this time, I had regained my presence of mind, and was able to hold tightly to the rope, in spite of my pain. At approximately the same time, however, the barrel of bricks hit the ground, and the bottom fell out of the barrel. Devoid of the weight of the bricks, the barrel then weighed approximately 50 pounds.

I refer you again to my weight in block#11. As you might imagine, I began a rapid descent down the side of the building. In the vicinity of the third floor, I met the barrel coming up. This accounts for the two fractured ankles, and the lacerations of my legs, and lower body area. The encounter with the barrel slowed me enough to lessen my injuries when I fell onto the pile of bricks, and fortunately only three vertebrae were cracked. I am sorry to report, however, that as I lay there on the bricks, in pain … unable to stand … and watching the empty barrel six stories above me … I again lost my presence of mind and let go of the rope. The empty barrel weighed more than the rope, so it came back down on me, and broke both my legs.

I hope I have furnished the information you have required.

Source unknown

ALS Syndrome

Stephen Hawking is an astrophysicist at Cambridge University and perhaps the most intelligent man on earth. He has advanced the general theory of relativity farther than any person since Albert Einstein. Unfortunately, Hawking is afflicted with ALS Syndrome (Lou Gehrig’s disease). It will eventually take his life. He has been confined to a wheelchair for years, where he can do little more than sit and think. Hawking has lost the ability even to speak, and now he communicates by means of a computer that is operated from the tiniest movement of his fingertips.

Quoting from an Omni magazine article:

“He is too weak to write, feed himself, comb his hair, fix his classes—all this must be done for him. Yet this most dependent of all men has escaped invalid status. His personality shines through the messy details of his existence.”

Hawking said that before he became ill, he had very little interest in life. He called it a

“…pointless existence” resulting from sheer boredom. He drank too much and did very little work. Then he learned he had ALS Syndrome and was not expected to live more than two years. The ultimate effect of that diagnosis, beyond its initial shock, was extremely positive. He claimed to have been happier after he was afflicted than before. How can that be understood? Hawking provided the answer.

“When one’s expectations are reduced to zero,” he said, “one really appreciates everything that one does have.” Stated another way: contentment in life is determined in part by what a person anticipates from it. To a man like Hawking who thought he would soon die quickly, everything takes on meaning—a sunrise or a walk in a park or the laughter of children. Suddenly, each small pleasure becomes precious. By contrast, those who believe life owes them a free ride are often discontent with its finest gifts.

James Dobson, New Man, October, 1994, p. 36

Are You Okay?

Driving through Texas, a New Yorker collided with a truck carrying a horse. A few months later he tried to collect damages for his injuries. “How can you now claim to have all these injuries?” asked the insurance company’s lawyer. “According to the police report, at the time you said you were not hurt.” “Look,” replied the New Yorker. “I was lying on the road in a lot of pain, and I heard someone say the horse had a broken leg. The next thing I know this Texas Ranger pulls out his gun and shoots the horse. Then he turns to me and asks, ‘Are you okay?’”

Reader’s Digest, July, 1994, p. 64

Unless You Repent You Shall Perish

Our point of view is crucial when difficult things happen to us. A great example of a person transforming calamity by his Christlike point of view is David Watson. Watson, a minister in England, died of cancer before these words of his were published:

“It’s sometimes only through suffering that we begin to listen to God. Our natural pride and self-confidence have to be stripped painfully away and we become aware, perhaps for the first time, of our own personal needs.

“During the ministry of Jesus on earth, a tower fell in Siloam and killed 18 innocent people. ‘Why did God allow it’ was the immediate questions pressed by those around Him. Jesus replied, not by answering the question of suffering nor by giving a satisfactory solution to this particular tragedy. Instead, He came back to the practical challenge of God’s Word: ‘I tell you...unless you repent you will all likewise perish.’ It may sound a little bleak, but Jesus was far more concerned with a person’s eternal well-being than merely satisfying an intellectual curiosity. Here He was dealing not with the question of ‘Why?’ but with the question ‘What?’ ‘What is God saying in this calamity?’”

Watson concludes,

“Through the unexpected diagnosis of cancer I was forced to consider carefully my priorities in life and to make some necessary adjustments. I still do not know why God allowed it, nor does it bother me. But, I am beginning to hear what God is saying, and this has been enormously helpful to me.”

Morning Glory, January 21, 1994

Where Would You Be If You Could Read or Write

Somerset Maugham, the English writer, once wrote a story about a janitor at St. Peter’s Church in London. One day a young vicar discovered that the janitor was illiterate and fired him. Jobless, the man invested his meager savings in a tiny tobacco shop, where he prospered, bought another, expanded, and ended up with a chain of tobacco stores worth several hundred thousand dollars. One day the man’s banker said, “You’ve done well for an illiterate, but where would you be if you could read and write?” “Well,” replied the man, “I’d be janitor of St. Peter’s Church in Neville Square.”

Bits and Pieces, June 24, 1993, p. 23

Gold

He sat by the fire of seven-fold heat,
As He watched by the precious ore.
And closer He bent with a searching gaze
As He heated it more and more.

He knew He had ore that could stand the test
And He wanted the finest gold,
To mold as a crown for the King to wear,
Set with gems of price untold.

So He laid our gold in the burning fire,
Though we fain would have said Him, “Nay.”
And He watched the dross that we had not seen,
As it melted and passed away.

And the gold grew brighter, and yet more bright
And our eyes were so dim with tears,
As we saw the fire, not the Master’s hand,
And questioned with anxious fear.

Yet our gold shone out with a richer glow,
As it mirrored a Form above
That bent o’er the fire, though unseen by us
With a look of infinite love.

Can we think that it pleased His loving heart
To cause a moment of pain?
Ah, no, but He saw through the present cross
The bliss of eternal gain.

So He waited there with a watchful eye,
With a love that is strong and sure,
And His gold did not suffer a bit more heat
Than was needed to make it pure!

Source unknown

Out of the Darkness

Out of the dark forbidding soil
The pure white lilies grow.
Out of the black and murky clouds,
Descends the stainless snow.

Out of the crawling earth-bound worm
A butterfly is born.
Out of the somber shrouded night,
Behold! A golden morn!

Out of the pain and stress of life,
The peace of God pours down.
Out of the nails—the spear—the cross,
Redemption—and a crown!

Source unknown

Until You Know the Whole Story

Once there was an old man who lived in a tiny village. Although poor, he was envied by all, for he owned a beautiful white horse. Even the king coveted his treasure. A horse like this had never been seen before—such was its splendor, its majesty, its strength.

People offered fabulous prices for the steed, but the old man always refused. “This horse is not a horse to me,” he would tell them. “It is a person How could you sell a person? He is a friend, not a possession. How could you sell a friend?” The man was poor and the temptation was great. But he never sold the horse.

One morning he found that the horse was not in the stable. All the village came to see him. “You old fool,” they scoffed, “we told you that someone would steal your horse. We warned you that you would be robbed. You are so poor. How could you ever hope to protect such a valuable animal? It would have been better to have sold him. You could have gotten whatever price you wanted. No amount would have been too high. Now the horse is gone, and you’ve been cursed with misfortune.”

The old man responded, “Don’t speak too quickly. Say only that the horse is not in the stable. That is all we know; the rest is judgment. If I’ve been cursed or not, how can you know? How can you judge?”

The people contested, “Don’t make us out to be fools! We may not be philosophers, but great philosophy is not needed. The simple fact is that your horse is gone is a curse.”

The old man spoke again. “All I know is that the stable is empty, and the horse is gone. The rest I don’t know. Whether it be a curse or a blessing, I can’t say. All we can see is a fragment. Who can say what will come next?”

The people of the village laughed. They thought that the man was crazy. They had always thought he was a fool; if he wasn’t, he would have sold the horse and lived off the money. But instead, he was a poor woodcutter, an old man still cutting firewood and dragging it out of the forest and selling it. he lived hand to mouth in the misery of poverty. Now he had proven that he was, indeed, a fool.

After fifteen days, the horse returned. He hadn’t been stolen; he had run away into the forest. Not only had he returned, he had brought a dozen wild horses with him. Once again the village people gathered around the woodcutter and spoke. “Old man, you were right and we were wrong. What we thought was a curse was a blessing. Please forgive us.”

The man responded, “Once again, you go too far. Say only that the horse is back. State only that a dozen horses returned with him, but don’t judge. How do you know if this is a blessing or not? You see only a fragment. Unless you know the whole story, how can you judge? You read only one page of a book. Can you judge the whole book? You read only one word of a phrase. Can you understand the entire phrase?

“Life is so vast, yet you judge all of life with one page or one word. All you have is a fragment! Don’t say that this is a blessing. No one knows. I am content with what I know. I am not perturbed by what I don’t.”

“Maybe the old man is right,” they said to one another. So they said little. But down deep, they knew he was wrong. They knew it was a blessing. Twelve wild horses had returned with one horse. With a little bit of work, the animals could be broken and trained and sold for much money.

The old man had a son, an only son. The young man began to break the wild horses. After a few days, he fell from one of the horses and broke both legs. Once again the villagers gathered around the old man and cast their judgments.

“You were right,” they said. “You proved you were right. The dozen horses were not a blessing. They were a curse. Your only son has broken his legs, and now in your old age you have no one to help you. Now you are poorer than ever.”

The old man spoke again. “You people are obsessed with judging. Don’t go so far. Say only that my son broke his legs. Who knows if it is a blessing or a curse? No one knows. We only have a fragment. Life comes in fragments.”

It so happened that a few weeks later the country engaged in war against a neighboring country. All the young men of the village were required to join the army. Only the son of the old man was excluded, because he was injured. Once again the people gathered around the old man, crying and screaming because their sons had been taken. There was little chance that they would return. The enemy was strong, and the war would be a losing struggle. They would never see their sons again.

“You were right, old man,” they wept. “God knows you were right. This proves it. Your son’s accident was a blessing. His legs may be broken, but at least he is with you. Our sons are gone forever.”

The old man spoke again. “It is impossible to talk with you. You always draw conclusions. No one knows. Say only this: Your sons had to go to war, and mine did not. No one knows if it is a blessing or a curse. No one is wise enough to know. Only God knows.”

In the Eye of the Storm by Max Lucado, Word Publishing, 1991, pp. 144-147

Resources

• Unraveling the Big Questions About God, K. Boa, Zondervan, 1988, p. 75
• Suffering and Evil, No Easy Answers, W. L. Craig, Moody, 1990, pp. 73ff, 85ff
• J. Boice, Sermon on the Mount, p. 66. Purpose: to fit us for heaven

.

Oh Lord, Let Me Be a Potato

While my husband Frank and I were living in Pakistan many years ago, our six-month-old baby died. An old Punjabi who heard of our grief came to comfort us. “A tragedy like this is similar to being plunged into boiling water,” he explained. “If you are an egg, your affliction will make you hard-boiled and unresponsive. If you are a potato, you will emerge soft and pliable, resilient and adaptable.” It may sound funny to God, but there have been times when I have prayed, “O Lord, let me be a potato.”

Guideposts

Deep Roots

A. Parnell Bailey visited an orange grove where an irrigation pump had broken down. The season was unusually dry and some of the trees were beginning to die for lack of water. The man giving the tour then took Bailey to his own orchard where irrigation was used sparingly. “These trees could go without rain for another 2 weeks,” he said. “You see, when they were young, I frequently kept water from them. This hardship caused them to send their roots deeper into the soil in search of moisture. Now mine are the deepest-rooted trees in the area. While others are being scorched by the sun, these are finding moisture at a greater depth.”

Our Daily Bread

Wounded Bird

“Once I heard a song of sweetness as it cleft the morning air,
sounding in its blest completeness like a tender, pleading prayer.
And I sought to find the singer whence the wondrous song was borne,
and I found a bird sore wounded, pinioned by a cruel thorn.

I have seen a soul in sadness while its wings with pain were furled,
giving hope and cheer and gladness that should bless a weeping world.
And I knew that life of sweetness was of pain and sorrow borne,
and a stricken soul was singing with its heart against a thorn.

We are told of cruel scourging, of a Savior bearing scorn,
and He died for your salvation with His brow against a thorn.
You are not above the Master. Will you breathe a sweet refrain?
Then His grace will be sufficient when your heart is pierced with pain.”

Our Daily Bread

Shaping the Stone

A famous evangelist told the following incident: “I have a friend who in a time of business recession lost his job, a sizable fortune, and his beautiful home. To add to his sorrow, his precious wife died; yet he tenaciously held to his faith—the only thing he had left. One day when he was out walking in search of employment, he stopped to watch some men who were doing stonework on a large church. One of them was chiseling a triangular piece of rock. ‘Where are you going to put that?’ he asked. The workman said, ‘Do you see that little opening up there near the spire? Well, I’m shaping this stone down here so that it will fit in up there.’

Tears filled my friend’s eyes as he walked away, for the Lord had spoken to him through that laborer whose words gave new meaning to his troubled situation.”

Our Daily Bread

The Father Knows Best

Our Father knows what’s best for us
so why should we complain
We always want the sunshine
But He knows there must be rain.
We love the sound of laughter
And the merriment of cheer
But our hears would lose their tenderness
If we never shed a tear...

Our Father tests us often
With suffering and with sorrow
He tests us, not to punish us,
But to help us meet tomorrow...
For growing trees are strengthened
when they withstand the storm
And the sharp cut of the chisel
Gives the diamond grace and form...

God never hurts us needlessly,
and He never wastes our pain,
For every loss He sends us
is followed by rich gain...
And when we count the blessings
that God so freely sent,
We’ll find no cause for murmuring
And no time to lament...

For our Father loves His children,
And to Him all things are plain,
So He never sends us pleasure
When the soul’s deep need is pain...
So whenever we are troubled,
And when everything goes wrong,
It’s just God working in us,
To make our Spirit strong...

Source Unknown

It’s Better Higher Up

The famous preacher D.L. Moody told about a Christian woman who was always bright, cheerful, and optimistic, even though she was confined to her room because of illness. She lived in an attic apartment on the fifth floor of an old, rundown building. A friend decided to visit her one day and brought along another woman—a person of great wealth. Since there was no elevator, the two ladies began the long climb upward. When they reached the second floor, the well-to-do woman commented, “What a dark and filthy place!” Her friend replied, “It’s better higher up.” When they arrived at the third landing, the remark was made, “Things look even worse here.” Again the reply, “It’s better higher up.” The two women finally reached the attic level, where they found the bedridden saint of God. A smile on her face radiated the joy that filled her heart. Although the room was clean and flowers were on the window sill, the wealthy visitor could not get over the stark surroundings in which this woman lived. She blurted out, “It must be very difficult for you to be here like this!” Without a moment’s hesitation the shut-in responded, “It’s better higher up.” She was not looking at temporal things. With the eye of faith fixed on the eternal, she had found the secret of true satisfaction and contentment.

Our Daily Bread

Cradles of Eminence

In 1962, Victor and Mildred Goertzel published a revealing study of 413 “famous and exceptionally gifted people” called Cradles of Eminence. They spent years attempting to understand what produced such greatness, what common thread might run through all of these outstanding people’s lives. Surprisingly, the most outstanding fact was that virtually all of them, 392, had to overcome very difficult obstacles in order to become who they were.

Holy Sweat, Tim Hansel, 1987, Word Books Publisher, p. 134

Surgery Better than Retardation

Dr. Ian Munro, a plastic surgeon at the University of Toronto, is one of a handful of doctors in the world who can take apart and then rebuild the skulls of infants with Crouzon’s disease. The head of a child who suffers from this condition becomes so misshapen that it puts extreme pressure on the brain, ultimately causing retardation. The painful operation often involves breaking as many as 90 percent of the patient’s skull and facial bones, but who would argue that retardation is preferable to surgery?

Today in the Word, March 16, 1993

Good Timber

The tree that never had to fight
For sun and sky and air and light,
That stood out in the open plain
And always got its share of rain,
Never became a forest king
But lived and died a scrubby thing.

The man who never had to toil
To heaven from the common soil,
Who never had to win his share
Of sun and sky and light and air,
Never became a manly man,
But lived and died as he began.

Good timber does not grow in ease;
The stronger wind, the tougher trees;
The farther sky, the greater length;
The more the storm, the more the strength;
By sun and cold, by rain and snows,
In tree or man, good timber grows.

Where thickest stands the forest growth
We find the patriarchs of them both;
And they hold converse with the stars
Whose broken branches show the scars
Of many winds and of much strife —
This is the common law of life.

Douglas Malloch, quoted in Resource, Sept./Oct., 1992, p. 7

Weaving

My life is but a weaving
Between my Lord and me,
I cannot choose the colors
He worketh steadily.

Oft times He weaveth sorrow
And I in foolish pride
Forget He sees the upper
And I, the underside.

Not till the loom is silent
And the shuttles cease to fly
Shall God unroll the canvas
And explain the reason why.

The dark threads are as needful
In the Weaver’s skillful hand
As the threads of gold and silver
In the pattern He has planned.

Source unknown

Forgive Me When I Whine

Today upon a bus, I saw a lovely maid with golden hair;
I envied her—she seemed so gay, and how, I wished I were so fair;
When suddenly she rose to leave, I saw her hobble down the aisle;
She had one foot and wore a crutch, but as she passed, a smile.

Oh God, forgive me when I whine,
I have two feet—the world is mine.

And when I stopped to buy some sweets, the lad who served me had such charm;
He seemed to radiate good cheer, his manner was so kind and warm;
I said, “It’s nice to deal with you, such courtesy I seldom find”;
He turned and said, “Oh, thank you sir.” And then I saw that he was blind.

Oh, God, forgive me when I whine,
I have two eyes, the world is mine.

Then, when walking down the street, I saw a child with eyes of blue;
He stood and watched the others play, it seemed he knew not what to do;
I stopped a moment, then I said, “Why don’t you join the others, dear?”
He looked ahead without a word, and then I knew he could not hear.

Oh God, forgive me when I whine,
I have two ears, the world is mine.

With feet to take me where I’d go; With eyes to see the sunsets glow,
With ears to hear what I would know. I am blessed indeed. The world is mine;

Oh, God, forgive me when I whine.

Source unknown

My Web of Life

No chance has brought this ill to me;
‘Tis God’s sweet will, so let it be,
He seeth what I cannot see.
There is a need for each pain;
And He will one day make it plain
That earthly loss is heavenly gain.
Like as a piece of tapestry
Viewed from the back appears to be
But tangled threads mixed hopelessly,
But in the front a picture fair
Rewards the worker for his care,
Proving his skill and patience rare.
Thou are the workman, I the frame;
Lord, for the glory of Thy name,
Perfect Thine image in the same.

Source unknown

Suffering Gets our Attention

John Donne, a 17th century poet, experienced great pain. Because he married the daughter of a disapproving lord, he was fired from his job as assistant to the Lord Chancellor, yanked from his wife, and locked in a dungeon. (This is when he wrote that succinct line of despair, “John Donne/ Anne Donne/ Undone.”) Later, he endured a long illness which sapped his strength almost to the point of death. In the midst of this illness, Donne wrote a series of devotions on suffering which rank among the most poignant meditations on the subject. In one of these, he considers a parallel: The sickness which keeps him in bed forces him to think about his spiritual condition.

Suffering gets our attention; it forces us to look to God, when otherwise we would just as well ignored Him.

Yancey, Where is God When it Hurts?, p. 58,

Why?

On February 15, 1947 Glenn Chambers boarded a plane bound for Quito, Ecuador to begin his ministry in missionary broadcasting. But he never arrived. In a horrible moment, the plane carrying Chambers crashed into a mountain peak and spiraled downward. Later it was learned that before leaving the Miami airport, Chambers wanted to write his mother a letter. All he could find for stationery was a page of advertising on which was written the single word “WHY?” Around that word he hastily scribbled a final note.

After Chambers’s mother learned of her son’s death, his letter arrived. She opened the envelope, took out the paper, and unfolded it. Staring her in the face was the questions “WHY?” No doubt this was the questions Jesus’ disciples asked when He was arrested, tried, and crucified. And it was probably the questions Joseph of Arimathea asked himself as he approached Pilate and requested the Lord’s body (v.58).

It must have nagged at him as he wrapped the body in a linen cloth, carried it to his own freshly hewn tomb, and rolled the massive stone into its groove over the tomb’s mouth. In the face of his grief, Joseph carried on. He did what he knew he had to do. None of Jesus’ relatives were in a position to claim His body for burial, for they were all Galileans and none of them possessed a tomb in Jerusalem. The disciples weren’t around to help either. But there was another reason for Joseph’s act of love. In Isaiah 53:9, God directed the prophet to record an important detail about the death of His Messiah. The One who had no place to lay His head would be buried in a rich man’s tomb. Joseph probably didn’t realize that his act fulfilled prophecy. The full answer to the why of Jesus’ death was also several days away for Joseph and the others. All he knew was that he was now a disciple of Jesus—and that was enough to motivate his gift of love.

Today in the Word, April 18, 1992

Tribulation

“I am progressing along the path of life in my ordinary contented condition, when suddenly a stab of pain threatens serious disease, or a newspaper headline threatens us all with destruction.

“At first I am overwhelmed, and all my little happiness look like broken toys. And perhaps, by God’s grace, I succeed, and for a day or two become a creature consciously dependent on God and drawing its strength from the right sources. But the moment the threat is withdrawn, my whole nature leaps back to the toys.

“Thus the terrible necessity of tribulation in only too clear. God has had me for but 48 hours and then only by dint of taking everything else away from me. Let Him but sheathe the sword for a minute, and I behave like a puppy when the hated bath is over—I shake myself as dry as I can and race off to reacquire my comfortable dirtiness in the nearest flower bed.

“And that is why tribulation cannot cease until God sees us remade.”

From The Problem of Pain; used by permission of William Collins Sons and Co., Ltd. quoted in Daily Walk, May 16/17, 1992

We Are Chosen

On a wall in his bedroom Charles Spurgeon had a plaque with Isaiah 48:10 on it: “I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.” “It is no mean thing to be chosen of God,” he wrote. “God’s choice makes chosen men choice men....We are chosen, not in the palace, but in the furnace. In the furnace, beauty is marred, fashion is destroyed, strength is melted, glory is consumed; yet here eternal love reveals its secrets, and declares its choice.”

Wycliffe Handbook of Preaching & Preachers, W. Wiersbe, p. 223When William Sangster was told he was dying of progressive muscular atrophy, he made four resolutions and faithfully kept them:

Four I Will’s

1. I will never complain;

2. I will keep the home bright;

3. I will count my blessings;

4. I will try to turn it to gain.

Source unknown

Problems

1. Problems often provide us with greater opportunities

2. Problems can promote our spiritual maturity (Ps. 105:16ff)

3. Problems prove our integrity (1 Pt. 3:15)

4. Problems produce a sense of dependence

5. Problems prepare our hearts for ministry (more empathetic)

Source unknown

What Problems and Determination Will Do

1. Produces character and hope

2. Shows the power of Christ

3. Shows the glory of God

4. Shows what faith can do

5. Teaches dependence on God

6. Enables us to comfort those in trouble

7. Shows the proof of faith

8. Sometimes God allows us to suffer for the cause of Christ

9. Keeps down pride

10. Suffering can come because of another’s sin

11. Suffering can come because we are part of a fallen race, living in a cursed world

12. Because of our own sin, to discipline and chastise us, teach us; cf. Psalm 32

13. Because of the sovereignty of God

14. Because our enemy wants us to suffer

15. For reasons known only to God

16. Because of our own stupidity—we reap what we sow

Source unknown

Sakharov’s Memoirs

Elena Bonner, wife of Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov, says that as he wrote his memoirs she typed, edited, and nursed the work, doing everything she could to make sure it survived seizure by the government. Sakharov worked on his memoirs in Gorky, rewriting sections because they kept vanishing. Then one day he met Elena at the train station and with trembling lips told her, “They stole it.” She says he looked like a man who had just learned of the death of a close friend. But after a few days, Sakharov returned to his work. According to his wife, each time he rewrote his memoirs there was something new—something better.

Today in the Word, Moody Bible Institute, January, 1991, p. 34

Resources

• Purpose in: to fit us for heaven. J Boice, Sermon on the Mount, p. 66
• Reasons for: Divine Healing Today, Richard Mayhue, Moody Press, pp. 117ff

.

Called to Suffer

Some believers are very surprised when they are called to suffer. They thought they would do some great thing for God, but all God permits them to do is to suffer. Just suppose you could speak with those who have gone to be with the Lord; everyone has a different story, yet everyone has a tale of suffering. One was persecuted by family and friends...another was inflicted with pain and disease, neglected by the world...another was bereaved of children...another had all these afflictions. But you will notice that though the water was deep, they all have reached the other side. Not one of them blames God for the road He led them; ‘Salvation’ is their only cry. Are there an of you, dear children, murmuring at your lot? Do not sin against God. This is the way God leads all His redeemed ones.

Robert Murray McCheyne

He Never Fails

He never fails the soul that trusts in Him;
Tho’ disappointments come and hope burns dim,
He never fails.
Tho’ trials surge like stormy seas around,
Tho’ testings fierce like ambushed foes abound,
Yet this my soul, with millions more has found,
He never fails; He never fails.

He never fails the soul that trusts in Him;
Tho’ angry skies with thunder-clouds grow grim,
He never fails.
Tho’ icy blasts life’s fairest flow’rs lay low,
Tho’ earthly springs of joy all cease to flow,
Yet still ‘tis true, with millions more I know,
He never fails; He never fails.

He never fails the soul that trusts in Him;
Tho’ sorrow’s cup should overflow the brim,
He never fails.
Tho’ oft the pilgrim way seems rough and long,
I yet shall stand amid yon white-robed throng,

Source unknown

The Wax Was Softened

“Unaccountable, this,” said the wax, as from the flame it dropped melting upon the paper beneath. “Do not grieve,” said the paper, “I’m sure it is all right.” “I was never is such again,” exclaimed the wax, still dropping. “It is not without a good design and will end well,” replied the paper. The wax was unable to reply at once, and when it again looked up it bore a beautiful impression, the counterpart of the seal which had been applied to it. “Ah, I understand now,” said the wax, no longer suffering. “I was softened in order to receive this lovely, durable impress.”

Source unknown

Quotes

• Many men owe the grandeur of their lives to their tremendous difficulties. - C. H. Spurgeon, quoted in Streams in the Desert, quoted in Reflections, Christianity Today, June 16, 1997, p. 45
• Looking back, [my wife] Jan and I have learned that the wilderness is part of the landscape of faith, and every bit as essential as the mountaintop. On the mountaintop we are overwhelmed by God’s presence. In the wilderness we are overwhelmed by his absence. Both places should bring us to our knees; the one, in utter awe; the other, in utter dependence. - Dave Dravecky in When You Can’t Come Back
• If you treat everybody like they’re hurting, you will be treating the vast majority of them in the proper way. - Zig Ziglar
• The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trials. - Chinese Proverb, New Man, March/April 1997, p. 18
• 2/5’s of self-identified Christians deny the link between pain/suffering and becoming a better person. Community Impact Seminar, Focus on the Family
• Untold suffering seldom is. - Franklin P. Jones in The Saturday Evening Post
• We have the mistaken notion that suffering should be temporary, understandable, and readily applicable to life. - Neal Anderson
• A clay pot sitting in the sun will always be a clay pot. It has to go through the white heat of the furnace to become porcelain. - Mildred Witte Struven, in Bits and Pieces, September 19, 1991, p. 6
• And there I’ll sing, with millions more, this song—He never fails; He never fails. - J. S. Baxter, in Explore The Book
• At the Nicene Council, an important church meeting in the 4th century A.D., of the 318 delegates attending, fewer than 12 had not lost an eye or lost a hand or did not limp on a leg lamed by torture for their Christian faith. - Vance Havner
• Contrary to what might be expected, I look back on experiences that at the time seemed especially desolating and painful with particular satisfaction. Indeed, I can say with complete truthfulness that everything I have learned in my 75 years in this world, everything that has truly enhanced and enlightened my experience, has been through affliction and not through happiness. - Malcolm Muggeridge, in Homemade, July, 1990
• When I hear my friends say they hope their children don’t have to experience the hardships they went through—I don’t agree. Those hardships made us what we are. you can be disadvantaged in many ways, and one way may be not having had to struggle. - William M. Batten, Fortune
• Once when Bob Hope received a major award he responded, “I don’t deserve this, but then I have arthritis and I don’t deserve that either.”
• Suffering is the heritage of the bad, of the penitent, and of the Son of God. Each one ends in the cross. The bad thief is crucified, the penitent thief is crucified, and the Son of God is crucified. By these signs we know the widespread heritage of suffering. - Oswald Chambers in Christian Discipline.
• If we consider the greatness and the glory of the life we shall have when we have risen from the dead, it would not be difficult at all for us to bear the concerns of this world. If I believe the Word, I shall on the Last Day, after the sentence has been pronounced, not only gladly have suffered ordinary temptations, insults, and imprisonment, but I shall also say: “O, that I did not throw myself under the feet of all the godless for the sake of the great glory which I now see revealed and which has come to me through the merit of Christ!” - Martin Luther
• “Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it. - Helen Keller, quoted by Barbara Rowes, The book of Quotes, Dutton.
• C. Swindoll, Growing Strong, p. 91. Glenn Chambers killed on way to serve at HCJB. Mailed letter home, written on back of advertisement. One word in middle of page, “Why?”
• Someone asked C. S. Lewis, “Why do the righteous suffer?” “Why not?” he replied. “They’re the only ones who can take it.”
• Those who know the path to God, can find it in the dark. - Maclaren
• Suffering teaches us patience. These words were found penned on the wall of a prison cell in Europe: “I believe in love even when I don’t feel it. I believe in God even when He is silent.” - Billy Graham, Till Armageddon

.

Choose God’s Will

To choose to suffer means that there is something wrong; to choose God’s will even if it means suffering is a very different thing. No healthy saint ever chooses suffering; he chooses God’s will, as Jesus did, whether it means suffering or not. Be merciful to God’s reputation. It is easy to blacken God’s character because God never answers back, He never vindicates Himself. Beware of the thought that Jesus needed sympathy in His earthly life; He refused sympathy from others because He knew far too wisely that no one on earth understood what He was going through. Notice God’s ‘waste’ of saints, according to the judgment of the world. God plants His saints in some of the most useless places. We say, ‘God intends me to be here because I am so useful.’ Jesus never estimated His life along the line of the greatest use. God puts His saints where they will glorify Him most, and we are no judges at all of where that is.

Oswald Chambers

Sometimes the Struggle Is What We Need

A man found a cocoon of the emperor moth and took it home to watch it emerge. One day a small opening appeared, and for several hours the moth struggled but couldn’t seem to force its body past a certain point.

Deciding something was wrong, the man took scissors and snipped the remaining bit of cocoon. The moth emerged easily, its body large and swollen, the wings small and shriveled.

He expected that in a few hours the wings would spread out in their natural beauty, but they did not. Instead of developing into a creature free to fly, the moth spent its life dragging around a swollen body and shriveled wings.

The constricting cocoon and the struggle necessary to pass through the tiny opening are God’s way of forcing fluid from the body into the wings. The “merciful” snip was, in reality, cruel. Sometimes the struggle is exactly what we need.

Beth Landers

You Need Not Fear

When the emperor Valens threatened Eusebuis with confiscation of all his goods, torture, banishment, or even death, the courageous Christian replied, “He needs not fear confiscation, who has nothing to lose; nor banishment, to whom heaven is his country; nor torments, when his body can be destroyed at one blow; nor death, which is the only way to set him at liberty from sin and sorrow.”

Source unknown

The Vine and the Oak

B. M. Launderville has written, “The vine clings to the oak during the fiercest of storms. Although the violence of nature may uproot the oak, twining tendrils still cling to it. If the vine is on the side opposite the wind, the great oak is its protection; if it is on the exposed side, the tempest only presses it closer to the trunk. In some of the storms of life, God intervenes and shelters us; while in others He allows us to be exposed, so that we will be pressed more closely to Him.”

Today in the Word, April, 1989, p. 17

Ruined Handkerchief

The story is told of a woman who once showed the famous art critic John Ruskin a costly handkerchief on which a blot of ink had been dropped. The handkerchief was ruined, complained the woman, and nothing was left to do except throw it away. Ruskin said nothing, but took the handkerchief with him. Not long afterward, the woman received it back, but it was so changed she could hardly believe it was the original. Using the blot as a basis, Ruskin had created around it a beautiful and artistic design, changing what was ruined into a thing of beauty and joy.

Today in the Word, May, 1989

Victor Frankl

When Jewish psychiatrist Victor Frankl was arrested by the Nazis in World War II, he was stripped of everything—property, family, possessions. He had spent years researching and writing a book on the importance of finding meaning in life—concepts that later would be known as logotherapy. When he arrived in Auschwitz, the infamous death camp, even his manuscript, which he had hidden in the lining of his coat, was taken away.

“I had to undergo and overcome the loss of my spiritual child, “ Frankl wrote. “Now it seemed as if nothing and no one would survive me; neither a physical nor a spiritual child of my own! I found myself confronted with the question of whether under such circumstances my life was ultimately void of any meaning.”

He was still wrestling with that question a few days later when the Nazis forced the prisoners to give up their clothes.

“I had to surrender my clothes and he in turn inherited the worn-out rags of an inmate who had been sent to the gas chamber,” said Frankl. “Instead of the many pages of my manuscript, I found in the pocket of the newly acquired coat a single page torn out of a Hebrew prayer book, which contained the main Jewish prayer, SHEMA YISRAEL (Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is one God. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.)

“How should I have interpreted such a ‘coincidence’ other than as a challenge to LIVE my thoughts instead of merely putting them on paper?”

Later, as Frankl reflected on his ordeal, he wrote in his book MAN’S SEARCH FOR MEANING, ‘There is nothing in the world that would so effectively help one to survive even the worst conditions, as the knowledge that there is a meaning in one’s life…He who has a WHY to live for can bear almost any HOW.’”

Source unknown

It Was Your House

Newspaper reporter phoned a story into his editor about an empty truck that rolled down a hill and smashed into a home. Editor was unimpressed and told reporter he didn’t want to run the story. “I’m glad you’re taking this so calmly. It was your house.”

Source unknown

Pass Through the Fire

Most of the Psalms were born in difficulty. Most of the Epistles were written in prisons. Most of the greatest thoughts of the greatest thinkers of all time had to pass through the fire. Bunyan wrote Pilgrim’s Progress from jail. Florence Nightingale, too ill to move from her bed, reorganized the hospitals of England. Semi paralyzed and under the constant menace of apoplexy, Pasteur was tireless in his attack on disease. During the greater part of his life, American historian Francis Parkman suffered so acutely that he could not work for more than five minutes as a time. His eyesight was so wretched that he could scrawl only a few gigantic words on a manuscript, yet he contrived to write twenty magnificent volumes of history.

Sometimes it seems that when God is about to make preeminent use of a man, he puts him through the fire.

Tim Hansel, You Gotta Keep Dancin,’ David C. Cook, 1985, p. 87

Eagle’s Nest

Though many of us have seen pictures of a huge eagle’s nest high in the branches of a tree or in the crag of a cliff, few of us have gotten a glimpse inside. When a mother eagle builds her nest she starts with thorns, broken branches, sharp rocks, and a number of other items that seem entirely unsuitable for the project. But then she lines the nest with a thick padding of wool, feathers, and fur from animals she has killed, making it soft and comfortable for the eggs. By the time the growing birds reach flying age, the comfort of the nest and the luxury of free meals make them quite reluctant to leave. That’s when the mother eagle begins “stirring up the nest.” With her strong talons she begins pulling up the thick carpet of fur and feathers, bringing the sharp rocks and branches to the surface. As more of the bedding gets plucked up, the nest becomes more uncomfortable for the young eagles. Eventually, this and other urgings prompt the growing eagles to leave their once-comfortable abode and move on to more mature behavior.

Today in the Word, June 11, 1989

Thank You for My Hurting

David, a 2-year old with leukemia, was taken by him mother, Deborah, to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, to see Dr. John Truman who specializes in treating children with cancer and various blood diseases. Dr. Truman’s prognosis was devastating: “He has a 50-50 chance.” The countless clinic visits, the blood tests, the intravenous drugs, the fear and pain—the mother’s ordeal can be almost as bad as the child’s because she must stand by, unable to bear the pain herself. David never cried in the waiting room, and although his friends in the clinic had to hurt him and stick needles in him, he hustled in ahead of him mother with a smile, sure of the welcome he always got. When he was three, David had to have a spinal tap—a painful procedure at any age. It was explained to him that, because he was sick, Dr. Truman had to do something to make him better. “If it hurts, remember it’s because he loves you,” Deborah said. The procedure was horrendous. It took three nurses to hold David still, while he yelled and sobbed and struggled. When it was almost over, the tiny boy, soaked in sweat and tears, looked up at the doctor and gasped, “Thank you, Dr. Tooman, for my hurting.”

Miracles of Courage, Monica Dickens, 1985

God Hath Not Promised

God hath not promised
Skies ever blue,
Flower-strewn pathways
always for you.

God hath not promised
Sun without rain,
Joy without sorrow,
Peace without pain.

But He hath promised
Strength from above,
Unfailing sympathy,
undying love.

Source unknown

Peace Perfect Peace

Peace, perfect peace, with sorrows surging round?
On Jesus’ bosom nought but calm is found.

Peace, perfect peace, our future all unknown?
Jesus we know, and He is on the throne.

Peace, perfect peace, death shadowing us and ours?
Jesus has vanquished death and all its powers.

It is enough; earth’s struggles soon shall cease,
And Jesus call us to heaven’s perfect peace.”

Bishop E. H. Bickersteth

Trust

Until I learned to trust,
I did not learn to pray,
And I did not learn to fully trust
Till sorrows came my way.

Until I felt my weakness,
His strength I never knew,
Nor dreamed till I was stricken
That He would see me through.

Who deepest drinks of sorrow
Drinks deepest too of grace,
He sends the storm so He himself,
Can be our hiding place.

His heart that seeks our highest good
Knows well when things annoy,
We would not long for heaven
If earth held only joy.

Author unknown

Lift Your Empty Hands to Me

One by one he took them from me,
All the things I valued most,
Until I was empty-handed;
Every glittering toy was lost.
And I walked earth’s highway grieving,
In my rags and poverty,
Till I heard His voice inviting,
“Lift your empty hands to me.”

So I turned my hands toward heaven,
And He filled them with a store
Of His own transcendent riches,
Till they could contain no more,
Then at last I comprehended,
With my stupored mind and dull,
That God could not pour His riches
Into hands already full.

Author unknown

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