December: Trials and Pain
The devil, things and people being what they are, it is necessary for
God to use the hammer, the file and the furnace in His holy work of
preparing a saint for true sainthood. It is doubtful whether God can
bless a man greatly until He has hurt him deeply.
The Root of the Righteous, 157.
December 7
Trials and Pain: Criticism and Abuse
But as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel,
even so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God who tests our hearts.
--1 Thessalonians 2:4
"Let not thy peace depend on the tongues of men," said the wise old
Christian mystic, Thomas a Kempis; "for whether they judge well or
ill, thou art not on that account other than thyself."
One of the first things a Christian should get used to is abuse....
To do nothing is to get abused for laziness, and to do anything is
to get abused for not doing something else.
Was it not Voltaire who said that some people were like insects,
they would never be noticed except that they sting? A traveler must
make up his mind to go on regardless of the insects that make his
trip miserable....
One thing is certain, a Christian's standing before God does not
depend upon his standing before men. A high reputation does not
make a man dearer to God, nor does the tongue of the slanderer
influence God's attitude toward His people in any way. He knows us
each one, and we stand or fall in the light of His perfect
knowledge.
The Next Chapter After the Last, pp. 94-95
"Lord, I know this truth, but it's so hard to 'let not thy peace
depend on the tongues of men.' The stinging insects are so annoying!
Give me peace in Your approval today. Amen."