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 9
Trials and Pain: It Works!
...Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that
the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in
infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in
distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
--2 Corinthians 12:9-10
Ten thousand enemies cannot stop a Christian, cannot even slow him
down, if he meets them in an attitude of complete trust in God. They
will become to him like the atmosphere that resists the airplane,
but which because the plane's designer knew how to take advantage of
that resistance, actually lifts the plane aloft and holds it there
for a journey of 2,000 miles. What would have been an enemy to the
plane becomes a helpful servant to aid it on its way....
If this should seem like a bit of theorizing, remember that always
the greatest Christians have come out of hard times and tough
situations. Tribulations actually worked for their spiritual
perfection in that they taught them to trust not in themselves but
in the Lord who raised the dead. They learned that the enemy could
not block their progress unless they surrendered to the urgings of
the flesh and began to complain. And slowly, they learned to stop
complaining and start praising. It is that simple--and it works!
We Travel an Appointed Way, 32-33.
"Lord, I wish I could more readily 'stop complaining and start
praising.' I pray for Your grace to work within me that I might
allow the trials to lift me aloft rather than press me down. I'll
do it in Your strength today. Amen."