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 26
Trials and Pain: Another Day of Preparation
Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed
what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be
like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this
hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.
--1 John 3:2-3
Know that our living Lord is unspeakably pure. He is sinless,
spotless, immaculate, stainless. In His person is an absolute
fullness of purity that our words can never express. This fact alone
changes our entire human and moral situation and outlook. We can
always be sure of the most important of all positives: God is God
and God is right. He is in control. Because He is God He will never
change!
I repeat: God is right-always. That statement is the basis of all
we are thinking about God.
When the eternal God Himself invites us to prepare ourselves to be
with Him throughout the future ages, we can only bow in delight and
gratitude, murmuring, "Oh, Lord, may Your will be done in this
poor, unworthy life!"
I can only hope that you are wise enough, desirous enough and
spiritual enough to face up to the truth that every day is another
day of spiritual preparation, another day of testing and discipline
with our heavenly destination in mind.
Jesus, Author of our Faith, pp. 92-93
"Lord, today I enter the day on my knees with this thought
welling up in my heart: 'God is God and God is right. He is in
control.' 'Oh, Lord, may Your will be done in this poor, unworthy
life!' Amen."