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Suffering
Problem of Evil
Whatever the answer to why
there is evil and suffering in the world
this much is true: God took his own
medicine.
Purpose of Evil
A composer of a musical
score sometimes includes some discords to create an overall pleasing effect. In
a similar manner
God’s ultimate purpose for the world was best served by a
plan that allowed for the presence and activity of evil.
Purpose of Pain
There is an ancient Chinese
philosophy which says: “To be dry and thirsty in a hot and dusty land-and to
feel great drops of rain on my bare skin-ah
is this not happiness? To have an
itch in the private parts of my body-and finally to escape from my friends and
to a hiding place where I can scratch-ah
is this not happiness?” Pain and
pleasure are inextricably linked. The pleasure would not exist
or least be
recognized
if it were not for pain.—Philip Yancey
Purpose of Pain
Pain can serve a definite
purpose in our lives.
Dr.
Paul Brand of
Purpose of Pain
Pain insists upon being
attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures
speaks in our conscience
and
shouts in our pain. It is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.—C.S. Lewis
Limits of Testing
The large tractor-trailer trucks that
travel the highways of the nation are subjected to a load limit. This means
that there is a limit as to how much weight each truck is allowed to carry.
There is a good reason for establishing such limits. If the trucks were allowed
to exceed their weight limit
the roads would eventually fall apart
because a
given road is designed to support vehicles only up to a certain weight.
Likewise
God knows how much we can
bear when he allows us to be tested. He has assigned a definite “load limit” to
each of us and never exceeds it (1 Cor. 10:13) ── Michael P. Green《Illustrations
for Biblical Preaching》.
Purpose of testing
When American Airlines trains their
pilots they first seek to prove them by use of a simulator. The simulator is
designed to present the pilot with a variety of potential problems so that he
will be able to handle any emergency in the future. First the pilot is tested
with simple challenges
which eventually build up to catastrophic situations.
The pilots are given more difficult problems only after they have mastered the
previous ones. The result is that when the pilots have completed their courses
they are prepared to handle any problem that comes their way.
This is similar to God’s method of
working with us. God teaches us how to handle the problems of life
but never
gives us more than we can handle. He teaches us through each situation
so that
we can be fully prepared and mature people
ready to handle any challenge in
life that might come our way. ── Michael P. Green《Illustrations
for Biblical Preaching》
Trials
There is a story about how birds got
their wings. The story goes that birds were first made without wings. Then God
made wings
put them in front of the wingless birds
and said to them
“Come
take up these burdens and bear them.” The birds hesitated at first
but soon
obeyed and picked up the wings in their beaks. Because the wings were heavy
the birds laid them on their shoulders. Then
to their amazement
the wings
began to grow and soon had attached themselves to their bodies. The birds
quickly discovered how to use these new appendages and were soon soaring
through the air. What had once been a heavy burden now became an instrument
that enabled the birds to soar and go where they could never go before.
The story is a parable. We are the
wingless birds. The duties and tasks that seem like a burden and a trial often
become the very means that God uses to lift us up and build godliness in us.
God’s plan is for our tasks to be our helpers and motivators. To refuse to bend
our shoulders to receive a load is to decline a new opportunity for growth. ──
Michael P. Green《Illustrations for Biblical Preaching》
Trials
There once was an ant who felt imposed
upon
overburdened
and overworked. You see
he was instructed to carry a piece
of straw across an expanse of concrete. The straw was so long and heavy that he
staggered beneath its weight and felt he would not survive. Finally
as the
stress of his burden began to overwhelm him and he began to wonder if life
itself was worth it
the ant was brought to a halt by a large crack in his
path. There was no way of getting across that deep divide
and it was evident
that to go around it would be his final undoing. He stood there discouraged.
Then suddenly a thought struck him. Carefully laying the straw across the crack
in the concrete
he walked over it and safely reached the other side. His heavy
load had become a helpful bridge. The burden was also a blessing. ──
Michael P. Green《Illustrations for Biblical Preaching》
Trials
A man was shopping in a grocery story.
His young son followed closely behind
carrying a large basket. The father
loaded the basket with one thing after another until another customer began to
feel sorry for the boy. She said
“That’s a pretty heavy load for a young
fellow like you
isn’t it?” The boy turned to the woman and said
“Oh
don’t
worry. My dad knows how much I can carry.” In the same way
God knows our
limitations and gives to us no burden beyond what we can carry. ──
Michael P. Green《Illustrations for Biblical Preaching》
Trials
In a man’s dream
he had a vision of
walking through life on a sandy beach with Jesus by his side. As he looked back
at the footprints in the sand
he noticed that at the troublesome spots of his
life only one set of footprints marked the sand. The man asked Jesus where the
Lord had been during those troublesome times. Jesus replied: “That single set
of footprints is mine. Then I was carrying you and your burden.” ──
Michael P. Green《Illustrations for Biblical Preaching》
Trials
Have you ever stopped to examine
weeds? They serve as a reminder of judgment
a result of the curse on the
ground after the fall of Adam. But if you look closely
you can see signs of
mercy in that judgment. Some weeds have gorgeous flowers: tiny blue bells
ruffled purple blooms
and even magnificent displays of gold. In the same
way-even in trials or discipline-if we look closely
we can see beautiful signs
of God’s mercy. ── Michael P. Green《Illustrations for Biblical
Preaching》
Trials
A customer once asked a shopkeeper
“What makes this set of china so much more expensive than that one over there?
They look almost the same.” The reply was simple
“The costlier set has had
more done to it. You see
it had to be put through the kiln twice because the
flowers are on a yellow background. On the less expensive set
they are on a
white background. The costly china had to be put through the fire once for the
yellow background
and then a second time for the design on it.”
So it is in the life of a believer who
desires God’s best. There will be many times we must go through the kiln with
all of its fire and heat until we fully display God’s intended design in our
life. ── Michael P. Green《Illustrations for Biblical
Preaching》
Trials
There is a story about a traveler in a
logging area who watched with curiosity as a lumberjack occasionally jabbed his
sharp hook into a log to separate it from the others floating down a mountain
stream. When asked why he did this
the logger replied
“These may all look
alike to you
but I can recognize that a few of them are quite different. The
ones I let pass are from trees that grew in a valley where they were always
protected from the storms. Their grain is rather coarse. The ones I have hooked
and kept apart came from high on the mountains. From the time they were small
they were beaten by strong winds. This toughens the trees and gives them a fine
grain. We save them for choice work. They are too good to be used for ordinary
lumber.”
Has the grain of your character been
finely arranged by the toughening action of life’s trials and adversity? ──
Michael P. Green《Illustrations for Biblical Preaching》
Trials
Someone has said
“A brook would lose
its song if God removed the rocks.” ── Michael P. Green《Illustrations
for Biblical Preaching》
Trials
No one enjoys a visit to the dentist
although all enjoy the long-range benefits of the visit. In a similar way
no
one enjoys the difficulties of a trial
but all who endure them enjoy the side
effects of perseverance
proven character
and hope. ──
Michael P. Green《Illustrations for Biblical Preaching》
Trials
The richest chords require some black
keys. ── Michael P. Green《Illustrations for Biblical
Preaching》
God’s Help in Trials
Long ago
in the days of sailing
ships
a terrible storm arose and a ship was lost in a deserted area. Only one
crewman survived
washed up on a small uninhabited island. In his desperation
the castaway daily prayed to God for help and deliverance from his lonely
existence. Each day he looked for a passing ship and saw nothing. Eventually he
managed to build a crude hut
in which he stored the few things he had
recovered from the wreck and those things he had made to help him.
One day
as the sailor was returning
from his daily search for food
he saw a column of smoke. As he ran to it he
saw his hut in flames. All was lost. Now not only was he alone
but he had
nothing to help him in his struggle for survival. Stunned and nearly overcome
with grief and despair
he fell into a deep depression and spent a nearly
sleepless night wondering what was to become of him and questioning whether
life itself was even worth the effort.
The next morning
he rose early and
went down to the sea. There
to his amazement
he saw a ship lying offshore and
a small boat rowing toward him. When the once-marooned man met the ship’s
captain
he asked him how he had known to send help. The captain replied
“Why
we saw your smoke signal yesterday
but by the time we drew close the tide was
against us. So we had to wait until now to come and get you.”
Do not despair when calamity strikes
for God is always able to bring a blessing out of what seems to be a curse. ──
Michael P. Green《Illustrations for Biblical Preaching》
God’s Help in Trials
A vine clings to an oak tree and in so
doing finds the protection in times of trial that preserves it. If a violent
storm should arise and the vine is on the side of the tree away from the wind
the tree serves to protect the vine from the wind
which would otherwise tear
it away and rip it into shreds. If the vine is on the exposed side of the tree
the wind serves only to press the vine closer to the tree it already clings to.
In the storms of our life
God will at
times set himself between us and the fury of the storm and so protect us from
it. At other times
he will expose us to the storm so that its ravages may
serve to press us closer to him. ── Michael P. Green《Illustrations
for Biblical Preaching》
God’s Help in Trials
Some flowers
such as the rose
must
be crushed if their full fragrance is to be released. Some fruits
such as the
sycamore
must be bruised if they are to attain ripeness and sweetness. Some
metals
such as gold
must be heated in the furnace if they are to become pure.
The attaining of godliness-the process
of becoming a mature Christian-requires similar special handling. It is often
through pain
suffering
trouble
adversity
trials
and even temptation that
we develop spiritual discipline and become refined and enriched. ──
Michael P. Green《Illustrations for Biblical Preaching》
God’s Help in Trials
When a wood sculptor wants to create a
work of art
he starts with a log and begins to fashion it with a sharp chisel.
He meticulously cuts and shapes that log until finally he has his finished
product. The log
which might otherwise have been burned in a fireplace
has
become a beautiful masterpiece that can be displayed on the mantle over the
fireplace.
God’s working in our lives may
sometimes be painful
yet his ultimate purpose for us is to produce a
masterpiece. ── Michael P. Green《Illustrations for Biblical
Preaching》
God’s Help in Trials
The story is told of two artists who
were putting the finishing touches on a painting high on a scaffold in a
church. The younger artist stepped back to admire the work and became
enraptured with the beauty of what he and his mentor had created. His master
saw his pleasure and realized that in the emotion of the moment the young man
was continuing to step back
inching toward the edge of the scaffold. In
another moment he would plunge to his death. Fearing he would frighten his
student by a warning cry
the master artist deliberately splashed paint across
the painting. The young man lunged forward in shock and cried out
“What have
you done? Why did you do that?” Upon hearing the reason
his anger and
confusion melted into tears of joy and thankfulness.
God sometimes uses trials to protect
us from ourselves
especially from the naïve enthusiasm that could lead us to
disaster. ── Michael P. Green《Illustrations for Biblical
Preaching》
God’s Help in Trials
When the time comes
an eagle stirs up
the nest and turns her young ones out into mid-air
compelling them to use
their wings. In a similar manner
God allows many a human heart to be disturbed
by troubles to bring about an urgent sense of need for the Savior. ──
Michael P. Green《Illustrations for Biblical Preaching》
God’s Help in Trials
A young boy carried the cocoon of a
moth into his house to watch the fascinating events that would take place when
the moth emerged. When the moth finally started to break out of his cocoon
the
boy noticed how very hard the moth had to struggle. The process was very slow.
In an effort to help
he reached down and widened the opening of the cocoon.
Soon the moth was out of its prison. But as the boy watched
the wings remained
shriveled. Something was wrong. What the boy had not realized was that the
struggle to get out of the cocoon was essential for the moth’s muscle system to
develop. In a misguided effort to relieve a struggle
the boy had crippled the
future of this creature. Trials are necessary for growth. ──
Michael P. Green《Illustrations for Biblical Preaching》
God’s Help in Trials
The trials of our faith are like God’s
ironing. When the heat of trials are applied to our lives the wrinkles of
spiritual immaturity begin to be smoothed out. ── Michael P. Green《Illustrations
for Biblical Preaching》
God’s Help in Trials
Bees undergo an interesting process to
ensure the healthy development of their young. The queen lays each egg in a
six-sided cell
which is filled with enough pollen and honey to feed on until
the egg reaches a certain stage of maturity. The top is then sealed with a
capsule of wax. When the occupant has exhausted its supply of nourishment
the
time has come for the tiny creature to be released from its confinement. But
what a wrestling
tussling
and straining it endures to get through the wax
seal! The opening is so narrow that in the agony of its exit
the bee rubs off
the membrane that encases its wings-so that when it does emerge
it is able to
fly.
If an insect were to get into the hive
and devour the wax capsules
the young bees could crawl out without any effort
or trouble but would be unable to fly. Soon their mature relatives would
instinctively proceed to sting them to death.
Christians also need the times of
wrestling and straining with trials so that they may be prepared to do God’s
will for their life. ── Michael P. Green《Illustrations
for Biblical Preaching》
God’s Help in Trials
It is always good to attend church or
Bible study and sit and soak up the truth of God’s Word like a sponge. But we
must realize that sponges work best when they are squeezed. ──
Michael P. Green《Illustrations for Biblical Preaching》
God’s Help in Trials
Paul’s statement in Romans 8:28 that
“all things work together for good” sounds like the ingredients for a cake
after they have been mixed together. Some of the ingredients used to make a
cake taste good by themselves. Other ingredients
such as alum
baking powder
or flour are not very palatable. Nevertheless
they are essential and must be
mixed with the good-tasting ingredients to produce a delicious final product.
God can be trusted to take even the
bitter experiences of life and blend them together and make them work together
for good. God knows which ingredients are needed
and he knows how to mix them
to produce the desired result. ── Michael P. Green《Illustrations
for Biblical Preaching》
God’s Help in Trials
Wilson Johnson
the founder of Holiday
Inn motels
once said
“When I was forty years old I worked in a sawmill. One
morning the boss told me I was fired. Depressed and discouraged
I felt like
the world had caved in. When I told my wife what had happened
she asked me
what I was going to do. I replied
‘I’m going to mortgage our little home and
go into the building business.’ My first venture was the construction of two
small buildings. Within five years I was a multimillionaire! At the time it
happened
I didn’t understand why I was fired. Later
I saw that it was God’s
unerring and wondrous plan to get me into the way of his choosing.” ──
Michael P. Green《Illustrations for Biblical Preaching》
God’s Help in Trials
In his Bible
an elderly minister
carried a bookmark that was made of silk threads woven into a motto. The back
of the bookmark was a tangled web of crossed threads that seemed to be without
reason or purpose. When the minister visited a home or hospital room where
there was great trouble
sorrow
or death
he would frequently show the
bookmark
first presenting the reverse side with all its unintelligible tangle.
When the distressed one had examined it intently without finding any meaning to
the seeming disorder
the minister would ask him to turn the fabric over.
Immediately
against a white silk background
there appeared a phrase in
colored threads: “God Is Love.” That side made sense; it had order and meaning.
So it is in life. We often experience
events that seem to be without explanation or meaning
like a maze of tangled
threads. But when we are face to face with Christ and can view our life from
eternity
we will see that every detail-good and bad
pleasant and
unpleasant-was woven together to show us that indeed “God Is Love.” ──
Michael P. Green《Illustrations for Biblical Preaching》
God’s Help in Trials
Hudson Taylor
founder of the China
Inland Mission (now the Overseas Missionary Fellowship)
was talking to a young
missionary who was about to start work in China. “Look at this
” Taylor said
and then proceeded to pound his fist on the table. The tea cups jumped
and the
tea was spilled. While the startled young man was wondering what was going on
Taylor said
“When you begin your work
you will be buffeted in numerous ways.
The trials will be like blows. Remember
these blows will bring out only what
is in you.” ── Michael P. Green《Illustrations for Biblical
Preaching》
God’s Help in Trials
At a cross-country steeplechase
exhibition
one horse suddenly shied away from a hurdle and ran into a
barbed-wire fence. The results were disaster
as the rider was taken by ambulance
to a hospital and the bleeding horse remained ensnarled in the wire until the
slow process of cutting it away was completed.
The underlying tragedy was seen in the
fact that the jump was a low one
which the horse could have easily cleared.
Yet the horse apparently took the fence to be an opening in the course and thus
an escape from the obstacle.
How we as believers are often like
that foolish horse! When faced with difficulties
do we look for the way out
rather than trusting in God’s provision? Do we break for the open at the first
opportunity
only to find that we have become ensnared and that our present
difficulty is far worse than the one we sought to avoid? ──
Michael P. Green《Illustrations for Biblical Preaching》
God’s Help in Trials
A Malayan boy
after having become a
Christian
found himself in the midst of a truly demonic attack in the early
weeks of his new Christian walk. Allah had been put behind him and the occult
practices that had been woven together with this former Moslem faith had been
turned from
but his Christian faith was like a tiny child’s first steps.
This boy went through demon activity
which he had experienced before in his life
and his call went forth to God
“Oh
God
help me.” However
since there was no immediate
visible change
the
boy fell into the trap Satan had set for him. “It isn’t working!” was the cry
of his heart
and his old reaction pattern came forth: “I’ll try this
and
this…” And so next
he called
“Allah be praised!” and then used some Arabic
words in a “magic” formula handed down for generations.
The young Christian did not yet know
that superstitious “crossing your fingers” is not a sign of faith. He was later
to learn the joy and freedom of trusting the power of God alone. Faith asks not
in unbelief
but in belief without doubting. ── Michael P. Green《Illustrations
for Biblical Preaching》
God’s Help in Trials
Have you ever seen someone break a
mustang? When a three-year-old horse who has never had a saddle on his back
first feels a saddle
it must be a frightening experience. Some horses will
react with anger
rearing back and trying to get away-even striking out with
their forefeet at their trainer. Their nostrils flare
their eyeballs roll
and
they panic! Others will just stand there
trembling
shaking like a leaf. They
won’t move; they’re so afraid. They don’t know what’s happening to them.
Immature Christians respond to trials
like wild horses. Some panic and cry out to the Lord
“What’s gone wrong?”
Others just freeze and do nothing. Mature Christians are like horses who have
learned to trust their trainer. They sense what is happening and respond to it
by submitting to the hand of their master
knowing that he will do them no
wrong. ── Michael P. Green《Illustrations for Biblical
Preaching》
God’s Help in Trials
Trials are not to our detriment but
add to our growth. For example
consider the kite flyer. He must take in hand
the string of his kite and run until the kite lifts up into the heavens. But he
will not reach his goal of a flying kite if there is no wind. Every kite flyer
knows that wind is necessary for flying kites. But note that kites do not rise
with the wind but rise against it. So it is with trials. The Christian will not
ascend to patience and maturity unless he ascends against trials. Do trials
make you soar above
or just plain sore? ── Michael P. Green《Illustrations
for Biblical Preaching》
God’s Help in Trials
A carpenter hired to help restore an
old farmhouse had just finished up a rough first day on the job. A flat tire
had made him lose an hour of work
his electric saw quit
and now his ancient
pickup refused to start.
As he rode home with a friend
he sat
in stony silence. On arriving
as he walked toward the front door
he paused
briefly at a small tree
touching the tips of the branches with both hands.
Then
opening the door
he underwent an amazing transformation. His tanned face
was wreathed in smiles and he hugged his two small children and gave his wife a
kiss.
Why the transformation? The tree in
his yard was his “trouble tree.” He knew he couldn’t avoid having troubles on
the job
but one thing was for sure-troubles didn’t belong in the house with
his wife and children. So he just hung his troubles on the tree every night
when he came home and
in the morning
picked them up again. The funny thing
was that when he came out in the morning to collect his troubles
there weren’t
nearly as many as he remembered hanging up the night before. ──
Michael P. Green《Illustrations for Biblical Preaching》
God’s Help in Trials
A lot of Christians have an
ejection-seat mentality. As soon as they get into difficulty
they want to pull
the ejection cord and zip off into glory
hoping to get away from it all. ──
Michael P. Green《Illustrations for Biblical Preaching》
God’s Help in Trials
No pharmacist ever weighed out
medicine with half as much care and exactness as God weighs out every trial he
dispenses. Not one gram too much does he ever permit to be put on us. ──
Michael P. Green《Illustrations for Biblical Preaching》
God’s Help in Trials
In 1895
Andrew Murray was in England
suffering from a terribly painful back
the result of an injury he had incurred
years before. One morning while he was eating breakfast in his room
his
hostess told him of a woman downstairs who was in great trouble and wanted to
know if he had any advice for her. Andrew Murray handed her a paper he had been
writing on and said
“Give her this advice I’m writing down for myself. It may
be that she’ll find it helpful.” This is what was written:
“In time of trouble
say
‘First
he
brought me here. It is by his will I am in this strait place; in that I will
rest.’ Next
‘He will keep me here in his love
and give me grace in this trial
to behave as his child.’ Then say
‘He will make the trial a blessing
teaching
me lessons he intends me to learn
and working in me the grace he means to
bestow.’ And last
say
‘In his good time he can bring me out again. How and
when
he knows.’ Therefore
say ‘I am here (1) by God’s appointment
(2) in his
keeping
(3) under his training
(4) for his time.” ──
Michael P. Green《Illustrations for Biblical Preaching》
Testing
But If Not
God
is able to deliver
From
my weariness and pain
And
he will deliver swiftly
If
it be for lasting gain;
But
if not-my heart shall sing
Trusting
wholly in my King.
God
is able to supply me
With
abundance from his store
And
he will supply my table
Though
the wolf be at the door;
But
if not-my heart shall rest
In
the thought “He knoweth best.”
God
is able to defend my
From
my foes who throng around
And
he will defend me surely
When
their rage and hate abound;
But
if not-I’ll bless his name
And
confess him just the same.
God
is able to save dear ones
From
the world and self and sin
And
he will both save and keep them
In
his fold safe gathered in;
But
if not-he’ll hold my hand
Teaching
me to understand.
── Michael P. Green《Illustrations
for Biblical Preaching》
Purpose of Testing
He sat by a furnace of
sevenfold 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 of gold—
To
mold as a crown for the King to wear;
Set
with gems of a 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;
But
our eyes were so dim with tears
We
saw but the fire-not the Master’s hand—
And
questioned with anxious fears.
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
looks of ineffable love.
Can
we think it pleases his loving heart
To
cause us a moment’s pain?
Ah!
No
but he saw through the present loss
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 whit more heat
Than
was needed to make it pure.
── Michael P. Green《Illustrations
for Biblical Preaching》
God’s Help in Trials
When God wants to drill a
man
And
thrill a man
And
skill a man;
When
God wants to mold a man
To
play the noblest part
When
he yearns with all his heart
To
create so great and bold a man
That
all the world shall be amazed
Watch
his methods
watch his ways—
Whom
he royally elects.
How
he hammers him and hurts him
And
with mighty blows
converts him
Into
trial shapes of clay
Which
only God understands
While
his tortured heart is crying
And
he lifts beseeching hands.
How
he bends but never breaks
When
his good he undertakes.
How
he uses whom he chooses
And
with every purpose
fuses him
By
every act
induces him
To
try his splendor out.
God
knows what he’s about.
── Michael P. Green《Illustrations
for Biblical Preaching》
Suffering
A Christian is like a tea bag-not much
good until it has gone through hot water. ── Michael P. Green《Illustrations
for Biblical Preaching》
Suffering
If God had told me some time ago that
he was about to make me happy as I could be in this world
and then had told me
that he should begin by crippling me in arm or limb
and removing me from all
my usual sources of enjoyment
I should have thought it a very strange mode of
accomplishing his purpose. And yet
how is his wisdom manifest even in this!
For if you should see a man shut up in a closed room
idolizing a set of lamps
and rejoicing in their light
and you wished to make him truly happy
you would
begin by blowing out all his lamps
and then throwing open the shutter to let
in the light of heaven.— Samuel Rutherford
Reason for Suffering
Suffering can do several things in the
life of a believer. First
it can “burn out the dross
” or purify us and lead
us to greater holiness of life. But it can also “burn in the promises
” or lead
us to a closer dependence on God and his faithful promises to us. Burn it
will-but look also at what the burning is for. ── Michael P. Green《Illustrations
for Biblical Preaching》
Reason for Suffering
There are many benefits in knowing a
foreign language. One of the chief benefits lies in the increased ability to
understand and be understood. If a person knows only one language
he is
tempted to think that everything he communicates is understood. However
if
forced to translate an idea into another language
he must consider various
possible words to use and their shades of meaning as well as all of the other
elements of the language. This effort opens up a door
allowing him to
communicate with many new people.
Suffering is like knowing a foreign
language
since things that one usually takes for granted in a normal flow of
life must be thought through in new ways in a time of suffering. For those who
have lived with suffering
a door of ministry is opened wide to a world of
hurting people. ── Michael P. Green《Illustrations for Biblical
Preaching》
Reason for Suffering
The Weaver
My
life is but a weaving between my Lord and me
I
cannot choose the colors he worketh steadily.
Oft
times he waveth sorrow and I in foolish pride
Forget
he sees the upper and I the underside.
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.
Not
till the loom is silent and the shuttle cease to fly
Shall
God unroll the canvas and explain the reason why.
── Michael P. Green《Illustrations
for Biblical Preaching》
Reason for Suffering
Men seek an explanation of suffering
in cause and effect. They look backward for a connection between prior sin and
present suffering. The Bible looks forward in hope and seeks explanations
not
so much in origins as in goals. The purpose of suffering is seen
not in its
cause
but in its results. The man (in John 9:3) was born blind so that the
works of God could be displayed in him. – Francis I.
Reason for Suffering
The following quotation is from a
Christian man who has been an invalid all his life
one of those lonely and
obscure people who live in constant pain
who do not know what it means to be
able to use their physical body in any way without pain and suffering:
“Loneliness is not a thing of itself
not an evil sent to rob us of the joys of life. Loneliness
loss
pain
sorrow
these are disciplines
God’s gifts to drive us to his very heart
to increase
our capacity for him
to sharpen our sensitivities and understanding
to temper
our spiritual lives so that they may become channels of his mercy to others and
so bear fruit for his kingdom. But these disciplines must be seized upon and
used
not thwarted. They must not be seen as excuses for living in the shadow
of half-lives
but as messengers
however painful
to bring our souls into
vital contact with the living God
that our lives may be filled to overflowing
with himself in ways that may
perhaps
be impossible to those who know less of
life’s darkness.” ── Michael P. Green《Illustrations for Biblical
Preaching》
Reason for Suffering
In the midst of the movie The
Hiding Place
there is a scene set in the Ravensbruck concentration camp in
Germany. Corrie ten Boom and her sister
Betsy
are there
along with ten
thousand other women
in horrible
degrading
hideous conditions. They are
gathered with some of the women in the barracks in the midst of the beds
cold
and hungry and lice-ridden
and Betsy is leading a Bible class. One of the
other women calls out derisively from her bunk and mocks their worship of God.
They fall into conversation
and this woman says what so frequently is flung at
Christians: “If your God is such a good God
why does he allow this kind of
suffering?” Dramatically she tears off the bandages and old rags that bind her
hands
displaying her broken
mangled fingers and says
“I’m the first
violinist of the symphony orchestra. Did you God will this?”
For a moment no one answers. Then
Corrie ten Boom steps to the side of her sister and says
“We can’t answer that
question. All we know is that our God came to this earth
and became one of us
and he suffered with us and was crucified and died. And that he did it for
love.” ── Michael P. Green《Illustrations for Biblical
Preaching》
Response to Suffering
Several years ago
there was a man
going through great physical problems and one of his legs had to be amputated.
That did not arrest the course of his disease
and he ultimately died because
of it. Just a few days before the man’s death
a minister visited him in the
hospital
and the patient said something that perfectly expresses what
“rejoicing in suffering” means to a Christian: “I never would have chosen one
of the trails that I’ve gone through
but I wouldn’t have missed any of them
for the world!”
This man had an awareness that his
suffering was something of value. He wouldn’t have missed it! He wouldn’t have
chosen it either! That is rejoicing in suffering. ──
Michael P. Green《Illustrations for Biblical Preaching》
Response to Suffering
An unknown author has written these
very appropriate words about suffering:
“It is well that we should think
sometimes
of the Upper Room
and of the Last Supper
and of His soul
‘exceeding sorrowful unto death’; of Gethsemane
the deep shadow of the olive
trees
his loneliness
prayers
and disappointment with his disciples
his
bloody sweat; the traitor’s kiss
the binding
the blow in the face
the
spitting
the buffeting
the mocking
the scourging
the crown of thorns
the
smiting; the sorrowful way
and burdensome cross
the exhaustion and collapse;
the stripping
the impaling
the jeers of his foes
the flight of his friends;
the hours on the cross
the darkness
his being forsaken of God; his thirst
and the end. ── Michael P. Green《Illustrations for Biblical
Preaching》
Response to Suffering
You may explain to a child all the
medical reasons why he must have a shot in the arm
but when the nurse gets
ready to plunge that needle into his arm
he runs to Mommy. Comfort comes not
in always knowing the reason why
but in knowing the comforter. ──
Michael P. Green《Illustrations for Biblical Preaching》
Response to Suffering
It is clear from Scripture
that”rejocing in suffering” is not simply stoicism. It is not simply a
grin-and-bear-it attitude of tough it out and see how much you can take
or
just hang in there until it’s over and don’t let anything get you down
or keep
of a stiff upper lip. Many people feel that if they do this
they are obeying
God and “rejoicing in suffering.” But they are not. ──
Michael P. Green《Illustrations for Biblical Preaching》
Someone asked C.S. Lewis
"Why do the righteous suffer?" "Why not?" he replied.
"They're the only ones who can take it."
Unknown.
"Although the world
is full of suffering
it is also full of the overcoming of it.
Helen Keller quoted in:
Barbara Rowes
The book of Quotes
Dutton.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Untold suffering seldom
is.
Franklin P. Jones in The
Saturday Evening Post.
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.
Semiparalyzed 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.
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.
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.
Tim Hansel
Holy Sweat
1987
Word Books Publisher
p. 134.
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.
Adapted from PhilipYancey
Where is God When it Hurts?
p. 58.
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."
W. Wiersbe
Wycliffe
Handbook of Preaching & Preachers
p. 223.
When William Sangster was
told he was dying of progressive muscular atrophy
he made four resolutions and
faithfully kept them: 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.
W. Wiersbe
Wycliffe
Handbook of Preaching & Preachers
p. 215.
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.
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.
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.
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."
Unknown.
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.
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.
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.
David
a 2-year old with
leukemia
was taken by his 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 his 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."
Monica Dickens
Miracles
of Courage
1985.
Billie Wilcox
on the
lessons of a disaster: 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 Magazine.
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."
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.
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 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.'"
Unknown.
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.
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.
A story by Max Lacado
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.
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.
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.
What problems can do for
us:
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)
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. 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
12. Because we reap what we sow
13. For discipline
14. Because of the sovereignty of God
15. Because our enemy wants us to suffer
16. For reasons known only to God
Unknown.
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 net 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.
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."
Unknown.
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.
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!
Author Unknown.
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
pleases 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.
Grace is God drawing
sinners closer and closer to him. How does God in grace prosecute this purpose?
Not by shielding us from assault by the work
the flesh
and the devil
nor by
protecting us from burdensome and frustrating circumstance
not yet by
shielding us from troubles created by our own temperament and psychology
but
rather by exposing us to all these things
so as to overwhelm us with a sense
of our own inadequacy
and to drive us to cling to him more closely.
This is the ultimate
reason
from our standpoint
why God fills our lives with troubles and
perplexities of one sort and another -- it is to ensure that we shall learn to
hold him fast. The reason why the Bible spends so much of its time reiterating
that God is a strong rock
a firm defense
and a sure refuge and help for the
weak is that God spends so much of his time showing us that we are weak
both
mentally and morally
and dare not trust ourselves to find or follow the right
road. When we walk along a clear road feeling fine
and someone takes our arm
to help us
likely we would impatiently shake him off; but when we are caught
in rough country in the dark
with a storm brewing and our strength spent
and
someone takes our arm to help us
we would thankfully lean on him. And God
wants us to feel that our way through life is rough and perplexing
so that we
may learn to lean on him thankfully. Therefore he takes steps to drive us out
of self-confidence to trust in himself
to -- in the classic scriptural phrase
for the secret of the godly man's life -- "wait on the Lord."
James Packer
Your
Father Loves You
Harold Shaw Publishers
1986.
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.
Chippie the parakeet never
saw it coming. One second he was peacefully perched in his cage. The next he
was sucked in
washed up
and blown over.
The problems began when
Chippie's owner decided to clean Chippie's cage with a vacuum cleaner. She
removed the attachment from the end of the hose and stuck it in the cage. The
phone rang
and she turned to pick it up. She'd barely said "hello"
when "ssssopp!" Chippie got sucked in.
The bird owner gasped
put
down the phone
turned off the vacuum
and opened the bag. There was Chippie --
still alive
but stunned.
Since the bird was covered
with dust and soot
she grabbed him and raced to the bathroom
turned on the
faucet
and held Chippie under the running water. Then
realizing that Chippie
was soaked and shivering
she did what any compassionate bird owner would do .
. . she reached for the hair dryer and blasted the pet with hot air.
Poor Chippie never knew
what hit him.
A few days after the
trauma
the reporter who'd initially written about the event contacted
Chippie's owner to see how the bird was recovering. "Well
" she
replied
"Chippie doesn't sing much anymore -- he just sits and
stares."
It's hard not to see why.
Sucked in
washed up
and blown over . . . That's enough to steal the song from
the stoutest heart.
Max Lucado
In the Eye
of the Storm
Word Publishing
1991
p. 11.
Doctor to patient: "I
have bad news and worse news."
Patient: "So let's
have it."
Doctor: "The bad news
is that you only have 24 hours to live."
Patient: "I can't
imagine what could be worse than that!"
Doctor: "I forgot to
tell you yesterday."
Source Unknown.
Louis Albert Banks tells
of an elderly Christian man
a fine singer
who learned that he had cancer of
the tongue and that surgery was required. In the hospital after everything was
ready for the operation
the man said to the doctor
"Are you sure I will
never sing again?" The surgeon found it difficult to answer his question.
He simply shook his head no. The patient then asked if he could sit up for a
moment. "I've had many good times singing the praises of God
" he
said. "And now you tell me I can never sing again. I have one song that
will be my last. It will be of gratitude and praise to God."
There in the doctor's
presence the man sang softly the words of Isaac Watts' hymn
"I'll praise
my Maker while I've breath
/ And when my voice is lost in death
/ Praise shall
employ my nobler power;/ My days of praise shall ne'er be past
/ While life
and thought
and being last
/ Or immortality endures."
Our Daily Bread.
The Thames
flowing
through London
was at low tide
causing the freighter to be anchored a
distance from shore. The long plank
which led from the ship across the mud
flats to the bank
suddenly began to jiggle precariously. The smallish man who
was carefully pushing his barrow across the plank from the freighter to the
shore lost his balance and found himself tumbling into the muddy waters. A roar
of laughter erupted from the dockers and from the tall worker on board ship
who had jiggled the plank. The muddied man's instinctive reaction was anger.
The fall was painful; he was dripping wet and knee deep in muck."This is
your opportunity
" a voice whispered in his heart.
The victim
unknown to his
tormenters
was a clergyman disguised as a docker in hopes of getting to know
how the dockers felt
lived and struggled. Perhaps as he gained their
confidence and made friends
he could tell them of the love of the Savior
who
died to give them new life and hope and joy.
George Dempster came up
laughing. A docker made his way to where Dempster had been dislodged
dropped
some empty boxes into the slush and jumped down to help him out.
"You took that all
right
" he said as he helped Dempster clamber back to the boxes he had
dropped. His accent was not that of a cockney. He was no ordinary docker.
Dempster told the story of
this unusual docker in Finding Men for Christ. He recounted the ensuing
events:
"Did I? Well
what's
the use of being otherwise?" I replied and followed this by a challenge.
"You haven't been at
this game long."
"Neither have
you
" he retorted.
"No! And I shan't be
at it much longer if I can help it.
Tell me your yarn
and
I'll tell you mine."
I was watching his face as
well as I could with my eyes still half full of mud. He was trying to scrape
some of the slime from me and meanwhile becoming almost as filthy as I was. We
agreed to exchange yarns. I therefore proposed that we should adjourn to a
coffee shop nearby and over a warm drink exchange the story of our experiences
and how we came to be "down under" life's circumstances.
Along we journeyed through
Wapping High Street
up Nightingale Lane to London Docks and so "To where
I dossed" (slept).
When we reached the Alley
and I indicated the door he said
"Do they let beds here?"
"Well
" I replied
"I sleep here
come in and see."
"Oh! I've often
passed this place but did not know they put men up here."
We entered and I
instructed that a cup of coffee and something be brought for my friend
while I
disappeared without explaining to anybody exactly how I came to be so
inelegantly decorated. Mud baths had not yet become a prescribed treatment for
certain human ailments
but never could such a remedy
however well prepared or
appropriately prescribed
prove so effectual as this one. It had been
involuntarily taken it is true
but for like results who would not undertake
even such drastic treatment daily? "His ways are higher than our
ways." His permissions are all for somebody's good
and in this instance
the reason for His permission was not long unrevealed.
A hurried bath soon put me
right. After donning my usual attire
while seeking Divine guidance I hastened
to return. "Here we are
now for our yarns
" I began. He was staring
in amazement and was for a few moments lost for reply. "This is your yarn
is it? What do you do this for?" The first part of his question needed no
reply
but I did not hesitate to answer the second. "To find you."
He looked perplexed as we
sat gazing at each other; then dropping his eyes before my enquiring look
shook his head sadly and rose as if to depart. Restraining him I said cheerily:
"Now
friend
a bargain is a bargain. Thank you for helping me out of the
river and thus giving me the privilege of meeting you
but you promised
you
know
and I want that story of yours. You can see mine."
He was a tall
well-built
man in middle life. There were indications beyond his speech that his years had
not been spent in his present conditions and surroundings. His features gave
evidence of intellect
and the obvious deterioration was recent. His expression
was softening even as we stood facing each other. The previous callous demeanor
was giving place to something finer. I pursued the question
feeling certain
now that here was the purpose of my adventure.
"Come now
tell me if
I can be of help to you."
Very decisively he
answered at once
"No
you cannot."
"Why?"
"Because I've gone
too far."
As I prayed silently
presently he looked me squarely in the face as if measuring whether he could
trust me and confide. No words came
so I continued. "Does it not appeal
to you as a very remarkable thing
" I asked
"that we should be
sitting here like this if you have really gone too far?" No answer.
"Was it an accidental
thing that I happened to get a job alongside you at that particular wharf this
morning? Was it mere chance that those rascals chose me for their rather cruel
joke? Is it pure coincidence that of all the crowd you should be the one to
fish me out? Or -- did Someone know where to find you and is even now answering
someone else's prayer for you?"
From the pocket he drew
hastily two photographs. "These are mine
" he said
laying them
gently upon the table. One was the picture of a fine-looking lady
the other
bore the figures of two bonnie young girls of nearly equal age
obviously the
daughters of the elder woman. I was looking closely at them when I heard a
groan and then a sob as my friend again dropped his head upon his arms.
"Yours! And you here
like this? Why?"
It was a sad story
but
alas
only too familiar. Bit by bit I got it from him; although several times
with an almost fierce "it's too late
" he would have left me. He was
a fully qualified medical man with a fine record. He had married into a
well-known family where there was no lack of money. Having conducted a splendid
practice in the south of England
all went well for him for years. Two girls
were born to them
and it was a happy home with a very wide circle of friends.
But as so frequently happens
the allurements proved too strong for the man
whose gifts and natural endowments made him a popular and welcome guest
wherever he went. He was too busy to continue his regular attendance at church;
gradually he ceased altogether and always had plenty of excuses to offer when
his wife urged him to accompany her.
The girls were sent away
to school where they were educated with a view to following a medical career
but he who should have been their guide and helper failed in his obligations
because he had become addicted to drink. At first this fact was hidden
but the
habit grew stronger until it mastered him. His practice as well as his home and
family were neglected. This naturally led to great unhappiness and depression.
In spite of the loving devotion and care of his wife and daughters
he went
from bad to worse and finally decided to disappear. So by a number of
subterfuges he effectually vanished from the world which knew him and became a
wanderer.
After years of wander in
America and Canada
he returned to London. He had never been discovered; he had
never communicated with his kin. Down
down he went
living the life of a
casual hand
sometimes finding a job
sometimes literally begging for food. He
slept out at night
often in lodging houses with those with whom he had nothing
in common save a degraded and sinful way of life. When he could get drink
he
took all he could obtain to drown his sorrows.
Once he was lodged in the
Tower Bridge Police cells but was discharged and warned. He had simply been
found "drunk and incapable
" and his identity had not been revealed.
Now this thing had happened
and it could not be explained away by saying it
was a coincidence. There was more in it than that. "Someone" had
known where to find him. Suppose those three whom he had so shamefully deserted
had been all the time praying for his recovery? Recovery that he had so foolishly
resisted -- so often longed for -- so often dreamed of.
Suppose it were true that
God was now "causing all things to work together for good to them" --
those three -- "that love Him"? Suppose that He was at this moment
giving him another -- possibly a last -- chance to return?
Such
he later admitted
were his thoughts
and he began to pray for himself. He had known in past days
the comforts and consolations of worship. Now he began to pray very deeply and
truly as he heard from a friend the old
old message.
Presently he said calmly
"I see
" and kneeling by the table
he and I talked with God. Never
can I forget his prayer.
At first the halting
stumbling petition of a brokenhearted repentant sinner who felt acutely two
things. First
his base ingratitude to a merciful God Who had not cut him off
in the midst of his sins
and then the cruelty of his conduct toward those who
loved him on earth. As he confessed his feelings in these ways
he seemed to
become capable of clearer utterance.
How long we thus communed
I do not know
but we were both much moved as we stood to shake hands. I seemed
to feel again his grip on mine as I now record these happenings. "And you
will stand by me?"
"Yes
" I
answered
"as well as another man can."
"Then I'll prove what
Christ can do."
We then fell to
considering whether it would be advisable to write at once to his wife and tell
her the news. "No! Not yet. Please God we'll try and improve matters
before we do that. I must find out more about the position there first. There
are the girls to think about. I must not spoil their careers. About now they
must be in the midst of their exams. No! Please wait a while until by God's
help I am a little more like a father they need not be ashamed of --
then!"
So we planned. With the aid
of a friend who had influence in a certain large
well-known company
he was
found a berth in the warehouse
packing drugs and chemicals. In a few weeks
the results were surprising. He was found to be so useful that a better paid
job was offered him. Soon it was discovered that he knew a great deal about the
contents of the packets he was handling
and when he admitted that the work of
a dispenser was not strange to him
he was again promoted.
It was then that he agreed
to my suggestions to write to his wife and inform her that he was alive and
well. Very carefully I wrote
telling her something of the events above
recorded and suggesting that if she would like to see me on the matter I would
gladly arrange to meet her.
A letter came back
breathing deep gratitude to God for His wonderful answer to prayer and for His
mercy. An expression of appreciation for the human agency He had provided
and
an explanation that the two daughters were facing some difficult hospital
examinations. It would therefore
she thought
be best to defer any meeting
until they were through. But would I please keep her informed of his progress.
It was a wonderfully understanding and gracious letter considering all the
circumstances.
I showed him the letter.
He was deeply moved as he
carefully and eagerly read it
then returning it to me he said quietly
"I
must ask you to honor her wishes. Painful as delay is to me
I must submit. I
deserve it and much more. Will you now pray with me that I may prove worthy of
her confidence and their love?"
Six months passed
each
day bringing continuous evidence of the "new birth" and of his
loyalty to Christ. There was no wavering or falling back. Whatever struggles he
had with the enemy
no one saw the least evidence of any weakness. In every way
he was proving that he was "a new creature
" that "old things
had passed away."
Two brief notes had come
from the wife asking more details than my letters conveyed. I gladly told her
all she desire to learn.
Then one day there came a
letter asking me to arrange a time for her to visit me. This was soon done
and
without telling either of them what I had planned
I made my own arrangements.
He was not informed of the impending visit but patiently awaited developments.
In due time the day
arrived
and the wife kept her appointment. I instantly recognized the lady of
the photograph
and to my intense delight she had brought her elder daughter
with her. Both were much affected as I told them as much as I deemed needful of
the facts. I felt it would be wise to leave the husband to give his own version
of affairs.
Then
at a suitable
moment
I said
"Would you like to see him at once?" I had not
revealed to them that I had him in an adjoining room. But when the wife and
daughter said eagerly together "Yes
please
" I opened the door and
led them in to him. The lady had approached her husband with a smile of welcome
and had kissed him; the daughter had put her arms about her father's neck
and
I heard just two words
"Dad
darling."
It was no place for an
outsider
so I made for my study and there lay the whole case again before the
Father
asking that His will should be done. He heard and answered.
For an hour I left them
alone. Then he came to fetch me. His eyes were very red
and I thought he
walked with a new and firmer step. No word was said
but he looked his deep
gratitude as he beckoned me to return with him.
As I entered the room
the
wife approached me with an eager look which spoke eloquently of the tense
feelings she had. When
after a few moments
she found voice
it was to tell me
that it had been arranged to await the second daughter's examinations
which
were just pending. This girl did not yet know the purport of her mother's visit
to London that day with the sister
who now told me on top of her own success
in the exams
she was overjoyed at finding her father.
"Do dare not tell
Margery yet. She is rather highly strung
and as Dad says
it might interfere
with her progress. But won't she be just delighted. You know she has never
ceased praying for this." So spake the daughter
still holding her
father's hand
as if unwilling to part again. It was a most affecting scene
and one felt that there was Another present
rejoicing with us. "If all
goes well we shall
please God
make home again when Margery is through
and oh
what a day that will be."
The mother was now feeling
the stress of it all and needed rest and refreshment. A happy little meal was
prepared
and thanks were given to Him Who had thus brought His promises to
fulfillment. But the best was yet to be.
A happy home was restored.
In a certain south coast
town
a place famous for its exhilarating air and for many of its citizens who
have made history
there is held every Sunday afternoon a Bible class for young
men. Sixty or more of the finest young fellows in that district meet week by
week. It has been the birthplace of many splendid young Christians. Some of
them have entered the Civil Service and today hold important positions at
Whitehall
where I have had the joy of meeting them.
Coming one day along one
of the corridors in the colonial office
I met a friend who said
"I'm
very glad to see you today
because I promised that the next time you came this
way I would ask you to come along with me and meet a man who wants to see you.
He has another friend in the home office who also wants to meet you. Have you
the time to do so?"
I assented and was led to
the room indicated. Here was a man holding a responsible position who
upon
being introduced
said
"I'm glad to meet you
sir
because I have an idea
that you must be the gentleman of whom a very dear friend of mine often spoke.
May I ask if you were acquainted with Dr. ______?"
"Yes indeed
I know
him very well."
"Then I guess you are
the one of whom he spoke. I owe everything in life after my own parents to Dr.
______. He was a wonderful factor in the shaping of my career and that of many
others. How did you come to know him
sir
if I may so question? And do you
know his gifted family?"
Of course I could not tell
him under what circumstances I had first met the doctor
the beloved physician
who had sat in the leader's chair of that Bible class Sunday by Sunday teaching
youths the Way of Life
nor that it was he who had helped me out of the river
that day when I had my involuntary mud bath.
From Finding Men for
Christ by George Dempster
(London: Hodder & Stroughton
1935). quoted
in Prodigals and Those Who Love Them
Ruth Bell Graham
1991
Focus on
the Family Publishing
pp. 85-94.
A friend of mine awoke one
morning to find a puddle of water in the middle of his king-size water bed. In
order to fix the puncture
he rolled the heavy mattress outdoors and filled it
with more water so he could locate the leak more easily. The enormous bag of
water was impossible to control and began rolling on the hilly terrain. He
tried to hold it back
but it headed downhill and landed in a clump of bushes
which poked it full of holes.
Disgusted
my friend threw
out the water-bed frame and moved a standard bed into his room. The next
morning
he awoke to find a puddle of water in the middle of the new bed. The
upstairs bathroom had a leaky drain.
Reader's Digest
March
1993
p. 123.
While assembling their new
water bed
my sister Betty and her husband
Everett
realized they would need a
hose. Everett dashed to the hardware store and bought one. They attached it to
the bed
ran it through the apartment to the kitchen tap and left to wait for
the bed to fill. About an hour later they checked on its progress. That's when
they discovered Everett had bought a sprinkler hose.
Reader's Digest
March
1993
p. 123.
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.
How you can tell when it's
going to be a rotten day:
You wake up face down on
the pavement.
You call Suicide
Prevention and they put you on hold.
You see a "60
Minutes" news team waiting in your office.
Your birthday cake
collapses from the weight of the candles.
You turn on the news and
they're showing emergency routes out of the city.
Your twin sister forgot
your birthday.
Your car horn goes off
accidentally and remains stuck as you follow a group of Hell's Angels on the
freeway.
Your boss tells you not to
bother to take off your coat.
The bird singing outside
your window is a buzzard.
You wake up and your
braces are locked together.
You call your answering
service and they tell you it's none of your business.
Your income tax check
bounces.
You put both contact
lenses in the same eye.
Your wife says
"Good
morning
Bill"
and your name is George.
Source Unknown.
I humbly bless his
gracious Providence
who gave me his Treasure in an Earthen Vessel
and trained
me up on the School of Affliction
and taught me the Cross of Christ so soon;
that I might be rather Theologus Crucis
as Luther speaketh
than Theologus
Gloriae; and a Cross-bearer
than a Cross-maker or Imposer.
Richard Baxter in Reliquiae
Baxterianae; or Narrative of His Life and Times
I
21. quoted in Christianity
Today
March 9
1992
p. 45.
"I often wish that I
could lie down and sleep without waking. But I will fight it out if I
can." So wrote one of the bravest
most inspiring men who ever lived
Sir
Walter Scott. In his 56th year
failing in health
his wife dying of an
incurable disease
Scott was in debt a half million dollars. A publishing firm
he had invested in had collapsed. He might have taken bankruptcy
but shrank
from the stain. From his creditors he asked only time. Thus began his race with
death
a valiant effort to pay off the debt before he died.
To be able to write free
from interruptions
Scott withdrew to a small rooming house in Edinburgh. He
had left his dying wife
Charlotte behind in the country.
"It withered my
heart
" he wrote in his diary
but his presence could avail her nothing now.
A few weeks later she died. After the funeral he wrote in his diary: "Were
an enemy coming upon my house
would I not do my best to fight
although
oppressed in spirits; and shall a similar despondency prevent me from mental
exertion? It shall not
by heaven!"
With a tremendous exercise
of will
he returned to the task
stifling his grief. He turned out Woodstock
Count Robert of Paris
Castle Dangerous
and other works. Though twice stricken
with paralysis
he labored steadily until the fall of 1832. Then came a
merciful miracle. Although his mental powers had left him
he died September
21
1832
happy in the illusion that all his debts were paid. (They were
finally paid in 1847 with the sale of all his copyrights.)
Thomas Carlyle was to
write of him latter: "No sounder piece of British manhood was put together
in the eighteenth century of time."
Bits & Pieces
August 20
1992
p. 16-18.
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 shuttle ceases to fly shall
God unroll the canvas and explain the reason why.
Source Unknown.
He knows not his own
strength that hath not met adversity.
Ben Jonson.
One man's life provides a
dramatic answer to the question
can God indeed bring positives out of troubled
times? This young man's name is David
and he is an awesome picture of God's
using difficulties for good. For years he viewed trials as something that
affected only his external world
and any blow to what he owned or how he
looked would discourage him and leave him feeling cheated. Today
David travels
around the world
talking with people about how he discovered that no matter
what happens to the outside
it's the internal life that trials really touch.
Just like what happened in Jerry's life (whose story we shared in the last
chapter)
the bigger the trial
the more potential to see God's power and peace
at work in the inner person.
During the Vietnam War
David went through rigorous training to become part of the ultra elite special
forces team the Navy used on dangerous search-and-destroy missions. During a
nighttime raid on an enemy stronghold
David experienced the greatest trial of
his life. When he and his men were pinned down by enemy machine-gun fire
he
pulled a phosphorus grenade from his belt and stood up to throw it. But as he
pulled back his arm
a bullet hit the grenade
and it exploded next to his ear.
Lying on his side on the
bank of a muddy river
he watched part of his face float by. His entire face
and shoulder alternately smoldered and caught on fire as the phosphorus that
had embedded itself in his body came into contact with the air. David knew that
he was going to die
yet miraculously he didn't. He was pulled from the water
by his fellow soldiers
flown directly to Saigon
and then taken to a waiting
plane bound for Hawaii.
But David's problems were
just beginning. When he first went into surgery -- the first of what would
become dozens of operations -- the surgical team had a major problem during the
operation. As they cut away tissue that had been burned or torn by the grenade
the phosphorus would hit the oxygen in the operating room and begin to ignite
again! Several times the doctors and nurses ran out of the room
leaving him
alone because they were afraid the oxygen used in surgery would explode!
Incredibly
David survived the operation and was taken to a ward that held the
most severe burn and injury cases from the war.
Lying on his bed
his head
the size of a basketball
David knew he presented a grotesque picture. Although
he had once been a handsome man
he knew he had nothing to offer his wife or
anyone else because of his appearance. He felt more alone and more worthless
than he had ever felt in his life. But David wasn't alone in his room. There
was another man who had been wounded in Vietnam and was also a nightmarish
sight. He had lost an arm and a leg
and his face was badly torn and scarred.
As David was recovering from surgery
this man's wife arrived from the States.
When she walked into the room and took one look at her husband
she became
nauseated. She took off her wedding ring
put it on the nightstand next to him
and said
"I'm so sorry
but there's no way I could live with you looking
like that." And with that
she walked out the door. He could barely make
any sounds through his torn throat and mouth
but the soldier wept and shook
for hours. Two days later
he died. That woman's attitude represents in many
respects the way the world views a victim of accident or injury. If a trial
emotionally or physically scars someone or causes him to lose his
attractiveness
the world says "Ugly is bad
" and consequently
any value
that person feels he has to others is drained away. For this poor wounded
soldier
knowing that his wife saw no value in him was more terrible than the
wounds he suffered. It blew away his last hope that someone
somewhere
could
find worth in him because he knew how the world would perceive him.
Three days later
David's
wife arrived. After watching what had happened with the other soldier
he had
no idea what kind of reaction she would have toward him
and he dreaded her
coming. His wife
a strong Christian
took one look at him
came over
and
kissed him on the only place on his face that wasn't bandaged. In a gentle
voice she said
"Honey
I love you. I'll always love you. And I want you
to know that whatever it takes
whatever the odds
we can make it together."
She hugged him where she could to avoid disturbing his injuries and stayed with
him for the next several days. Watching what had happened with the other man's
wife and seeing his own wife's love for him gave David tremendous strength.
More than that
her understanding and accepting him greatly reinforced his own
relationship with the Lord.
In the weeks and months
that followed
David's wounds slowly but steadily healed. It took dozens of
operations and months of agonizing recovery
but today
miraculously
David can
see and hear. On national television
we heard David make an incredible
statement. I am twice the person I was before I went to Vietnam. For one thing
God has used my suffering to help me feel other people's pain and to have an
incredible burden to reach people for Him. The Lord has let me have a
worldwide
positive effect on people's lives because of what I went through. I
wouldn't trade anything I've gone through for the benefits my trials have had
in my life
on my family's life and on countless teenagers and adults I've had
the opportunity to influence over the years. David experienced a trial that no
parents would wish on their children. Yet in spite of all the tragedy that
surrounded him
God turned his troubled times into fruitful ones.
Gary Smalley and John
Trent
Ph.D.
The Gift of Honor
pp. 56-58.
"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.
Lord
I've never moved a
mountain and I guess I never will. All the faith that I could muster wouldn't
move a small ant hill. Yet I'll tell you
Lord
I'm grateful for the joy of
knowing Thee
and for all the mountain moving down through life You've done for
me.
When I needed some help
you lifted me from the depths of great despair. And when burdens
pain and
sorrow have been more than I can bear
you have always been my courage to
restore life's troubled sea
and to move these little mountains that have
looked so big to me.
Many times when I've had
problems and when bills I've had to pay
and the worries and the heartaches
just kept mounting every day
Lord
I don't know how you did it. Can't explain
the wheres or whys. All I know
I've seen these mountains turn to blessings in
disguise.
No
I've never moved a
mountain
for my faith is far too small. Yet
I thank you
Lord of Heaven
you
have always heard my call. And as long as there are mountains in my life
I'll
have no fear
for the mountain-moving Jesus is my strength and always near.
Source Unknown.
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
And there I'll sing
with
millions more
this song--
He never fails; He never
fails.
J.S. Baxter
Explore
The Book.
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
Bits
and Pieces
September 19
1991
p.6.
First
He brought me here
it is by His will I am in this strait place: in that fact I will rest.
Next
He will keep me here
in His love
and give me grace to behave as His child.
Then
He will make the
trial a blessing
teaching me the lessons He intends me to learn
and working
in me the grace He means to bestow.
Last
In His good time He
can bring me out again--how and when He knows.
Let me say I am here
(1)
By God's appointment
(2) In His keeping
(3) Under His training
(4) For His
time.
Andrew Murray
quoted in Though
the Mountains Shake
by Amy Carmichael
p. 12.
The hills ahead look steep
and high
And often we behold them
with a sigh;
But as we near them level
grows the road
We find on every slope
with every load
The climb is not so steep
the top so far.
The hills ahead look
harder than they are.
Douglas Malloch.
I am not a connoisseur of
great art
but from time to time a painting or picture will really speak a
clear
strong message to me. Some time ago I saw a picture of an old burned-out
mountain shack. All that remained was the chimney...the charred debris of what
had been that family's sole possession. In front of this destroyed home stood
an old grandfather-looking man dressed only in his underclothes with a small
boy clutching a pair of patched overalls. It was evident that the child was
crying. Beneath the picture were the words which the artist felt the old man
was speaking to the boy. They were simple words
yet they presented a profound
theology and philosophy of life. Those words were
"Hush child
God ain't
dead!"
That vivid picture of that
burned-out mountain shack
that old man
the weeping child
and those words
"God ain't dead" keep returning to my mind. Instead of it being a
reminder of the despair of life
it has come to be a reminder of hope! I need
reminders that there is hope in this world. In the midst of all of life's
troubles and failures
I need mental pictures to remind me that all is not lost
as long as God is alive and in control of His world.
James DeLoach
associate
pastor of the Second Baptist Chruch of Houston
quoted in When God Was Taken
Captive
W. Aldrich
Multnomah
1989
p. 24.
In 1924
two climbers were
part of an expedition that set out to conquer Mount Everest. As far as is
known
they never reached the summit; and they never returned. Somewhere on
that gigantic mountain they were overpowered by the elements and died. After
the failure of the expedition
the rest of the party returned home. Addressing
a meeting in London
one of those who returned described the ill-fated
adventure. He then turned to a huge photograph of Mount Everest
mounted on the
wall behind him.
"Everest
" he
cried
"we tried to conquer you once
but you overpowered us. We tried to
conquer you a second time
but again you were too much for us. But
Everest
I
want you to know that we are going to conquer you
for you can't grow any
bigger
and we can!"
Gene Getz
Doing Your
Part
Regal
1984
pp. 152-3.
Never attempt to bear more
than one kind of trouble at once. Some people bear three kinds--all they have
had
all they have now and all they expect to have.
Edward Everett Hale.
A funny thing happened in
Darlington
Maryland
several years ago. Edith
a mother of eight
was coming
home from a neighbor's house one Saturday afternoon. Things seemed too quiet as
she walked across her front yard. Curious
she peered through the screen door
and saw five of her youngest children huddled together
concentrating on
something. As she crept closer to them
trying to discover the center of attention
she could not believe her eyes. Smack dab in the middle of the circle were five
baby skunks. Edith screamed at the top of her voice
"Quick
children...run!" Each kid grabbed a skunk and ran.
Swindoll
The Quest for
Character
Multnomah
p. 192.
After William Carey was
well established in his pioneer missionary work in India
his supporters in
England sent a printer to assist him. Soon the two men were turning out
portions of the Bible for distribution. Carey had spent many years learning the
language so that he could produce the scriptures in the local dialect. He had
also prepared dictionaries and grammars for the use of his successors.
One day while Carey was
away
a fire broke out and completely destroyed the building
the presses
many
Bibles
and the precious manuscripts
dictionaries
and grammars. When he
returned and was told of the tragic loss
he showed no sign of despair or
impatience. Instead
he knelt and thanked God that he still had the strength to
do the work over again. He started immediately
not wasting a moment in
self-pity. Before his death
he had duplicated and even improved on his earlier
achievements.
Source Unknown.
Joe Scriven was a
missionary from Ireland to Canada
working among the Iroquois Indians. He was
joined by his fianc?who was also from Ireland. Just before the wedding
she was
killed in an ice accident. Joe buried her with his own hands
and a broken
heart. A year later
in a letter to his mother
he reflected
"What a friend we
have in Jesus
all our sins and griefs to bear! What a privilege to carry
everything to God in prayer! Have we trials and temptations? Is there trouble
anywhere? We should never be discouraged. Take it to the Lord in prayer."
Joe was on the road to triumph
even though there were times when the road was
rough.
Source Unknown.
On December 29
1987
a
Soviet cosmonaut returned to the earth after 326 days in orbit. He was in good
health
which hasn't always been the case in those record-breaking voyages.
Five years earlier
touching down after 211 days in space
two cosmonauts
suffered from dizziness
high pulse rates
and heart palpitations. They
couldn't walk for a week
and after 30 days
they were still undergoing therapy
for atrophied muscles and weakened hearts. At zero gravity
the muscles
of the body begin to waste away because there is no resistance. To counteract
this
the Soviets prescribed a vigorous exercise program for the cosmonauts.
They invented the "penguin suit
" a running suit laced with elastic
bands. It resists every move the cosmonauts make
forcing them to exert their
strength. Apparently the regimen is working.
We often long dreamily for
days without difficulty
but God knows better. The easier our life
the weaker
our spiritual fiber
for strength of any kind grows only by exertion.
Craig Brian Larson.
The Scriptures often
exhort us to be filled with various godly virtues--which means what? How do we
know if we are "full of goodness" (Rom. 15:14)
for example? Think a
moment about a water-saturated sponge. If we push down with our finger even
slightly
water runs out onto the table. We immediately know what fills the
interior pockets of the sponge. The same is true of ourselves. We can tell what
fills us on the inside by what comes out under pressure.
Robert Schmidgall.
In adversity we usually
want God to do a removing job when He wants to do an improving job. To realize
the worth of the anchor
we need to feel the storm.
Source Unknown.
Officer Jim Heimerl
a
Minneapolis policeman
was taking part in a 16.3 mile run in Grantsburg
Wisconsin. Jim was four miles into the race
in a cluster of runners not far
off the pace of
the leaders
when two deer
ambled out of the woods and onto the road. The startled buck
no doubt
distressed to find himself in the middle of a human marathon
began zigzagging
wildly through the runners. Jim didn't even see the animal until the two of
them collided and sprawled together onto the asphalt highway. Jim fell flat on
his face
received a concussion and opened a nasty gash on his forehead that
required 23 stitches.
"Luckily there
was a doctor running the race not far behind me
" Jim reported.
"Because of the way my heart was pumping from running
I lost a lot of
blood in a hurry. The doctor applied pressure and got it stopped." The
buck
however
paid an even higher price for his encounter. The collision broke
his leg and his back
and the only humane response was to quickly dispense him
to the ranks of the deerly departed. Jin had already been admitted to a nearby hospital
for repairs when state game officials called to tell him Wisconsin law holds
that anyone who hits and kills a deer on a Wisconsin roadway can claim the
deer. But since he didn't feel up to dealing with a dead deer
and since he
didn't want to store the carcass in his station wagon in 80-degree heat while
he recuperated overnight in the hospital
Jim declined the offer.
He lamented his luck.
"I hunt deer for 14 years without getting a thing
and then I get one
while I'm running a race."
Source Unknown.
A.J. Gordon noted that if
you tear down a sparrow's nest the little bird will build again in the same
place. However
if you pull it down several times
she will seek a new
location--a shelter higher up--where it will be less vulnerable. Gordon then
observed that Christians are not always so wise. They form dwelling places of
happiness and hope in this temporal world
only to see them pulled down time
after time. Yet after each brief interval of sighs and tears
they begin
building all over again in the same way. They never realize that through their
defeats the Lord is directing them to put their security in Him.
Samuel Rutherford once
wrote
"If God had told me some time ago that he was about to make me as
happy as I could be in this world
and then had told me that he should begin by
crippling me in arm or limb
and removing me from all my usual sources of
enjoyment
I should have thought it a very strange mode of accomplishing his
purpose. And yet
how is his wisdom manifest even in this! For if you should
see a man shut up in a closed room
idolizing a set of lamps and rejoicing in
their light
and you wished to make him truly happy
you would begin by blowing
out all his lamps
and then throwing open the shutter to let in the light of
heaven."
Today in the Word
September
1989
p. 16.
1) trouble seems to be
woven into the fabric of living (Job 14:1). 2) many of our distresses are
caused by our own sin and foolishness (Prov. 21:23
Ps. 78:32-3). 3) some
difficulties are created by other people (Ps. 9:13). 4) God allows trouble but
is always in control (2 Chr. 29:8). 5) we have a refuge and strong defense in
the Lord (Ps. 59:16). 6) He invites us to call upon Him in our distresses (Ps.
50:15). 7) we can expect deliverance in keeping with His will (Ps 107:6
143:11).
Source Unknown.
Having lost in a fire
virtually everything they owned
the Spafford family made new plans
including
a move from Chicago to France. Horatio Spafford planned the trip for his wife
and four daughters to be as trouble-free as possible. To transport them from
America to France
he booked passage on a huge ship
and made sure they had
Christians with whom to fellowship in route. He planned to join them a few
weeks later. In spite of much careful preparation
Mr. Spafford's plans
suddenly dissolved when the ship carrying his loved ones was rammed by another
vessel and sank
carrying his four beloved daughters to the bottom. Anyone who
has ever had their plans disrupted by the hand of God can understand Spafford's
plight. The next time you are in church
turn to the words of the great hymn
"It Is Well With My Soul"--words he penned as his ship passed over
the watery grave of his four daughters!
Today in the Word
July
1989
p. 27.
God has not promised skies
always blue
Flower-strewn pathways all
our life through;
God has not promised sun
without rain
Joy without sorrow
peace
without pain.
But God has promised
strength for the day
Rest for the labor
light
for the way;
Grace for the trials
help
from above
Unfailing sympathy
undying love.
Source Unknown.
A small girl had been
promised the privilege of climbing to a nearby hilltop where her brother
enjoyed playing. But when she came within sight of the steep
rough path
she
drew back in dismay. "Why
there isn't a smooth spot anywhere. It's all
bumpy and stony!" she exclaimed.
"Yes
" said her
more experienced older brother
"but how else would we ever climb to the
top if it wasn't? The stones and bumps are what we step on to get there."
Source Unknown.
Mishaps are like knives
that either serve us or cut us
as we grasp them by the blade or the
handle.
J.R. Lowell.
God brings men into deep
waters not to drown them but to cleanse them.
Source Unknown.
Vance Havner told a story
about an elderly lady who was greatly disturbed by her many troubles--both real
and imaginary. Finally
someone in her family tactfully told her
"Grandma
we've done all we can for you. You'll just have to trust God for
the rest." A look of absolute despair spread over her face as she replied
"Oh dear
has it come to that?" Havner commented
"It always
comes to that
so we might as well begin with that!"
Vance Havner.
When God wants to drill a
man
And thrill a man
And skill a man
When God wants to mold a
man
To play the noblest part;
When He yearns with all
His heart
To create so great and
bold a man
That all the world shall
be amazed
Watch His methods
watch
His ways!
How He ruthlessly perfects
Whom He royally elects!
How He hammers him and
hurts him
And with mighty blows
converts him
Into trial shapes of clay
which
Only God understands;
While his tortured heart
is crying
And he lifts beseeching
hands!
How He bends but never
breaks
When his good He
undertakes;
How He uses whom He
chooses
And with every purpose
fuses him;
By every act induces him
To try His splendor out--
God knows what He's about.
Source Unknown.
The supreme blessing in
which one can truly know the goodness of God is not temporal possessions
but
the eternal blessing that God has called us to--His holy gospel. In this gospel
we hear that God will be gracious to us for the sake of His Son
will forgive
and eternally save us
and will protect us in this life against the tyranny of
the Devil and the world. To someone who properly appreciates this blessing
everything else is a trifle.
Though he is poor
sick
despised
and burdened with adversities
he sees that he keeps more than he has
lost. If he has no money and goods
he knows nevertheless that he has a
gracious God; if his body is sick
he knows that he is called to eternal life.
His heart has this constant consolation: Only a short time
and everything will
be better."
Martin Luther
quoted in Closer
Walk
July
1988
p. 9.
Christ was despised on
earth by men
and in his greatest need
amid insults
was abandoned by those
who knew him and by friends; and you dare to complain of anyone? Christ had his
adversaries and slanderers; and you wish to have everyone as friends and
benefactors? Whence will your patience win its crown if it has encountered
nothing of adversity?
Thomas Kempis
The
Imitation of Christ.
By the age of 5
Beethoven
was playing the violin under the tutelage of his father--also an accomplished
musician. By the time he was 13
Beethoven was a concert organist. In his 20s
he was already studying under the very watchful eyes of Haydn and Mozart. In
fact
Mozart spoke prophetic words when he declared that Beethoven would give
the world something worth listening to by the time his life ended. As Beethoven
began to develop his skills
he became a prolific composer. During his
lifetime
he wrote nine majestic symphonies and five concertos for piano
not
to mention numerous pieces of chamber music. Ludwig van Beethoven also wrote
sonatas and pieces for violin and piano. He has thrilled us with the masterful
works of unique harmony that broke with the traditions of his times.
The man was a genius.
Beethoven was not
however
a stranger to difficulties. During his twenties
he
began to lose his hearing. His fingers "became thick
" he said on one
occasion. He couldn't feel the music as he once had. His hearing problem
haunted him in the middle years of his life
but he kept it a well-guarded
secret. When he reached his fifties
Beethoven was stone deaf. Three years later
he made a tragic attempt to conduct an orchestra and failed miserably.
Approximately five years later
he died during a fierce thunder storm. He was
deaf
yet a magnificent musician.
On one occasion
Beethoven
was overheard shouting at the top of his voice as he slammed both fists on the
keyboard
"I will take life by the throat!"
Swindoll
Hand me
another brick
p. 190-191.
You will have no test of
faith that will not fit you to be a blessing if you are obedient to the Lord. I
never had a trial but when I got out of the deep river I found some poor
pilgrim on the bank that I was able to help by that very experience."
A.B. Simpson