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When adversity comes into our lives we tend to react in one of
two ways. We may say that it is from a source other than God and
He has no power to stop it; or we may say it is an evidence of
God’s anger against us. Either way we are guilty of casting
aspersions on the character of our Father and consequently of
perverting our attitude to Him. [12]
The same sun that melts the ice also hardens the clay…The test
of a person’s Christianity is what happens in the storm, when
the house is battered in the winds of affliction…It is the trial
that determines the authenticity of our faith. [14]
Sufferings drive us to God. We set out in service thinking God
needs us. We soon find out that we need Him. ‘When God lays men
on their backs, then they look up to heaven,’ says Thomas
Watson. We cry to God for blessings but do not really want Him.
He has to teach us that
He is the greatest blessing of all. [20]
One of the most difficult things to do when the road is rough or
when the billows are passing over us is to feel that God still
loves us. It is the last thing we can accept. But we are not
called to feel; we are called to believe. [22]
We are to measure God’s love not by His providence but by His
promise. ‘When we cannot trace God’s hand we can trust God’s
heart,’ says C. H. Spurgeon. When providences are dark it is
difficult to read them. It is the Word that tells us how to view
them. [22]
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