Triumph in Trials!

"Teach me, and I will be quiet; show me where I have been wrong" (Job 6:24)

Controlling the tongue when everything is calm and we are composed is easy, and it requires no special effort. But when we are agitated with anger and agonizing in anguish, we speak out what we are not supposed to. Job was careful with his words even though he was crushed in his spirit. He was so humble that he was willing to be corrected if he had erred.

God has no pleasure in our suffering. If we sinful people desire that our children should be happy and healthy, how much more will our heavenly Father desire so for His children! But if suffering is an incomparable means to correct us and teach us His ways, will the Heavenly Father spoil us by sparing that rod?

The testimony of Psalmist David is that of all prophets, patriarchs and people who walked closely with God in their generations. He confessed to God, "The suffering You sent was good for me, for it taught me to pay attention to Your principles… I used to wander off until You disciplined me; but now I closely follow Your Word" (Psa 119:71,67). Our lips may not instantly utter such words when adverse winds blow on us. But if we recollect the outcome of the sufferings of the past, we will stay patient instead of turning bitter. The unknown author of the Epistle to the Hebrews has written for us these timeless words: "No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening _ it is painful! But afterward there will be a quiet harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way" (Heb 12:11).

We have these days short-term courses and distant education as substitutes for rigorous training and systematic learning in classrooms for long years. Substitutes are invented to save time and enjoy ease. But as for God, He never changes and He is not in a hurry. Times are in His hands. Life's lessons are not learnt overnight. Patience and perseverance are inevitable. No wonder the saints of old called suffering a School!

John Chrysostom (350?-407) was known as the greatest of all Christian preachers. He said, "Your wife irritates you, you worry about your children, your enemies are waiting to catch you out...your colleague acts behind your back...you suffer from poverty, you lose your nearest and dearest...where can you find ointment for your wounds, but in the Bible?"  


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