Trials
1 Peter 1:7
That the trial of your faith,
being much more precious
than of gold that perisheth,
though it be tried with fire,
might be found unto praise
and honour and glory at the
appearing of Jesus Christ:
1 Peter 4:12
Beloved, think it not strange
concerning the fiery trial
which is to try you, as though
some strange thing happened
unto you:
The trying of your faith
worketh patience.
But let patience have
her perfect work, that ye
may be perfect and entire,
wanting nothing.
James 1:3, 4.
The Upward Look PG 321
To the angels, the course
followed by human beings
seems strangely inconsistent.
They see how plainly degradation
is revealed on the side of
unbelief and indulgence of appetite.
They see how untiringly Satan is
working to destroy the image of God
in man. They wonder why beings
dependent on their Creator for
every breath they draw act so
unreasonably and inconsistently;
why they choose the side of the
one who crucified Christ and who
has filled the world with strife and
envy and jealousy. . . .
Come to Christ just as you are,
weak, helpless, and ready to die.
Cast yourselves wholly on
His mercy. There is no difficulty
within or without that cannot be
conquered in His strength. Some
have stormy tempers; but
He who calmed the stormy sea
of Galilee can say to your heart,
if you repent, "Peace, be still."
There is no nature that Christ
cannot subdue, no temper so
stormy that He cannot quell it,
if the heart is surrendered to
His keeping.
No one need despond who
commits his soul to Jesus. We
have an all-powerful Saviour.
Looking to Jesus, the Author
and Finisher of your faith,
you can say, "God is our
refuge and strength, a very
present help in trouble.
Therefore will not we fear,
though the earth be removed,
and though the mountains
be carried into the midst of
the sea; though the waters
thereof roar and be troubled,
though the mountains shake
with the swelling thereof"
(Ps. 46:1-3). . . .
In the future life we shall
understand things that here
greatly perplex us. We shall
realize how strong an opponent
we had, and how angels of
God were commissioned to guard
us as we followed the counsel
of the Word of God. Christ
tells us that our sea will not
always be smooth. We
shall have tribulation. This is a
part of our education, necessary
to the formation of a strong,
symmetrical character.
Nov. 3,1903,
