As a saint of God, my attitude toward sorrow and difficulty should not be to ask that they be prevented, but to ask that God protect me so that I may remain what He created me to be, in spite of all my fires of sorrow. Our Lord received Himself, accepting His position and realizing His purpose, in the midst of the fire of sorrow. He was saved not from the hour, but out of the hour.We say that there ought to be no sorrow, but there is sorrow, and we have to accept and receive ourselves in its fires. If we try to evade sorrow, refusing to deal with it, we are foolish. Sorrow is one of the biggest facts in life, and there is no use in saying it should not be. Sin, sorrow, and suffering are, and it is not for us to say that God has made a mistake in allowing them.Sorrow removes a great deal of a person’s shallowness, but it does not always make that person better. Suffering either gives me to myself or it destroys me. You cannot find or receive yourself through success, because you lose your head over pride. And you cannot receive yourself through the monotony of your daily life, because you give in to complaining. The only way to find yourself is in the fires of sorrow. Why it should be this way is immaterial. The fact is that it is true in the Scriptures and in human experience. You can always recognize who has been through the fires of sorrow and received himself, and you know that you can go to him in your moment of trouble and find that he has plenty of time for you. But if a person has not been through the fires of sorrow, he is apt to be contemptuous, having no respect or time for you, only turning you away. If you will receive yourself in the fires of sorrow, God will make you nourishment for other people.

 

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June 25 2014

Journal Entry for Today-JDV

Lord, this devotional tells me that  sorrow and difficulty are essential to spiritual growth. The song tells me that I find your glory and grace in the heart of pain and suffering. Why is this the way of it?  Why must we find your love, grace and mercy in suffering?

And God says…”When you have no needs or you have needs and difficulties that you can handle, do you turn to me? Like a little child you say…”I can do this by myself”. You take pride in being able to handle your own circumstances, and challenges. Your nature is such that you first seek your own solutions before you turn to Me. The sorrows and troubles of this life help you grow and mature. Trust in Me in your trials and allow them to have their right and proper result. And remember that all things work together for your good, and I will never leave you.”

“Consider it a sheer gift when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.”