STRENGTH BORN FROM TRIALS

May 4

Psalms 119:143 Trouble and anguish have taken hold on me: yet thy commandments are my delights.

Trouble without, anguish within; whatever the trouble, anguish is its eternal companion. But yet, see, my friend, the Child of God. In his processing of trouble the true Child of God who lives close to his Father differs from the common worldling.

Let’s watch him and learn. He does not curse the trouble nor kick it in frustration. Neither does he, like the proverbial ostrich, put his head in the sand in denial of it. We will not find the Child of God rationalizing and analyzing the trouble. Minimizing it is unrealistic to him, and he has too much integrity to maximize it into giants in order to create excuses. (Numbers 13:32).

In the time of trouble and anguish, the true Child of God who lives close to his father finds delight in the commandment of his God. Those of us who have experienced true spiritual warfare know what this means. It is at such times that the Word becomes our strength and comfort. At such times, the Word seems to take a life of its own and add dimensions to itself. It becomes our lifeline, our anchor; it talks to us and fills our heart with joy.

Let us therefore not curse trouble. Let us not kick anguish in anger. Trouble and anguish are pressure element of the spiritual battle which empower the Word of life to make us soar.

1 Peter 4:12-13 Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: (13) But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.

ANECDOTE:
The cocoon of the emperor moth is flask-shaped. In order for the perfect insect to appear it must force its way through the neck of the cocoon in hours of intense struggling. It is believed that the pressure to which the moth's body is subjected is a provision of nature for forcing the juices into the vessels of the wings.
A person was witnessing this struggle once, and out of pity took the point of some scissors and snipped the confining threads to make the exit easier, but the moth's wings never developed, and it spent its brief span of life crawling instead of flying through the air on rainbow wings.
Look not with false pity on God's children who suffer. As men we are inclined to be shortsighted. God would have us inspire their courage in the midst of it by remembering His love, and then looking for the glory to come out of it.