The Lord trieth the righteous- – -. – Psalms 11:5

Where the Lord gives grace, He always tries it; therefore His own people must expect to pass through the fire. He will try our faith, of what sort it is; our love, of what strength it is. He will also try our patience and our constancy.

Let us not therefore be surprised at trials, nor let us be discouraged by them; for He tries out of pure love, with the best design, according to a wise rule, and at the fittest season.

He considers our frame, our circumstances, and our foes; He does nothing rashly or unkindly. He would not put us to pain if we did not need it; trials are preservatives or restoratives; they keep us back from evil, or are intended to bring us out of evil into which we have fallen.

Thy trials then are from the Lord; His wisdom selected, His love appointed, and His providence brings them about. If you ask, “Why, Lord, am I tried thus?” the answer is, “To humble thee, and to prove thee, and to do thee good at thy latter end.” Receive every trial as from God, and go to Him for strength to bear it, grace to sanctify it, and deliverance from it; and so all will be well. It is not for His pleasure, but for your profit, that you are so tried.

Often the clouds of deepest woe,
A sweet love-message bear;
Dark though they seem, we cannot find
A frown of anger there
— By James Smith, 1846

“…see the works of the Lord, and His wonders in the deep.For He commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof…Then they cry unto the Lordin their trouble, and He bringeth them out of their distresses. He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still…so He bringeth them unto their desired haven.” – Psalm 107:23-30

An old song says, “He’s the Master of the sea”, and indeed He is. It is God who controls the wind and the waves. He alone is able to cause the sea to rage or rest. The late Adrian Rogers said:

It is a very shallow theology that says if we’re in the will of God, we’ll always sail smoothly on the sea of life. We’ll have no sickness, no sorrow, no disappointment, know no separation. There’ll be no problems in our family. The “joy boys” get on television and say, “You just believe God and send me an offering, and you’ll never be sick. Everything’ll be fine.” This is the gospel of cash and Cadillacs. Friend, there’s a Greek word for that—“baloney.”

No, we are going to have difficulty. And the first thing you can say when difficulty comes is that God’s providence is over it all. “I am governed by His providence.”

Not only am I governed by His providence, but I am growing by His plan. Now God’s plan is not to indulge you; God’s plan is to enlarge you. “Thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress.” (Psalm 4:1)

Those of you who’ve been on the trail for awhile, who have walked a long time with the Lord, when did you grow the most? When everything was fine? When there was smooth sailing? Or when the storm came? Did you not grow more in the storm, in distress, when you were crowded to Christ, and when you had to call upon Him? You are growing by His plan.

Dear friend, when the storms of life rage about you, stop trying to understand God and just trust Him. Stop thinking about,”When am I going to get out of the storm?” and ask, “What am I going to get out of it?”. God has a plan. Trust Him to do what is right and be at peace!

Turn thee unto me, and have mercy upon me; for I am desolate and afflicted. – Psalm 25:16

Everyone, at some point in life, experiences loneliness. In his book Facing Loneliness, J. Oswald Sanders writes, “The round of pleasure or the amassing of wealth are but vain attempts to escape from the persistent ache…. The millionaire is usually a lonely man and the comedian is often more unhappy than his audience.”

Sanders goes on to emphasize that being successful often fails to produce satisfaction. Then he refers to Henry Martyn, a distinguished scholar, as an example of what he is talking about. Martyn, a Cambridge University student, was honored at only 20 years of age for his achievements in mathematics. In fact, he was given the highest recognition possible in that field.

But he still felt such emptiness inside. In fact, he was quoted as saying that instead of finding fulfillment in his achievements, he had “only grasped a shadow.”

After evaluating his life’s goals, Martyn sailed to India as a missionary at the age of 24. When he arrived, he prayed, “Lord, let me burn out for You!” And in the next 7 years that preceded his death, he translated the New Testament into three languages!

Do you want to know what the key to overcoming loneliness is? It’s living your life on a purposeful mission for God. So if you find yourself with feelings of loneliness, reach out to others with the love of Christ and watch the peace of God invade your heart!

Pray that God would reveal to you areas where you can turn any loneliness into service to Him and that you would be overcome by His supernatural peace.–Senior Living

Joseph came in unto them in the morning, and looked upon them, and, behold, they were sad– Genesis 40:6

As a general rule, we fail to notice the needs of those around us— especially when we are going through tough times ourselves. That, however, is not a trait of those who are greatly used of God. They always thinking of others more than themselves. In the New Testament Paul stands out as an example of this. In the Old Testament Joseph is perhaps the best example.

The daily devotional “A Good Thing” saya, “Have you ever noticed how unlikely it was that Joseph would notice the sadness of his cellmates? He had plenty of problems himself, without taking on anyone else’s. His brothers had sold him into slavery and then his boss had fired and imprisoned him on false charges. Yet, Joseph noticed and cared about others.

The surest way out of a personal pit of discouragement is to think of and serve others. The surest way to deepen your dark times is to draw into, and think more about, yourself. Joseph is perhaps the best example in the Old Testament of a selfless, servant-spirited saint and it is no coincidence that, in every situation in which he found himself, he continually rose above his trial and glorified God.

Are you going through difficult times? Have others wronged you? What has been your response? Do you think of others and how to help them, or only about yourself and your own problems? Look around you: there is a world of opportunities to help, and they are all open doors that lead out of your darkness.”

Remember this, when you are good to others you are always best to yourself!

– – – I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.— Matt. 28:20

It is hardly possible to overstress the importance of unceasing inward prayer on the part of the one who would live the God-conscious life. Prayer at stated times is good and right; we will never outgrow the need of it while we remain on earth. But this kind of prayer must be supported and perfected by the habit of constant, unspoken prayer. But someone may question whether in a world like this it is possible to think of God constantly. Would it not be too great a burden to try to keep God constantly in the focus of our minds while carrying on our normal activities in this noisy and highly complex civilization? Francois Malaval had the answer to this: “The wings of the dove do not weigh it down,” he said. “They carry and support it. And so the thought of God is never a burden; it is a gentle breeze which bears us up, a hand which supports us and raises us, a light which guides us, and a spirit which vivifies us though we do not feel its working.” We all know how the presence of someone we deeply love lifts our spirits and suffuses us with a radiant sense of peace and well-being. So the one who loves God supremely is lifted into rapture by His conscious Presence. “Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord” (John 20:20). If only we would stop lamenting and look up. God is here. Christ is risen. The Spirit has been poured out from on high. All this we know as theological truth. It remains for us to turn it into joyous spiritual experience. And how is this accomplished? There is no new technique; if it is new it is false. The old, old method still works. Conscious fellowship with Christ is by faith, love and obedience. And the humblest believer need not be without these.–A. W. Tozer