“God does not send him this distress to destroy him... He
wants to drive him to pray, to implore, to fight, to exercise his faith, to
learn another aspect of God’s person than before, to accustom himself to do
battle even with the devil and with sin, and by the grace of God to be
victorious. Without this experience we could never learn the meaning of faith,
the Word, Spirit, grace, sin, death, or the devil. Were there only peace and no
trials, we would never learn to know God Himself. In short, we could never be
or remain true Christians. Trouble and distress constrain us and keep us within
Christendom. Crosses and troubles, therefore, are as necessary for us as life
itself, and much more necessary and useful than all the possessions and honor
in the world.” Martin Luther, Luther's
Works, Vol. 14: Selected Psalms III, Ps 118:5.
Experiences that crush the spirit are like being in a white-hot crucible—fearful, yet transforming. Learn how you too can “see” God in the crucible and experience the steadfast heart He gives to endure.
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