Morning & Evening Daily Devotional Reading– February 18

by Charles H. Spurgeon, Revised and Edited by William C. Neff

“Show me who it is that contends with me.”

–Job 10:2

Are you going through a difficult time today?  Is the Lord trying your soul, and do you wonder why He is doing it?  It may be so that He may develop your graces. There are some of your graces that would never be discovered if it were not for your trials. Faith, hope, and love are like stars not to be seen in the sunshine of prosperity, but are discovered in the night of adversity. Afflictions are often the black foils in which God sets the jewels of His children’s grace to make them shine even brighter.

It was only a little while ago that on your knees you were saying, “Lord, I wonder if I have any faith; let me know that I have it.” Weren’t you really, though perhaps unconsciously, praying for trials?  For how can you know that you have faith until your faith is exercised? Depend upon it; God often sends us trials so that our graces may be discovered, and that we may be certain of their existence.

But discovering your graces is only the beginning; growth in grace is the result. God often takes away our comforts and our privileges in order to make us better Christians. He trains His soldiers not in tents of ease and luxury, but on the trail of forced marches and hard service. He makes them ford through streams, swim through rivers, climb mountains, and walk many a long mile with heavy knapsacks of sorrow on their backs.

Does this help you, dear Christian, to account for the troubles you are having right now? Isn’t the Lord bringing out your graces and making them grow? Isn’t this the reason why He is contending with you? [M&E]