Furnace, Hammer, and File
Yesterday, one of my associate pastors encouraged me to read a chapter in A Portrait of Paul, in which the authors expound on how the apostle Paul maintained a Godward focus and joy in the midst of his suffering. The chapter opens with this powerful quote from Charles Spurgeon. What a wonderful reminder it is of the eternally-profitable work God is up to in the variety sufferings that fill our lives as believers in Christ!
Glory be to God for the furnace, the hammer, and the file. Heaven shall be all the fuller of bliss because we have been filled with anguish here below, and earth shall be better tilled because of our training in the school of adversity.
As we endure various trials, let us ask the Holy Spirit to help us maintain the perspective the apostle penned in Romans 8:18, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”
