What a timely post....it reminded me of
For in this we groan [2 Cor.5:2]. The body, in time, here on earth, is our present house of sorrow. Here, while theinner man is renewed day by day, the outer man perishes [2 Cor.4:16].
Tears become our food here by day and by night [Ps.42:3], yet they are
all, each one, recorded in His book [Ps.56:8].
There are no wasted sufferings in the economy of God. Sorrows for a season effect eternal comforts for suffering saints. In faithfulness You have afflicted me [Ps.119:75]. Can we really say it's so? It was good for me that I was afflicted [Ps.119:71]. Is this your testimony?
When standing on eternal shores, it certainly will be. When seen from the standpoint of an All-Wise Sovereign, you will say so. If our trust in His kindly wisdom , we would say so now.
Should we for a moment be granted all-knowledge with all wisdom to discern, along with all-power to effect any change that wisdom perceived, we should choose for ourselves precisely the circumstance that we find ourselves in at the moment. We would realize that these very afflictions are the best possible situation for our eternal well-being.
This is what God, the All-Wise, the All-Powerful, has done. No better situation than your present sorrow could possibly beimagined in the process of securing conformity to the likeness of Christ. It is true. And, After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you [I Pet.5:10].
He is yet on the throne, a throne from which He makes all things new [Rev.21:5]. All things new; the process begins now, in the heart, in the renewal of the inner man day by day.
Through the dreaded and seeming unrelenting afflictions of life, the Lord’s design is to remake all things; and He begins with our hearts. The outward, the physical, the temporal will follow in due course. That portion of external discomforts and sorrows removed will only fully be realized in the coming final Day.
It is only then that every tear will be wiped away. Some may
be wiped dry here, but many will yet stain our cheeks. Only in that
place will there be no death, mourning, or pain [Rev.21:4].
These are the first things which necessarily afflict before being banished.
Pain precedes pleasure. Rejoicing follows mourning. Death snatches its victim ere God raises His victor.
Yes, sorrows abide for a season below, but the Word is sure, faithful, and true: It is done! [Rev.21:5,6]
Beloved