| Garden of the Heart |
Chapter 4 |
Page 5 |
“Thou art Simon… thou shalt be called Peter.” That is what Christ says to every one of us when we come to Him. He sees in us possible beauty of character and possible power for service, and at once seeks to call out the hidden things in us. The process is not always easy – sometimes it is very hard. It will help us to get it clearly in our minds that the aim of Christ in all the experiences of our lives is definitely this – to train us for fine and worthy manhood. It will steady our faith and help us to trust in time of suffering and trial, if we understand that nothing is purposeless, nothing accidental, that nothing is meant to harm us, that everything is intended to help us toward noble character and fuller, richer life.
Sorrow sometimes staggers us. There is a mystery about it which we cannot solve. One was telling of the intense suffering of a father. He could get no relief save under the influence of strong opiates. At times his pain was almost unendurable. “I cannot understand why God permits it,” said his daughter. “He has always been such a good man, so gentle, so kindly, so unselfish, and so faithful! Why is it that now he has to endure such suffering?” No one can answer this question definitely, to say just why this good man suffers so sorely, yet we know that blessing and good will surely come out of the experience. Possibly he is suffering that his own life may be made more pure, more radiant. Possibly he is permitted to suffer as a witness for Christ, his patience, trust, and joy being the fruit of the Spirit in him. In some way at least we know that pain is meant to yield blessing – to him who endures it, or to those who look on and note the courage and victoriousness with which it is borne. Of one thing we may always be sure – it is because God loves us that we are called or permitted to suffer.
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