10-8. Service Of Suffering
“For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” (Rom. 8:18).
Physical, mental, and spiritual suffering are all involved to some degree in our matriculation.
“The idea is very common amongst Christians that it is a great and wonderful thing to be ‘mightily used of God.’ ‘Oh, to be a great evangelist! Oh, to be a great teacher!’ That is an entirely false conception. The truth is that those who serve the Lord most, truly go through the deepest suffering. You may have a more or less easy time. I do not want to dishearten you by saying it may not always be so but if you really want to be greatly used of the Lord remember it may be by a deeper discipline of the Lord.” -T. A-S.
“Many have lived under blue skies from birth. To such I have a word. It is this: Fear not; no lover of our Lord will be overlooked. He knows where to find His willing hearts. Just give Him time. He will not refuse to His dearest the joy that is bathed in the dews of Gethsemane.” -A.C.
“He shall not cry nor strive, nor let His voice be heard in the street.’ There are very few servants of the Lord Jesus who, Samson-like, could kill a lion without letting everybody know of it. They would like a little notice of some kind. But the Lord Jesus made no parade; He would not have His good deeds blazed abroad. His doctrine dropped as the rain from heaven, and His speech as the gentle dew. He charged them that they should tell no man of His service. ‘Verily, Thou art a God that hidest Thyself.’ May we be willing to be hid, and to have our work known only by its effects, doing it not unto men, but unto our Father in heaven, Who sees in secret and shall reward us openly.” -E.W.M.
“Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to Him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator (1 Pet. 4:19).