"GOD Causes All Things To Work Together For Good To Those Who Love GOD."

This was not the pleasant life which 
they dreamed of on their wedding day!
(J.R. Miller, "The Glory of the Commonplace")

"Man is born to trouble as surely 
as sparks fly upward!" Job 5:7

"Here on earth you will have many 
trials and sorrows." John 16:33

There are many crucial lessons in which 

Christians cannot learn the sunshine of 

prosperity. So the great TEACHER calls us 

apart and shuts the doors, to keep out 

the light and exclude the world's noises--

and then HE teaches us the songs . . .
  of peace,
  of joy,
  of trust,
  of love.

Thus the painful things of life 

have their place in the divine 

training of our lives.

Many of the things our MASTER calls us 

to do or to endure, do not seem to our 

eyes at the time, to be the best things. 

Much of our life is disappointment. 

Sorrow comes ofttimes with . . .

  its hot tears,
  its emptyings of the heart,
  its pain,
  its bitterness.

We do not know when we set out 

on any bright, sunny path--

into what sorrowful experiences 

we shall be led. A noble young man 

married a sweet, beautiful girl. 

They were very happy. 

Life began for them in a garden 

of roses. Only three bright years 

had passed, however, when 

the young wife broke down 

in health. Then she became 

an invalid, much of the time 

unable to leave her room. 

The burden has been a very heavy one 

for the husband, requiring continual 

self-denial and sacrifice, besides 

the grief and anxiety it has brought.

This was not the pleasant life 

which they dreamed of on their 

wedding day! 

They thought only of gladness and 

prosperity. It never occurred to them 

that adversity or any trouble could 

break into their sweet paradise.

But the MASTER has made no mistake. 

To those who have watched their lives 

and noted the fruit of the suffering 

in them, it is becoming apparent 

that divine love and kindness 

are written in all the painful 

lines of the long story. 

The young man has been 

growing all the years . . .
  in strength,
  in gentleness,
  in purity of spirit,
  in self-control,
  in the peace of GOD,
  in all manly virtues.

It seemed a strange place 

to make him cast his nets--

into the deep waters of affliction 

and disappointment--

but he is now drawing them 

full of rich and noble blessings.

"And we know that GOD causes all things 
to work together for good to those who love 
GOD, to those who are called according to 
HIS purpose!" Romans 8:28  

 ~  ~  ~  ~

GraceGems has published J.R. Miller's insightful 2 page article, 
"Reasons for Not Worrying".