My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. Isaiah 55:8.

The worker for God often regards the activities of life as essential for the advancement of the work. He looks upon himself as a necessity, and self is mingled with all that is said and done. Then God interposes. He draws His child away from the earthly, which holds his attention, that he may behold His glory. He says: “This poor soul has lost sight of Me and My sufficiency. His eye is not fixed upon his Lord. I must throw My light and My vitalizing power into his heart, and thus prepare him to work in right lines. By anointing his eyes with the heavenly eyesalve I will prepare him to receive truth.”

The Lord is compelled to fortify the soul against self-sufficiency and self-dependence, in order that the worker shall not regard his failings as virtues, and thus be ruined by self-exaltation. Sometimes the Lord makes His path to the soul by a process that is painful to humanity; the work of purifying is a great work, and will always cost man suffering and trial. But he must pass through the furnace until the fires have consumed the dross, and he can reflect the divine image.

Those who follow their own inclinations are not good judges of what the Lord is doing, and they are filled with discontent. They see failure where there is triumph, loss where there is gain. Like Jacob, they are ready to exclaim, “All these things are against me,” when the very things whereof they complain are working together for their good. “My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.” …

Let us consider the experience of Paul for a little. At the very time when it seemed that the apostle’s labors were most needed to strengthen the tried and persecuted church, his liberty was taken away, and he was bound in chains. But this was the time for the Lord to work, and precious were the victories won.

When to all appearance Paul was able to do the least, then it was that the truth found an entrance into the royal palace. Not Paul’s masterly sermons before these great men, but his bonds attracted their attention. Through his captivity he was a conqueror for Christ. The patience and meekness with which he submitted to his long and unjust confinement set these men to weighing character. Sending his last message to his loved ones in the faith, Paul gathers up with his words the greetings from these saints in Caesar’s household to the saints in other cities.—The Signs of the Times, February 21, 1900.

From Reflecting Christ

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. Romans 8:18.

In the experience of the apostle John under persecution, there is a lesson of wonderful strength and comfort for the Christian. God does not prevent the plottings of wicked men, but He causes their devices to work for good to those who in trial and conflict maintain their faith and loyalty. Often the gospel laborer carries on his work amid storms of persecution, bitter opposition, and unjust reproach. At such times let him remember that the experience to be gained in the furnace of trial and affliction is worth all the pain it costs. Thus God brings His children near to Him, that He may show them their weakness and His strength. He teaches them to lean on Him. Thus He prepares them to meet emergencies, to fill positions of trust, and to accomplish the great purpose for which their powers were given them.

In all ages God’s appointed witnesses have exposed themselves to reproach and persecution for the truth’s sake. Joseph was maligned and persecuted because he preserved his virtue and integrity. David, the chosen messenger of God, was hunted like a beast of prey by his enemies. Daniel was cast into a den of lions because he was true to his allegiance to heaven. Job was deprived of his worldly possessions, and so afflicted in body that he was abhorred by his relatives and friends; yet he maintained his integrity.

Jeremiah could not be deterred from speaking the words that God had given him to speak; and his testimony so enraged the king and princes that he was cast into a loathsome pit. Stephen was stoned because he preached Christ and Him crucified. Paul was imprisoned, beaten with rods, stoned, and finally put to death because he was a faithful messenger for God to the Gentiles. And John was banished to the Isle of Patmos “for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.”

These examples of human steadfastness bear witness to the faithfulness of God’s promises—of His abiding presence and sustaining grace. They testify to the power of faith to withstand the powers of the world….

They bore witness to the power of One mightier than Satan…. Through trial and persecution the glory—the character—of God is revealed in His chosen ones. The believers in Christ, hated and persecuted by the world, are educated and disciplined in the school of Christ. On earth they walk in narrow paths; they are purified in the furnace of affliction.—The Acts of the Apostles, 574-576.

From Reflecting Christ

Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea. And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled…. But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid. Matthew 14:25-27.

We are to watch. Christ said, Watch unto prayer. He does not deceive any of us. He takes us to an eminence, shows us the confederacy of evil and the strength of the powers of darkness that are arrayed against all who would have faith in Jesus Christ, and tells us to count the cost; but He does more for us; He does not leave us there without still further encouragement. He does not show us trials and conflicts and leave us without help to fight the battles. But He tells us that God has His angels that minister unto those who shall be heirs of salvation. Round about His throne are thousands and thousands and ten times ten thousands of angels.

What is their work? It is to do the bidding of Jesus Christ their Master. And what do they do? They tell you that Christ chose you, that heavenly angels are with you, and they remain with you. You can have but little strength to war against principalities and powers and spiritual wickedness in high places, but here is One who points you to the help heaven sent, that every soul, however strong or weak, … may be [victorious]….

We say we do believe that Jesus Christ died, but is He your personal Saviour? Here is the faith part of it…. Do you grasp Him by the living hand of faith? Do you reach out your hand to Him and say, as did Peter, “Save, Lord, or I perish”? He will save you. You remember there the disciples were toiling with the ship, and they gave up all hope of reaching the land. While in their dread peril they see One coming toward them, stepping on the foam-crested billows as He would on solid earth, and they were afraid and said, “It is a spirit”; but Christ says, “It is I, be not afraid.”

Oh, how much “It is I” means! It means everything to us when we are in trouble or perplexities. Can you not hear His voice? Can you not hear Him saying, “It is I; be not afraid”? … He is addressing Himself to us. Whatever your weakness or trial, Christ is near you. He says, “It is I, be not afraid.” …

Did ever anyone lift [his] hands to Jesus and say, “Save, Lord, or I perish,” and He pass [him] by? Never, never! He is a Jesus that hears the faintest cry. We need none of us faint or cry or be discouraged. We need not faint, for like Peter, we may look to the darkness and trials around us…. The Lord took the hand of Peter and he was saved. And thus we have a Saviour and in every trial we are to trust in the Lord God of Israel and He will be our Helper.—Manuscript 10, 1891.

From Reflecting Christ

I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. John 15:1, 2.

“Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in me, and I in you.” The very same sap and nourishment that nourishes the parent stock, nourishes the branch abiding in the vine. Christ is represented by the vine that imparts the nourishment, the vitality, the life, the spirit, the power, that the branch can bear fruit, and then when affliction and disappointment come, you are to show altogether a different character of fruit than the world. There is the evidence that you are connected with Jesus Christ, and that there is a power that sustains you in all your afflictions and disappointments and trials; and this power and this grace sweetens every affliction. [When] the cup of suffering may be placed to your lips, there is a Comforter and Helper. The cup of consolation is placed in the hand, and it may be the happiest period of your life.

“Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.” … Here are the most precious jewels of truth for every individual soul of us. Here is the only election in the Bible, and you can prove yourself elected of Christ by being faithful; you can prove yourself the chosen of Christ by abiding in the vine….

Christ tells us plainly that the whole power, the whole fruit-bearing quality, is in the parent vine stock. Then let them be abiding in Christ, and drawing the nourishment from Christ, and what shall we see? We shall see something, the world will see something. There is a clear line of distinction between the believing and the unbelieving, between those that obey God, and those that disobey Him; there is a decided and marked difference in the fruit they bear…. The fruit is the character….

Every ability that you have, every power that you have, your reasoning powers every talent that you have, every capability that you have, is to be brought right into the religious life, and the kindness, the compassion, the pitifulness, the love of God, is the fruit borne upon the branch that is grafted into the living Vine. And then as the rich clusters … bow down that branch, showing that those that bear the most fruit, the richest clusters, have the true humility of lowliness, like Christ. He says, Learn of Me. Come unto Me. Now let us everyone hear it. It is the invitation not from the speaker, but it is the invitation from Jesus Christ Himself.—Manuscript 43, 1894.

From Reflecting Christ

Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us. John 14:8.

Shortly before Christ’s ascension, Philip said to Him, “Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us.” Grieved at his unbelief, Christ turned to him, saying, “Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip?” Is it possible that I have walked with you, and talked with you, and fed you by miracles, and yet you have not comprehended that I was the Sent of God, “the way, the truth, and the life,” that I came from heaven to represent the Father?

“Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? The words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself, but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.” “He that hath seen me hath seen the Father, for I am the brightness of His glory, and the express image of His person.” …

Too often we grieve the heart of Jesus by our unbelief. Our faith is shortsighted, and we allow trials to bring out our inherited and cultivated tendencies to wrong. When brought into strait circumstances, we dishonor God by murmuring and complaining. Instead of this we should show that we have learned in the school of Christ, by helping those that are worse off than ourselves, those who are seeking for light, but are unable to find it. Such have a special claim upon our sympathy, but instead of trying to uplift them, we pass by on the other side, intent on our own interests or trials. If we do not show decided unbelief, we manifest a murmuring, complaining spirit.

“O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?” Christ has already proved Himself to be our ever-present Saviour. He knows all about our circumstances, and in the hour of trial can we not pray that God will give us His Holy Spirit to bring to our minds His many manifestations of power in our behalf? Can we not believe that He is as willing to help us as on former occasions? His past dealings with His servants are not to fade from our minds, but the remembrance of them is ever to strengthen and uphold us.

No amount of tribulation can separate us from Christ. If He leads us to Rephidim, it is because He sees that it is for our good and for His name’s glory. If we will look to Him in trusting faith, He will, in His own time, turn the bitterness of Marah into sweetness. He can open the flinty rock, and cause cooling streams to flow forth. Then shall we not lift our voices in praise and thanksgiving for past mercies, and go forward with full assurance that He is an ever-present help in time of trouble?—The Signs of the Times, September 17, 1896.

From Reflecting Christ