Originally written by Charles H. Spurgeon, published in “Mornings & Evenings,” entry for February 18th, AM.

Updated to modern English by Darren Hewer, 2009.

“Do not condemn me; shew me wherefore thou contendest with me.” Job 10:2, KJV

If today you are tired, worn down, and acutely feeling the pressures of daily life, perhaps the Lord is doing this to develop your graces. Some of your graces would never be discovered if it we didn’t face trials in our lives.

Do you realize that your faith never looks as grand in summer weather as it does in winter? Love is too often like a firefly, showing little light except when it is in the midst of surrounding darkness. Hope itself is like a star, not to be seen in the sunshine of prosperity, and only to be discovered in the night of adversity. Afflictions are often the black foils in which God sets the jewels of His children’s graces, to make them shine even greater.

It may have been only a little while ago that, on your knees, you were saying, “Lord, I fear I have no faith: let me know that I have faith.” Were you not really, though perhaps unknowingly, praying for trials? For how can you know that you have faith until your faith is tested? God often sends us trials so that our graces may be discovered, and that we may know for sure of their existence.

It is not merely discovery. Real growth in grace is the result of sanctified trials. God often takes away our comforts and our privileges in order to make us better Christians. He trains His children, not in dwellings of ease and luxury, but by using them in hard service. He makes them cross through streams, swim through rivers, climb mountains, and walk many long miles with heavy backpacks of sorrow on their shoulders. Could this sanctification account for the troubles you are facing? Is not the Lord bringing out your graces, and making them grow? Is not this the reason why He is contending with you?

“Trials make the promise sweet; Trials give new life to prayer; Trials bring me to His feet, Lay me low, and keep me there.”

Question: Do you know someone who’s been going through trials who might appreciate hearing this message?

About this Author: Charles Spurgeon

For more about Soul Cravings, explore the rest of our site!

For part two, please click here: Crave Meaning (Part 2)

On Saturday  November 8th, 2008 my world blew apart – literally.   I was carrying a package I thought was a gift when it exploded in my hands.

We had recently sold our cozy townhouse and were excited to move into a larger home with a yard for our daughters.  The day started out with a quiet breakfast of tea and cinnamon buns.   We were reflecting on the many fond memories from our time living in this wonderful, friendly neighborhood of beautiful Walnut Grove. Moving to a new neighborhood was going to be harder than we thought.

After breakfast, my wife Lynda and I kissed our two daughters ages one and three good bye as they joyfully went to spend the day with their Oma.   We didn’t want to  worry about them getting in the way during a hectic day of moving.  The moving truck and a handful of family and friends came right on time to help us load up and get on our way. One of the last items that needed to be loaded onto the truck was the BBQ. I tossed the wet BBQ cover over the balcony railing, and my father helped me carry the BBQ down the stairs. As I went to retrieve the BBQ cover from the back yard I discovered an unexpected package sitting directly in front of the back door.

“How nice!” I thought, “one of our friendly neighbors has left us a going away present.  I really will miss this neighborhood. It’s too bad the kids aren’t home to discover and enjoy this, whatever surprise gift they would find inside.”   As I picked it up and as I walked through the back room and into the garage I remember wrestling in my mind about what I should do with the gift.  Should I put it on the truck for the kids to open later?  Should I run it up to Lynda for her to open?  While I stood there wondering, the brightly colored package violently exploded in my hands.

The deafening blast felt like a vicious slap by a tsunami of fire.  It had enough force to send me flying backwards, violently knocking the wind right out of me.  I was stunned, injured and in excruciating pain. My first thoughts, next to the utter shock of realizing that it was a bomb, were towards God. Before I hit the ground I sensed a deep connection with him as I asked with great surprise: “What do you want to do with this?”

Lying on the garage floor, holding my face together and gasping for breath my thoughts quickly turned to how grateful I was that my two precious daughters were not here to experience this horrific trauma. I was also grateful that my wife was upstairs packing, and my father was in the back room picking up boxes.   The blast sent razor sharp shrapnel tearing through my face, chest, arms and legs. I was bleeding from my face and having a difficult time catching my breath. All I could do to breathe was to breathe through a scream. The garage was full of thick smoke and I could hear my dad and my wife Lynda calling for me. As I lay on the floor desperately trying to stop the blood that was gushing from my face I could hear many people scrambling and screaming for someone to call 911.

The bomb left me with a severely lacerated face, abdomen, chest, and arm. I had a hole in my abdomen and burns from my knees to abdomen.  My sinus was shattered and my jaw was cracked.   I was relieved to find so many people quickly coming to my aid. The police were just down the street when they received the many frantic 911 calls. And the ambulance seemed to only take minutes to arrive on the scene.

The next thing I knew, I was sitting outside on the sidewalk with a towel pressed up against my face. Then I was whisked off in the ambulance for a number of surgeries and 5 days in the hospital.

I had the opportunity to return to our townhouse after I was released from the hospital. I was shocked to learn the extent of the damage done to our home. The blast blew large holes through the walls, ceiling and even the cement floor. It even blew through the neighbor’s window across the street. When I saw the damage done to one of our hardwood dining room chairs that was waiting to be loaded in the truck, I knew that it was only by the grace of God that I was still alive.

The experience sent my family and entire community into absolute chaos, with everyone asking the question, Who would plan to bomb and kill an innocent family like ours?
While I have great confidence in the Langley RCMP and the officers who we have trusted to bring the people or person responsible to justice, a year after the incident, the question of who still remains unanswered.

While there is no evidence to suggest that the bomb was targeted towards me or our family in anyway, we can clearly see that whoever planned, built and carefully planted this evil device must have been tormented with incredible anger and hate.

Ever since our peaceful world had been so violently interrupted, I have become much more aware of the violence that continues to make headlines throughout our world and community.  Whether it is international news of a child suicide bomber, the latest victim of gang violence, or headlines of police being deployed with automatic assault rifles, we all recognize that something is terribly wrong with our world. We know deep in our souls that this is not how the world should be.

We are so inundated with acts of violence in our news whether it be from our local community or from the other side of the world that we are almost numb to it.  At least until it happens to you or someone you know and love.

We can try to ignore violence as long as possible, but every act of violence affects our entire community. One act of violence doesn’t just damage one life, it damages many others and potentially generations. Now through the power of the internet one act of violence is felt around the world, as we are increasingly becoming one global community.

I have recently read a book called Soul Cravings and I have really appreciate what my friend and author Erwin McManus has to say about the common thread between love and community as opposed to hate and isolation.

In entry 5 of Soul Cravings Erwin writes: The farther we move from community, the closer we move to violence.

Why is this? Because the farther we move away from understanding and caring for the needs of others, the closer we are to selfish judgment, prejudice and hatred.

This may not be true in every case of violence, but it seems to be true in the case of the quiet community of Jefferson County Colorado when two teenage boys planned for over a year to ruthlessly massacre as many students and teachers at Columbine High School as possible.

In Soul Cravings Erwin writes:

If I know nothing else about Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, I know that they had given up on love. They no longer considered themselves as part of the human community. They cared for no one and cared about no one, not even themselves. Where there is no love there is no value for life. When hate consumes our hearts, all we can think of, all we desire is to destroy.
When there is disengagement from human community, there is the potential for inhumanity.

The human heart was not created to be a container for hate.

When we allow bitterness, jealousy, envy, racism, lust, greed, and arrogance to fuel our souls, we create an environment within us to be agents of violence.

We live in a time when the most terrifying bomb is not a nuclear one, but a human one.

As a follower of Jesus, I believe that we are created for love and to love, not to hate. I believe that we are created to live and thrive in community, not in isolation or exclusivity. The danger of loving nothing or loving ideas that teach that one view of the world is superior over another, is that these ideas only fuel racism and fanaticism.

There is a dramatic difference between fanaticism and love.

Fanaticism justifies and defines who you hate.

True love is unconditional – true love sacrifices oneself for another without expecting anything in return.

Unconditional love embraces and forgives and leaves no room for violence.

So if we are created for love, what happens inside a human being when belief in an ideology becomes more important than a human life?

I recently read that the security costs for the upcoming Vancouver Olympic Games were originally estimated to be $175 million dollars, but now critics are claiming the new estimates for security will push past $1 billion.  I am all for the games, and believe that we need to have security at the games. But it is the fear of violence that costs us all in the end. You don’t even need to know the ins and outs of world politics to realize that something’s wrong with this picture, that this is not what the world was created to be like.

How dark must a human soul become to justify taking the life of an innocent person just to make a point?

In light of what happened to us last November, this question resonates with us the most. Even though we may never know the true answer to the question of motive, I think it is what our entire community seeks to know.

I think my friend Erwin communicates the issue relevantly when he writes in Soul Cravings:

We stand in the midst of a human dilemma.

We long for community; we long to belong; we long for love.

Yet what we long for most we seem incapable of sustaining.

Humanity has no natural predators except each other.

We are safer in the jungle than in the city.

We are our own worst enemies.

I have heard many people say that religion is one of the main causes of violence and war, both historically and presently. As a person of deep faith and a follower of Jesus, I really think that the world has a skewed perception of the difference between organized religion and having a dynamic, life transforming relationship with Jesus Christ. It is through my relationship with Jesus that God has absolutely transformed my life.

As a Christian, my holy scriptures describe God as a loving creator and father. As a father who is deeply involved and concerned about his creation he knows the depth of our potential to hate, inclination to be violent, so he provided a way to deal with this problem through Jesus. Jesus took on the full judgment/penalty of God’s anger against humanity’s violence (Jesus took on all the violence).  A father who is passionately pursuing us much more than we are trying to pursue him. The Bible is filled with stories of God reaching out to us with mercy, grace and love despite our sin/wrong doings, how we make a mess of our lives, society. The main message of the Bible can be simplified to one simple yet profound passage:

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son. Who ever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life.” What great news!

It’s simply about trust and acceptance of God’s gift of love. I’ve come to discover that it’s not about do’s and don’ts or rules to follow, which is what the religions of our world has taught us to believe. In the book of Jeremiah, God says that he loves us with an everlasting love. God’s heart is that no one would perish but have everlasting life and relationship with him.

Again, I really like what my friend Erwin McManus says about love in his book Soul Cravings:

We speak of true love not only lasting a lifetime, but lasting forever.

We can’t manage [what’d it be like] to meet the standards of love [forever], and so we just accept that love isn’t all it’s made out to be. Prepare to be disappointed. Isn’t that the history of love? We can never live up to its standards. I think we recognize this when it comes to God. If God loves conditionally, we’re all in trouble. And this, when you whittle it down to its bottom line, is the basis of all religion.

God loves but on condition. Meet the conditions and gain the love. Love is something that is attained. Oh, we use different words for it—forgiveness, mercy, acceptance, grace—all really different words for love.

In this it appears that all religions are the same. They give God a name and then establish the rules that we must follow if we are to gain his favor and affection. I think this is why a lot of us see all religions as different ways of getting to the same thing.

Some girls want flowers; others, chocolates; others, meaningful conversation (and you thought the flowers and chocolates were expensive); all different ways of trying to get to the same place— to be loved, to find love.

Religion exists not because God loves too little, but because we need love so much. In the end all religions misrepresent God. They either dictate requirements for love or simply become a requiem for love. I think many of us have rightly given up on God on this basis alone. We’ve been told that God is a reluctant lover and that his standards must be met before there can be any talk of love. This is lunacy. Love exists because God is love. Our souls will never find satisfaction until our hearts have found this love that we so desperately yearn for.

One of my favorite passages of scripture is in the book of John chapter 8 when the religious leaders try to trap Jesus by bringing him a woman who was caught in the act of adultery. In that day the crime of adultery was punishable by a violent death of stoning:

The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.

But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.
At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”

“No one, sir,” she said.

“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.” (John 8:3-11, NIV)

Through this passage we see God’s heart of unconditional love and forgiveness. The world seems to view Christianity as a set of rules, but this passage clearly reveals God’s true heart and love for people.  God’s main message is about relationship and forgiveness.

It is only through experiencing God’s unconditional love and forgiveness in my own life that gives me the ability to pass on love and forgiveness to others. Whether it be someone who cuts me off in traffic, or the very person who placed a bomb at my doorstep that nearly took my life.

If we really believe that the only way we are going to see an end to violence in our world today, and experience community in the way God has created it is to live a life of unconditional love as Jesus did.

And the only way I know to live like Jesus is to follow him.  God is good and approachable, he is not hard to find as he says in his Holy word. If you seek me you will find me when you seek me with all of your heart.

You can receive Christ right now by faith through prayer. Praying is simply talking to God. God knows your heart and is not so concerned with your words as He is with the attitude of your heart. Here’s a suggested prayer:

Lord Jesus, I want to know you personally. Thank you for dying on the cross for my sins. I open the door of my life to you and ask you to come in as my Savior and Lord. Take control of my life. Thank you for forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life. Make me the kind of person you want me to be.

Does this prayer express the desire of your heart? You can pray it right now, and Jesus Christ will come into your life, just as He promised. Is this the life for you?

If you invited Christ into your life, thank God often that He is in your life, that He will never leave you and that you have eternal life. As you learn more about your relationship with God, and how much He loves you, you’ll experience life to the fullest. Please let us know about your decision by clicking below, and let us know how we can help you continue your journey!

Please open your Bible and read: Psalm 145:1–13

When difficulties arise, what becomes your main focus – the problem, its impact on you, or its effect on others? David’s writings reveal him following God’s plan for meeting troubles: meditating on the Lord’s sufficiency and His good, pleasing, and perfect will. The result was strength and hope for his soul.

Meditation, the focusing of mind and spirit on the Lord, is a critically important discipline in the believer’s life. Through the Psalms, David not only poured out his troubles to the Lord but also continually turned his attention back to the Father. The heart of biblical contemplation is always God.

Our circumstances can be valuable prompts for meditation if we match a character quality of the Lord to our dilemma. Because David had a trusting relationship with God, his instinct was to deal with trials by anticipating divine help and victory. For example, his impending fight with Goliath brought to mind God’s past and present delivering power. (1 Samuel 17:37) Facing a different kind of danger – King Saul’s murderous threats and advances – David chose to dwell on the attribute of protection: he visualized God as his refuge and fortress. (Psalm 91:2) Grieving over the loss of loved ones, he allowed God’s presence and comfort to fill his heart and mind. (1 Samuel 30:3 – 6)

Our main resource for meditation is the Word of God. Throughout its pages, His character, works, and purposes are clearly displayed. When the next difficulty comes, use it as an opportunity to meditate on some aspect of our triune God. From this will come strength and hope to sustain you.

Question: If you were writing a psalm today, what would you say? Which aspect(s) of God’s nature would you concentrate on?

About this Author: Charles Stanley

Check out the new CWT site and let us know what you think!

12 PM January 21, 2006

Two miners are trapped hundreds of feet underground in Melville, West Virginia, for the second day. Fire and smoke in the coal mine has kept rescuers from reaching Don Brag and Ellery “Elvis” Hatfield. No one knows if they are dead or alive.

A television news anchorwoman stands in the Melville street airing frequent updates. Visible behind her is the Badger Lumber Company sign; one word is written there: PRAY.

Praying is what their wives and six children desperately hope we are doing as the community of Melville keeps vigil with them in the church. Prayer is for all seasons of life, but especially in desperate times, wise men and women pray.

3 PM Breaking News

Don Brag and Elvis Hatfield have been found dead. Tragedy, in spite of believing prayer.

Does God answer prayer? Yes. Is it always the answer we want? No. Must we keep on praying even when we do not understand His ways? Yes. When prayers are not answered, God is always present with grace and help to strengthen our hearts and spirits.

What is prayer?

Prayer is talking with God. It is praise and worship and giving thanks. To pray is to meditate on his wonderworks and his character. Prayer is interceding for others, warring against the enemy for the souls of men.

Nothing matches the high privilege of prayer. There is no awe or wonder as great as an audience with the King of Kings. No power is greater than prayer power. Wealth, personal power and influence all run a poor second to the thrill of daily prayer. Life offers no greater joy. As Beth Moore states, in her book, The Patriarchs, “There ain’t no high like the Most High”.

Are we qualified to pray?

“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” Hebrews 11:6 Faith rests in God, trusting in his love to hear and answer prayer. Faith qualifies us as God’s children and gives us a right to our Father’s provisions. “Everything is possible for him who believes” (Mark 9:23).

Why pray to God?

We are commanded to pray. “I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone – for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness “ (1 Timothy 2:1,2).

All power resides in Jesus as the Son of God. He calls us to pray in His name. As we ask, believing, he defeats evil, heals the sick, frees the captive, restores hope, releases counsel. Prayer rises to God and returns with answers or peace. Nothing in the spiritual realm happens without prayer.

God desires intimacy and fellowship with us. “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness.” Jeremiah 31:3 Wonderful Counselor longs to talk with us! He is waiting to pour miracles and gifts through us. Will we pray?

“This is the confidence we have in approaching God; that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us – whatever we ask – we know that we have what we asked of him” (1 John 5:14,15).  What a promise! Let’s pray.

Questions: How has God answered your prayers?

About the Author Petey Prater

Please open your Bible and read John 3:1-15.

Did you ever think of God as “up close and personal”? Instead of being distant and unapproachable, the Creator of the universe has constantly sought to come near to us. In order to save us, He chose to identify with us; He also made it possible for His Spirit to indwell us as our counselor and guide. God extends to everyone a personal invitation for an intimate relationship with Him and to follow Him closely.

If we look at His call to many people throughout Scripture’s recorded history, it’s clear that this is not a general, vague offer. (Jeremiah 1:5) God desires that you seek Him with all your heart so that you would find Him and the future He has planned for you. (Jeremiah 29:11-13)

But before anything else, God’s first call to any of us is a call to salvation – He wants us to open the door of our heart so that He can cleanse us and do a transforming work in our lives. He calls you as an individual to receive His love, His forgiveness, and a new identity through spiritual rebirth.

Your eternal destiny depends upon your decision to answer His call with an open heart. To say “yes” is to embark on the adventure of a new life full of purpose – the life with Him that you were created to live. Have you responded to this incredible call on your life? If you have, reaffirm your commitment to Him. If haven’t answered His call yet, make today your spiritual birthday by receiving Jesus as your personal Savior and making Him the Lord of your life.

Question: Do you have an intimate relationship with God?

About this Author: Charles Stanley

Take action: Want to grow in your relationship with our great and glorious God? Explore our online interactive studies about “Learning About God“.

You said it: This week Kaddee shared on the Is God Still Talking? women’s devotional, saying “I love how God confirms what I am believing in my heart! So many times I want to make decisions about life’s situations and am not sure which way to go then seeking Gods direction makes me wait to hear from Him …” Read the rest of the comments on Pray God’s Word into Your Darkness, and join the conversation on Devotional for Men and Devotional for Women, each updated daily!

Blog: Tithing in Tough Economic Times
Should Christians reduce tithes in a tough economy? When money is tight, doesn’t the church also need funds just as desperately? Read more

Devotional: The Danger of Strength
Success and strength can become dangerous when uncoupled from reliance upon our Creator God, when we assume autonomy instead of recognition that all we are and all we accomplish are from the hand of a gracious God. Read more

Coming up next week: One of the topics of our upcoming online chats is “What Does It Mean to Have Faith?” Join us in the chat room October 25th 2009 @ 9:00pm EST for this chat or see also our full chat calendar for other upcoming topics.

“For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary.” (Galatians 6:7-9)

Photography has taught me a great deal about patience. I once spent four days waiting to photograph the Matterhorn in Switzerland. Inclement weather was keeping the peak totally hidden. On the last night of my stay, I went to sleep praying. Very early the next morning, I opened my eyes to see that huge white mountain glistening against the pitch black sky. I had not even realized the inexpensive hotel we’d selected had a view of the mountain!

Rather than waiting until we reach heaven to reward us, God sends many blessings to us now, particularly in response to our attitude of patience.

1. We see God at work. His way is the best way, and we become more aware of this when we observe Him working out His plan in our life.

2. We can achieve our objectives. The Lord knows the right moment to provide what we want or need. If we give up too soon or try to manipulate circumstances, we miss out on God’s best for us.

3. We have God’s favor. When we are patiently waiting for His will, then He can freely bless us. God certainly wants to pour out His love on our life.

The Lord has many rewards available to us when we abide patiently in His will. We will all face circumstances in which we are tempted to be impatient. What determines whether or not we express patience is the value we place on whoever else is involved – a brother, friend, co-worker, or God. Do you value Him enough to be patient with His timing?

Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.

Question: Has God been trying to teach you patience lately? If so, how?

About the Author: Charles Stanley

“What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ – the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.” (Philippians 3:8, 9)

In these verses Paul passionately proclaims that his overarching purpose, his only desire, is to know Jesus.

More important than his good name, his family heritage, his impressive education, his religious zeal or his good works, is his yearning for his Messiah.

His life’s goal is to gain Christ and be found in Him.

I remember when I was dating my husband, over twenty years ago, how we would spend hours and hours talking. My life was organized around spending every possible minute with him. I wonder if that gives us a glimpse of the desire with which Paul pursued Jesus.

Knowing Christ isn’t a part-time hobby, merely the spiritual side of our multi-faceted lives or a passing fad. We need to pour all of our energy into seeking Jesus Christ as the only way to know God. Like Paul, we need to seek a righteousness that we can’t produce on our own, but can only discover through faith in Jesus.

God, I want to be passionate for you the way that Paul was. I want everything in my life to be worthless to me in comparison with knowing Christ. I want to gain Jesus, my Messiah, and be found in Him. I want the righteousness that only You can give.

Questions: What keeps you from making Christ your passion? What do you need to surrender (consider worthless) in order to make knowing Christ your only goal?

About this Author: Suzanne Benner