The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the
Lord. Job 1:21
Scottish author Sir Walter Scott faced financial disaster when his publisher went bankrupt
in 1826. He was heavily invested in the firm, and it appeared that he would lose
everything, including Abbotsford, his castle-like home. A Christian of unwavering faith,
he wrote in his journal, "Things are so much worse than I apprehended that I shall
neither save Abbotsford nor anything else. Naked we entered the world and naked we leave
it. Blessed be the name of the Lord."
A life that doesn't undergo heartbreaking adversity is rare. Job was not overstating our
common experience when he lamented, "Man who is born of woman is of few days and full
of trouble" (Job 14:1).
Many of us talk about loss and suffering and argue about why evil things happen to good
people. But it's quite different to deal victoriously with the painful experiences that
happen to us personally. What we really need in the teeth of affliction is not a plausible
explanation but the ability to endure without emotional collapse or spiritual bitterness.
We need the sustaining confidence that enables us to believe in God's love and wisdom
(1:21; 2:10).
Pray for an unfaltering faith that stands strong under life's greatest pressures.
-VCG
O for a faith that will not shrink
Though pressed by every foe,
That will not tremble on the brink
Of any earthly woe.
-Bathurst
Great faith is often built during great trials.