refined and fitted for a higher and holier purpose. God does not put us in the heat to burn us, but rather that we might be vessels molded for His service. We are tested, and God gives us the strength and sustains us by His grace during these most diffi cult times. When we first joined the Biola staff 15 years ago, I got to know a wonderful woman who lived in a lit tle wood-frame home down in Wil mington, California. She had been bedridden for years. Disease had racked her frail body for a half cen tury. She suffered from arthritis, rheumatism, cancer, Parkinson’s dis ease and also was going blind. She could only write with an almost un intelligible scratch, and ye t her poems are among the most beautiful the church has ever had; her name, Martha Snell Nicholson. She wrote, THE THORN I stood, a mendicant for God Before His royal throne, And begged Him for one priceless gift For me to call my own. I took the gift from out His hand, But as I would depart I cried, “But, Lord, this is a thorn, And it has pierced my heart.” “This is a strange and hurtful gift Which Thou hast given me.” He said, “Hay, child, I give good gifts, And gave my best to thee.” I took it home, and though at first The cruel thorn hurt sore, As long years passed I grew at last To love it more and more. I learned He never gives a thorn Without this added grace; He takes the thorn to pin aside The veil which hides His face! —M artha S nell N icholson
whatsoever (Phil. 1:29). In times of trouble the best answer psychology has is, “be calm.” Christianity, on the other hand, has a much higher and nobler reply. We are told, “be joyful.” Wisdom for Trials Part III If the Holy Spirit had caused James to stop with the writing of verse two, we might find ourselves wondering. We could take trials, en deavoring to rejoice, but we would also want to know, “Why?” In the next verse, the Apostle says, “Know ing this that the trying of your faith worketh patience” (Jas. 1:3). When hardships come we need to have some comprehension about the reason for them. Up in a nursing home in Albany, Oregon, there is a faithful member of our Biola Fellowship. For more than 30 years, he’s been completely paralyzed from the neck down. He cannot move any part of his body except his mouth and head. He has had to be fed and cared for as though he were a baby. Yet, when we visited his bedside, with glistening tears in his eyes, he testified, “You know, I wasn’t a Christian when this hap pened. And if this is what God had to do to bring me to Christ, I’m glad He did it.” He knew God’s plan for his life. What a lesson that taught me! How easy it is to begin feeling sorry for ourselves thinking that we have the most difficult lot of anyone else. All we have to do is to remem ber the many, many others who are so much less fortunate. The word “faith” represents that settled conviction we have in the fin ished work of our Lord Jesus Christ. When trials come, and they will, our faith will be tested to the “nth” degree. Do you want to be effective and useful for Him ? Then you’ll need to be willing to go through the fires of testing that you may come forth 6
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