T hese are days when many people are confronted with sorrows. Heartaches have a way of cutting us all down to size. Tragedy hits both rich and poor, the extremely intelli gent and the ordinary person. The Lord has a real answer to grief. There are some wonderful words of encouragement for us in II Corin thians 1 :3-6. Here we learn that our Lord is the great Comforter. He con soles our hearts that we may profit by the experience and comfort others who may be called upon to go through similar difficulties. The word tribulation is most de scriptive, for it refers in Latin to a Roman’s farming implement. It was what the farmer used to thresh the corn or wheat as it was brought in from the fields. The tribulant was two sticks fastened together by a leather hinge. Holding one stick, the farmer swung the other over his head, bringing it down with crash ing power on the ears of the wheat. As he flogged and flogged, the grain come forth and separated from the worthless chaff. A tribulation, there fore, is something that beats, cuts and pounds. This resembles sorrow, doesn’t it? But, you see, the beating was for a specific purpose. The farm er couldn’t get the pure grain with out the punishing blows. God is not allowing you to suffer just because it pleases Him to see you in sorrow; not a bit of it. Out of this grief will come that which will enrich your own soul as well as enabling you to go on and be a blessing and delight to others. How else could you expe rience the comfort of God? Comfort comes through tribulation. Every Christian knows the love of God, but not every believer has experienced the comfort of God. This comes by drawing near to Him and
feeling His power. A woman who had gone through all sorts of griefs testified to me, “You know, it was worth going through the valley of sorrow because I came to know God in such a tremendous and wonderful way.” Sorrows are God’s wonderful way of drawing near to us in a new way. The second reason for God’s com fort is that we might be a spiritual help to someone else who has the same trouble. Tribulation is trouble magnified and repeated. As well as experiencing the comfort of God yourself, you are to be able to share His compassion and mercy with those similarly weighed down. As an example, has God drawn you close to Him because of the death of a treasured loved one? The staying power He’s provided has been fur nished so that you might be a help in some future day to someone else
Dr. John Hunter (left), member of the Torch- bearers Fellowship in England,has an oppor tunity for felowshipwith Biola President, Dr. Samuel H. Sutherland. Dr. Hunter is featured this month in a seriesof messages concerning God's answerto man's problems. He and his wife wil be guiding a Biola Tour to Europe and the Holy Land May of next year in co operation with the Fellowship of Torchbearers, Capernwray Hall, England.
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