November, 1936
T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
418
Thanksgiving in Adversity
By K. OWEN WHITE* Atlanta, Georgia Illustrations by Ransom D. Marvin
arose from the hearts of these two servants of Christ. If it be doubted that adversity is the mother of thanksgiving, then let it be remembered that full appreciation of our blessings rarely comes until we are deprived of them. No man recognizes the value of even one finger until that finger is crippled; then he realizes how much he uses i t ' without being conscious of doing so. No man can fully appreciate the glory of the dawn apart from the blackness of midnight. Who is there that has not sighed with relief at the rising of the sun after a wearisome night vigil at the bedside of the sick? It is impossible to rightly value the peaceful calm of a perfect day except after tbe fury of the storm, or to know the refreshing, life-giving power of a drink of cold water except after burning thirst. Only the man who has passed through the blizzards and snow storms of the winter can fully appreciate the soft, warm breezes of spring. T aught T hrough S uffering The life either expands and blooms under adversity or is blasted and shrivelled by it. It is God’s plan that men should grow in adversity, and that out of the deepest darkness should come the highest glory. Have you learned the way to thanksgiving under such circumstances? Have you learned to see in trials, not the way to despair and defeat, but the way to the highest joy? Some one may say, “I am perfectly willing to suffer shame for Christ’s sake. I am ready to bear any persecu tion or undergo any trial for the honor of His name or the glory of His kingdom, but my suffering has been so needless and meaningless that I cannot understand it.” No suffering is needless or meaningless—not even that which is brought upon us by our own selfishness or sin. Somehow God cannot build a life apart from suffering, and, strangely enough, much of our suffering comes from the most unexpected sources. I t is not by the harsh words of atheists or infidels that we are most deeply wounded, but by the words of those who name the name of Christ. It is not from without that bur most serious opposition arises, but from within. It was from the inner circle that one went forth on that dark night long ago to sell his Lord and to betray Him with a kiss. Christ was “wounded in the house of his friends,” and we shall be also, for “the servant is not greater than his Lord.” I t is vain to suppose that we shall know the meaning of every trial that comes, or that we shall always see immediately God’s purpose in every trial. There are times when the clouds hide His face, when His voice cannot be heard, when, indeed, the heart cries out,
A dversity is the mother of thanksgiving. Happy is the /"A man who has learned to rejoice, not in spite of trials, but because of them. I t was this view of life that the Lord urged upon His followers when He said, “Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad” (Matt. 5:11, 12). A t that time, the disciples may not have fully understood what He meant, but the day was to come when they would demonstrate this principle in their conduct. Being unjustly and shamefully abused, they “departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name” (Acts 5:41). Two other followers of the Lord later demonstrated the same spirit in their reaction to injustice and suffering. These two had dedicated themselves to the Lord and were faithfully fulfilling their commission, yet they were arrested, beaten, thrust into the stocks, and left with raw and bleeding backs in a foul and filthy dungeon. “And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them” (Acts 16:25). At midnight! Mark you, it was at midnight, during the long, dark hours, that a spontaneous anthem of praise * Pastor, Kirkwood Baptist Church. Dr. White was graduated from the Bible Institute of Los Angeles in the class of 1922.
Truth forever on the scaffold, Wrong forever on the throne.
It is then that, faced with the mystery of suffering, we can only take refuge, in faith, in the love of “him who worketh all things after the coun-
sel of his own will” (Eph. 1:11). His way is perfect. We must en c o u rag e our hearts with the Master’s state-
Does a man find his satisfaction in God, or does he seek it in that which the world seems to offer? Suppose a man is rejoicing in the material pos sessions which are his; what will he do when such things are gone?
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