Suffering

The mother lovingly stroked the blond hair of her son. Slowly and carefully, she spoke to her son in a serious tone, “You must learn to be strong. From now on you are no longer my child—you are a man.” With this solemn parting, Ruth Weichert pulled her son, Henryk, to her heart. A quiver ran through her as she embraced her ten-year-old boy for what she knew might be the last time.

There are some clear Biblical indications that, although marriage as an institution is limited to life here on earth, even temporal marriages have an eternal impact. This precious truth can be a comfort to those who have lost their partner through death and are now awaiting the joyous day of reunion in a world of endless bliss and joy in the presence of our eternal Bridegroom.

As the massacre intensified, the youthful king of France thought of one man whom he must and could save—his private doctor, a good and faithful man. This skilled French physician was a committed Huguenot and a pious, humble Christian. Charles IX, young but of frail health, loved his doctor and could not bear the thought of his doctor being murdered simply because he was a Huguenot! Not wanting his dear physician to share Admiral de Coligny’s fate, Charles IX hurried to where his physician slept and ushered him into his own royal bedchamber for safekeeping.

William Tyndale was an outcast, a fugitive and stranger from his native land; he was truly a man without a country. He could not return to England on pain of death. For many years now, he had wandered in foreign lands. Germany and the Low Countries (the Dutch Netherlands) had proved a haven for him, and he quickly had learned the foreign languages. In fact, Tyndale possessed a gift for learning languages. He could speak more than seven tongues fluently!

Of course, it is easy to rest in His goodness when Jesus is giving us exactly what we want! When the deaf man was made to hear and the dumb was made to speak, it was easy to proclaim with amazement that Jesus did all things well. But when Fanny Crosby was blinded as a very young child due to an improper application of a mustard poultice to her eyes, how much more difficult it must have been for her to write “Jesus doeth all things well”! Yet, seeing by faith beyond her circumstances, she was able to proclaim the truth of God’s goodness in doing all things well.

Upon seeing Dr. Palmer, Commodore Matthew Maury, a decorated naval commander, remarked to the man sitting in the audience beside him, “He is the ugliest man I ever saw.” Ten minutes into the sermon, the commodore leaned over again and said, “He is getting better looking.”

Some great occasion, some notable event, had occurred! He waded through the water to get to the window and look out. The lurid glare of fiery flames reflected on the floodwaters of the Tiber, giving the scene an eerie glow. In the distance, he could hear shouts. The imprisoned Reformer heard the shouts getting nearer and nearer, not knowing what all the noise and clamor was about.

Even at the age of seventy, Spalding worked as hard as ever. That year, he traveled more than 1,500 miles on horseback. He lived with the Indians, slept on the hard ground, ate their food, and taught them from the Book of God. He gave the Nez Perce a written language and translated large portions of Scripture for his beloved people. He also taught them to sing, and Spalding loved nothing better than to sit in the white frame church and hear the sweet songs of Zion being sung by his converts.

Several days went by. Thomas had prayed, committing his case to God, so he faithfully continued with his duty. Then, suddenly and unexpectedly, Thomas received a very rare cablegram. He knew that sending a message across the ocean by cable was very expensive, as a customer was required to pay by each character in the post. Quickly he scanned the cablegram. The message from his father was brief, but it flooded his heart with joy and relief: “Disregard my letter; was misinformed.”

Have you ever considered the full impact of these words—“The LORD your God which goeth before you”? This statement asserts that you cannot go anywhere that God Himself has not already been! He fills the earth with His glorious presence, and although a pathway through a wilderness may be unknown to us, it is not unknown to God.

Traveling chess players from Germany and France would call upon Ridley in London to test their skills against his sharp, active mind. After reading and studying the Scriptures, Ridley usually spent an hour in the morning and an hour in the evening conversing with guests and playing chess. His mastery of chess matched his mastery of the Word of God, and his skill was attested by his opponents.

One of the more surprising places to see the omnipotence of God is when it is displayed in the lives of His children. In and of ourselves, we are weak and helpless. But it is precisely when we recognize this inherent weakness of our own that we can experience the omnipotent power of God mightily displayed in our lives.

When news came in 1866 that the Korean government had killed 8,000 Catholic converts, Thomas resolved to go to Korea and give the pure Gospel to the people there. Despite the dangers, he boldly sailed to the Korean peninsula to shine the Light of the World into a kingdom of darkness.

Two circuit preachers knew that a particular distillery had wrecked the lives of several families in the area. Lives were destroyed as Christians backslid into drunkenness and rage. Men struck their wives in fits of drunken anger, and children cowered in fear of their enraged, intoxicated fathers.

After a riveting sermon, the sheriff served an arrest warrant to John Bunyan and left. He had the choice to flee and avoid arrest, but he believed that he should demonstrate before his congregation that he was willing to suffer for the sake of Jesus, and that he was not afraid of imprisonment or death.

One of the enemy warriors hurled his spear at the boys. The deadly spear pierced through the baby brother, but 12-year-old Opukahaia survived. He was captured and forced into slavery, serving the murderer of his parents. Eventually Opukahaia fled and managed to catch a ride on a merchant ship. The ship’s captain brought him to New Haven, Connecticut, where he encountered Christian civilization for the first time.

In 1655, Stephen Charnock took a bold step into the public sphere. He went to Ireland with Henry Cromwell, son of Oliver Cromwell, who was recently appointed Governor of Ireland, and became the court chaplain.

While the question Jesus asked is familiar to many, the answer to the question is not as familiar. Psalm 22, which Jesus was quoting in His agony, reveals the answer to the mystery of why God forsook His only Son.

In the summer of 1901, an American army officer was waging a most unusual war in the city of Havana. Some thought the colonel was crazy. Others believed him to be a genius.

A rescue ship drifted slowly toward the rocky coastline. This particular area was known to be at “the end of the earth.” Long feared by sailors for its violent storms, hidden rocks, and savage natives, this desolate region of rocky islands is known as Tierra de Fuego. It is located off the coast of Patagonia, the southernmost tip of the mainland of South America. The mission of the rescue ship was a desperate one: to locate and assist seven missionaries who had come to bring the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ to these desolate islands.