Suffering

The enduring love of a strong marriage is the committed love that the Bible describes as ἀγάπη (agape) love. This is the love that is translated as “charity” in I Corinthians 13. Agape love is a covenant love that keeps on loving in spite of changing circumstances. It is a mature love, a love that is made stronger by the storms of life, a love that endures the test of time, and a love that is purified and refined by the passage of decades.

In 1893, when Chisholm was twenty-seven years old, a spiritual revival swept through his hometown and county in Kentucky. A visiting preacher named Henry Clay Morrison, the man who later became famous as the president of Asbury College, preached a series of revival meetings. Chisholm responded, repenting of his sins and trusting in Jesus Christ as his Savior and Lord.

Valentinus was a very common name in the days of the Roman Empire. The root of that name comes from valens, meaning “strong, powerful.” Another word with the same root is valor. The name was so common that there are actually several men named “Valentine.” Their stories and legends were intermingled to form the tradition behind Saint Valentine the person or Valentine’s Day that remains to this day.

February 1812 was a month filled with dramatic changes for a young missionary named Adoniram Judson. On the fifth day of the month, he was married to Ann Hasseltine. A day later, the groom was ordained as a minister of the Gospel in the Congregational Church in Salem, Massachusetts. Then, just two weeks later, on February 19, Adoniram and his bride Ann boarded a ship. They were bound for a land unknown to them that lay on the other side of the world.

What are some ways that widows and widowers can redeem the time as singles again, rather than spending the remaining years of life longing for death and reunion with a lost loved one? The Bible reveals many practical ways that widows can be useful to the Lord and to the people of God.

Zizka gained military experience at the Battle of Grunwald in 1410 and gradually became a recognized leader of the Hussites. When Jan Hus was burned to death at the stake for refusing to recant, Zizka realized that the authorities in church and state hated the simplicity of the truth advocated and preached by Hus. Jan Hus was a meek and submissive servant of Christ. But God calls different men for different tasks. While some are called upon to submit and die, others are called upon to stand and fight. Zizka knew that if someone did not rise as the champion of the Hussites, they would all meet a similar fate as that of Hus.

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.