The Storms Of Life

(by Charles Buck, 1820)

"Before I was afflicted I went astray,
 but now I obey Your word." Psalm 119:67

In Scripture, the afflictions of believers are represented as . . .
 * appointed,
 * numerous,
 * transient,
 and when sanctified, beneficial.

Afflictions . . .
  * wean from the world;
  * work submission;
  * produce humility;
  * excite to diligence;
  * stir up to prayer;
  * conform us to the divine image.

To bear afflictions with patience, we should consider . . .
  our own unworthiness;
  * the design of God in sending them;
 *  the promises of support under them;
 * the real good they are productive of.

The afflictions of a believer never come without
a cause, nor are sent but upon a divine errand.

Let us, therefore, quietly submit to God's Providence.

Let us conceive this life to be the winter of our existence.

 
Now the rains must fall, and the winds must roar around us; but, sheltering ourselves under Him who is the "shelter from the tempest," let us wait with patience until the storms of life shall terminate in an everlasting calm.

"In faithfulness You have afflicted me." Psalm 119:75  

It Is In These Storms

by Philpot

"When the storm has swept by, the wicked are gone; but the righteous stand firm forever." Proverbs 10:25

The very storms through which the believer passes, will only strengthen him to take a firmer hold of Christ.

As the same wind that blows down the shallow-rooted tree, only establishes the deep-rooted tree--so the same storms which uproot the 'shallow professor', only establish the 'true believer' more firmly in Christ.

Though these storms may shake off some of his 'leaves', or break off some of the 'rotten boughs' at the end of the branch, they do not uproot the believer's faith, but rather strengthen it.

It is in these storms that he learns . . .
 

* more of his own weakness, and of Christ's strength;
 

* more of his own misery, and of Christ's mercy;
 

* more of his own sinfulness, and of super-abounding grace;
 

* more of his own poverty, and of Christ's riches;
 

* more of his own desert of hell, and of his own title to heaven.

 

It is in these storms that the same blessed Spirit who began the work carries it on; and goes on to engrave the image of Christ in deeper characters upon his heart; and to teach him more and more experimentally the truth as it is in Jesus.

"Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy!
 I look to You for protection.
 I will hide beneath the shadow of Your wings
 until this violent storm is past." Psalm 57:1