Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. The afflictions of life are variously contemplated. Stoicism says, "Submit to fate." Some are icy negatives in life. They stand amidst the problems and woes of humanity, calm and passive and scornful. Epicureanism says, "Make thyself insensible by indulgence in pleasure." Many mean to take life cosily and sweetly. The whole creation groaneth and travaileth together in pain; but its groans shall not disturb the music of their life, nor its travail cloud the brightness of their little day. In contrast to this Pagan temper the Christian method is to look elements in the face, and see in them the promise of blessing. Christianity does not simply declare the inevitableness of sorrow, or merely lay down rules for lessening its bitterness. It discovers a wise and loving God directing all the mixed processes of life to a beneficient issue. And thus it soothes the heart into patience, lifts it into hope, and floods it with courage. I. THE CIRCUMSTANCES WHICH BRING SUFFERING INTO LIFE. 1. Inherited moral defection. The passions, habits, weaknesses of one generation are transmitted. In consequence of this law, multitudes are born with the religious side of their nature so cramped and feeble that it is difficult to win them to goodness; and even when won, how slow is their growth in grace, how dwarfed their spiritual stature. 2. The universal condition of toil. Idleness is misery; congenial labour is gladness; but how much is congenial? How often the fierce competition harasses like a fever. 3. Contact with our fellow-men. You meet them in municipal councils, in business, etc.; and very often, the closer the intimacy the greater the recoil from the unlovely traits which are disclosed. There are men like the fox, like the tiger, like the serpent. 4. The sorrows that spring from our friendship. In having another united to you by the sacred chain of love, your liability to suffering is increased, according to the degree of your affection. If their hearts ache, so do ours. 5. Disappointment, in relation to the Divine and sacred ideals of the soul. 6. The triumph of policy over right; weakness crushed by strength; worth left to perish in obscurity; vice climbing into power; wrong slow to die; right slow to prevail. II. NOW HE WHO LOVES GOD POSSESSES, AS IT WERE, A GRAND SPIRITUAL ALCHEMY BY WHICH THESE DARK THINGS OF LIFE ARE MADE SACRAMENTAL. Sickness, disappointment, calumny, the discrepancy between the ideal and the actual, etc., are transformed into means of grace. Good comes to him from every source. The whole universe works in his behalf. As yet our knowledge of the way in which trial is promotive of good is necessarily imperfect. We can only see as through a glass darkly. Still, we have that degree of vision. 1. One form of good that is realised is the closer union of the soul with God. The natural instinct of the human heart in troubles is to betake itself to one able to sympathise and help. And to those who love Him, God is known as the God of comfort. 2. Trial also serves to develop the qualities which constitute true manhood. The right regulation of the character and conduct is inseparable from love to God. Now, as a man under irritation strives to be calm, he will grow in the mastery of his feelings; if under losses and perplexities he strives to be patient, he will grow in patience; if while smarting under a sense of injustice he steadily sets himself to preserve a heart of charity, he will grow in love; if, as pleasure calls, he resolutely endeavours to be faithful, he will grow in fidelity. And herein lies the contrast between the godly and the godless man: under the afflictive discipline of life, the one is soured, the other is sweetened; the one is cursed, the other is blessed. Put a piece of clay to the lapidary's wheel: it is ground to a heap of dust. But put a diamond on the wheel: the friction brings out its beauty. 3. And now, taking a more general view, what is to be the outcome of all the clash and discord and imperfection that has been going on since time began? This: the triumph of God. The prayer "Thy kingdom come" will be exchanged for "The Lord reigneth." That final triumph in some measure belongs to the destiny of the godly man. It is the victory of those principles for which he lived and prayed and worked. (T. Hammond.) Parallel Verses KJV: And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. |
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