Deeper Life #331

For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth.

—Job 19:25

PREACHING IN ST. PAUL’S CHURCH IN London, Father Frere is reported to have said the following on “The Fourfold Attitude Towards Suffering”:

Have you ever, I wonder, had to do something to a pet dog, which hurt very much, so as to get it well—to pull a thorn out of the foot, or wash out a wound, or something of that sort? You may remember the sort of dumb eloquence there was in the eye of the dog as he looked at you. It hurt tremendously, and yet there seemed to speak from his eyes trust of you. It looked as if he meant to say, “I do not in the least understand what you are doing, but go on.” And that is the picture of trust. It is a very necessary stage into which we have to be brought in our experience of suffering. Perhaps when we most acutely turn to it in the case of those whom we love, we have to look mutely up to God, and say to Him, “I do not understand it at all, but go on.” It is a real state of trust in God, and a step towards something further. Spiritual experience has begun, suffering has already deepened the soul.

We must learn to trust the Lord as we suffer. Christ is our example. Follow Him! Trust Him!

Prayer Thought: Lord, help me to trust and follow You today.

SUGGESTED READING: Job 19