The soul that walks with God is
not hard, but submissive. There is no softer spirit nor one which is more
sensitive to every feeling than the spirit of submission. This spirit takes the
will out of the affections, but does not destroy the affections. So it
was with Christ. He felt everything, His tenderness was perfect, and yet how
perfect was His submissiveness.

 

God exercises the heart by means
of trials. Often when the heart is brought into the presence of God who is
dealing with us, all our ways, all the interior of our heart, all His ways with
us, and all His appeals to us rise up within us. If the will is unbroken, or no
clearness as to God’s grace be known, a perplexed and anxious response to the
trial results. A real knowledge of God’s grace will produce a humble and lowly
judgment of self.

 

Even in a man who is gracious
and righteous in the main of his life, there often remains a sediment at the
bottom of the heart which the rod of God stirs up when He thrusts it in. This
sediment—consisting not merely of faults but of a mass of unjudged material of
everyday life, a living under the influence of the things that are seen, or
unjudged affections of every kind—often underlies all the contents of the
heart. But this sediment is always carried off by the living stream of the
waters of His grace. If we respond rightly to God’s stirring up of our hearts
through trials, all that is not up to the measure of our spiritual height will
be judged in its true character as connected with the flesh.

 

When grace is fully known and
when there is full submission to God, the practical result of the Christian’s
trial will be a sweet odor of willing bowing before God—and even
thankfulness—in the midst of sorrow. God, too, is very present in the trial,
and it is thus we make real progress in such experiences. It is astonishing
what progress a soul sometimes makes in a time of sorrow. The soul is more in
God’s presence at such a time. There is much more confidence, quietness, and
absence of the will; much more walking with and dependence on Him, intimacy
with Him, and independence of circumstances. A great deal less lies between Him
and us, and so all the blessedness that is in Him can come to act upon the soul
and be reflected by it. How sweet this is! What a difference does it make even
in the Christian who, perhaps, was generally blameless in his outward walk!

 

A first trial of this kind is
always very painful, for the heart has not been in it before. God comes and
claims His right on our tenderest affections. We are in His hands, and our
sorrow is a result of God’s love—the best that the wisdom of His love can send.
If the needed work can be done without sorrow, we can be assured that He will
not send the sorrow. In any case, His love is far better than our will.

 

Let us trust Him; He has given
His Son for us and proven His love. Let us present our requests to Him. He
would have us do this and then lean fully on His love and wisdom. If He
strikes, be assured He will give more than He takes away.

 

(Revised from "The Tender
Sympathy of Christ.")

 

FRAGMENT. When we look back to a
past life, we have more to be thankful for our trials than for anything else.         J.N.
Darby