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「似乎憂愁，卻是常常快樂的。」（聖經哥林多後書六章 10 節）
主張苦行主義者，連傷心也在禁止之列；基督徒卻不然。很多時候，我們憂悶得發昏；當剪毛的剪刀碰在顫抖的肉上時，當仇敵的欺侮達到頂點時、當我們的心幾乎碎裂時，最自然我們巴不得尋找機會痛哭一場，釋出胸中的憂愁。但是還有一個比痛哭更好的方法。
航海者知道甘泉是在苦且鹹的海水中找到的；旅行家知道最美麗的花是生在最荒僻、最崎嶇的山路上的；屬靈人知道最寶貴的詩篇是在最痛苦的時候寫成的。
所以，讓我們在黑暗中讚美神 ── 我們主耶穌基督的父。試煉越深，願我們的歌聲越高。親愛的，你有沒有學會這個課程呢？我們不只要忍受神的旨意、揀選神的旨意、遵行神的旨意，並且要用讚美來歡迎神的旨意。 ── 譯自火中的試驗（Tried as by Fire）
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"As sorrowful, yet always rejoicing." (2 Cor. 6:10.)
THE stoic scorns to shed a tear; the Christian is not forbidden to weep. The soul may be dumb with excessive grief, as the shearer's scissors pass over the quivering flesh; or, when the heart is on the point of breaking beneath the meeting surges of trial, the sufferer may seek relief by crying out with a loud voice. But there is something even better.
They say that springs of sweet fresh water well up amid the brine of salt seas; that the fairest Alpine flowers bloom in the wildest and most rugged mountain passes; that the noblest psalms were the outcome of the profoundest agony of soul.
Be it so. And thus amid manifold trials, souls which love God will find reasons for bounding, leaping joy. Though deep call to deep, yet the lord's song will be heard in silver cadence through the night. And it is possible in the darkest hour that ever swept a human life to bless the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Have you learned this lesson yet? Not simply to endure God's will, nor only to choose it; but to rejoice in it with joy unspeakable and full of glory. --- Tried as by Fire.
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