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「然而祂知道我所行的路，祂試煉我之後，我必如精金。」（聖經約伯記二十三章 10 節）
「風雨生信心」 ── 這不是很簡單的五個字嗎？但是這五個字，對於在風雨中的人是多麼有意義啊！
信心是神所賜的，信心經過試煉之後，能行各種神奇的事 ── 不可見的能變成可見，不可能的能變成可能。
最堅實的樹木並不是生長在森林的庇護下的，乃是暴露在風雨打擊得到的空曠之處；它們因著風雨的擊打搖動，竟長得極其高大 ── 工匠用來製作器具車輛的，就是這種木料。
所以，你應當常記得你所當行的路，不是陽光閃耀、野花開放的那條，卻是一條崎嶇狹窄的小路，在那裡陰間的狂風險些會將你吹倒，尖銳的石子會割破你的皮肉，突出的荊棘會抓傷你的頭額，惡毒的野獸會在你四面吼叫。
這是一條又悲傷又歡樂的道路，有痛苦，也有醫治；有傷心，也有眷顧；有試煉，也有勝利。路上時常遇到困難危險、拳打掌擊、逼迫誤會和煩惱苦楚，然而靠著愛我們的主，在這一切的事上，已經得勝有餘了。
在風雨最猛烈的當兒，也許你會退縮….但是你只管前進，上帝要在你試煉的中心與你會面。祂要將祂的奧秘告訴你，使你走出來的時候，臉上帶著「精金」一般的光彩，心中帶著堅定不屈的信心，甚至陰間裡的鬼魔再也不能搖動你。──吉博文（F. A. Kilbourne）
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"He hath acquainted himself with my beaten path. When he hath searched me out, I shall come out shining."(Job 23:10, free translation.)
FAITH grows amid storms" -just four words, but oh, how full of import to the soul who has been in the storms! Faith is that God-given faculty which, when exercised, brings the unseen into plain view, and by which the impossible things are made possible. It deals with supernaturals.
But it "grows amid storms"; that is, where there are disturbances in the spiritual atmosphere. Storms are caused by the conflicts of elements; and the storms of the spiritual world are conflicts with hostile elements.
In such an atmosphere faith finds its most productive soil; in such an element it comes more quickly to full fruition.
The staunchest tree in not found in the shelter of the forest, but out in the open where the winds from every quarter beat upon it, and bend and twist it until it becomes a giant in stature-this is the tree which the mechanic wants his tools made of, and the wagon-maker seeks.
So in the spiritual world, when you see a giant, remember the road you must travel to come up to his side is not along the sunny lane where wild flowers ever bloom; but a steep, rocky, narrow pathway where the blasts of hell will almost blow you off your feet; where the sharp rocks cut the flesh, where the projecting thorns scratch the brow, and the venomous beasts hiss on every side.
It is a pathway of sorrow and joy, of suffering and healing balm, of tears and smiles, of trials and victories, of conflicts and triumphs, of hardships and perils and buffetings, of persecutions and misunderstandings, of troubles and distress; through all of which we are made more than conquerors through Him who loves us.
"Amid storms." Right in the midst where it is fiercest. You may shrink back from the ordeal of a fierce storm of trial...but go in! God is there to meet you in the center of all your trials, and to whisper His secrets which will make you come forth with a shining face and an indomitable faith that all the demons of hell shall never afterwards cause to waver. --- E. A. Kilbourne.
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