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「你在苦難的爐中，我揀選你。」（聖經以賽亞書四十八章 10 節）
感謝神，神給了我們多大的安慰！這真像火焰中忽然來了一陣細雨，又像給我們穿上了一身耐火衣，使火勢不能將我們焚傷。苦難啊，你儘管來吧，神已經揀選了我。貧窮啊，疾病啊，你們儘管來襲擊我吧，神已經揀選了我。無論什麼患難臨到我的時候，我就知道神已經揀選了我。
信徒啊，不要懼怕；主是常與你同在的。在你一切猛烈的試煉中，祂的同在是你的慰藉和平安。祂決不會離開祂為自己所揀選的。 祂曾允諾：「不要懼怕，因為我與你同在。」（聖經創世記二十六章 24 節）── 司布真（C. H. Spurgeon）
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"I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction." (Isa. 48:10.)
DOES not the Word come like a soft shower, assuraging the fury of the the flame? Yes, is it not an asbestos armor, against which the heat has no power? Let the affliction come─God has chosen me. Poverty, thou mayest stride in at my door; but God is in the house already, and He has chosen me. Sickness, thou mayest intrude; but I have a balsam ready─God has chosen me. Whatever befall me in this vale of tears, I know that he has chosen me.
Fear not, Christian; Jesus is with thee. In all thy fiery trials, His presence is both thy comfort and safety. He will never leave one whom He has chosen for His own. "Fear not, for I am with thee," is His sure word of promise to His chosen ones in "the furnace of affliction." --- C. H. Spurgeon.
Pain's furnace heat within me quivers,
God's breath upon the flame doth blow;
And all my heart in anguish shivers
And trembles at the fiery glow;
And yet I whisper, "As God will!"
And in the hottest fire hold still.
He comes and lays my heart, all heated,
On the hard anvil, minded so
Into His own fair shape to beat it
With His great hammer, blow on blow;
And yet I whisper, "As God will!"
And at His heaviest blows hold still.
He takes my softened heart and beats it;
The sparks fly off at every blow;
He turns it o'er and o'er and heats it,
And lets it cool, and makes it glow;
And yet I whisper, "As God will!"
And in His mighty hand hold still.
Why should I murmur? for the sorrow
Thus only longer-lived would be;
The end may come, and will tomorrow,
When god has done His work in me;
So I say trusting, "As God will!"
And, trusting to the end, hold still.
─Julius Sturm.
The burden of suffering seems a tombstone hung about our necks, while in reality it is only the weight which is necessary to keep down the diver while he is hunting for pearls. --- Richter.
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