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COMFORT IN TRIBULATION

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The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Apr 28, 1868

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 31, No. 20.

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COMFORT IN TRIBULATION.

By R. C. Baker

The testimony of the word of God, as well as the experience of all ages, proves that
“Through tribulations deep The way to glory is.”
Then let us not wonder, nor be dismayed, if, in our journey heavenward, we find many a cross to bear, many a rugged hill to climb, many a thorny path to trace. Let us rather be content to “follow where our Leader trod,” and be willing to “suffer with him, that we may also reign with him.”
Has the Captain of our salvation been made perfect through suffering, and shall we shrink and murmur when the trial of our faith comes? Has he been derided and rejected of men, and betrayed by one who professed to love him, and shall our faith falter, when darkness gathers round us, and anguish weighs down our spirits? Rather let us “endure hardness as good soldiers,” and “hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering.”
Verily there is One in Heaven who numbers our tears, and regards our plaintive cries. In his own good time, if we are faithful, and wait patiently for him, will he let the sunshine of his love into our hearts to brighten the gloom. Shining brightly through our tears, we shall behold the gates of pearl, and the streets of gold. The sinless abode of the tried and faithful will loom up to our view, and in our imagination we almost hear the voice of the angelic harpers before the throne; and, like them, we shall feel like ascribing “blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb forever and ever.”
As the stars shine forth the brightest when the night is darkest, so the graces of faith, hope, love and humility, should illuminate our characters with the most heavenly radiance, when the sun of earthly hope has set, and the night of sorrow settles down upon us.
We read that God brought his ancient people into strait places, not only to test their love and fidelity to him, and to show them their own weakness and dependence, but to manifest forth in their behalf his own almighty power. Thus their faith would be strengthened. May the Lord help us not to murmur like ancient Israel, and distrust that almighty hand that has led us out thus far. We must learn to “walk by faith, and not by sight.”
Trials seem to be the common lot of the people of God, though some are placed in peculiarly trying positions. Some have to stand alone in battling for the truth, with no sympathizing friend to cheer them with words of encouragement when faint and weary in the conflict, save the “still small voice” within, that sometimes whispers peace to their sorrowing hearts. The promise to such is, that those who have forsaken all for the kingdom of God’s sake, “shall receive manifold more in this present time, and in the world to come everlasting life.” Oh! what an inducement to be faithful! Who can estimate the value of eternal life? Though God has a perfect right to exact obedience as a matter of duty, yet, in the plenitude of his love and compassion, he condescends to offer us as rewards for well-doing, joys that far transcend our highest conceptions, and these joys are to be eternal. When we consider the great price that has been paid for our redemption, how it ought to humble us in the dust, that we ever dare to murmur or complain at the little sacrifices we are called upon to make. How little we give to God when we give all, for we have but little to give, and all of this we have received from him. Oh! how hard are our hearts, how slow to be corrected of our wrongs! We read and wonder at the rebellious murmurings of the Israelites. Rather let us wonder at our own stubbornness and hardness of heart. We sink down under trials. We displease God by our lack of faith.
Look at faithful Abraham. Did his faith falter when subjected to the severest test that was ever required of mortal man? Paul declares that he staggered not at the promise of God. Oh! for Abrahamic faith and self-sacrifice among the people of God now! What have the most of us endured for Christ and the truth’s sake that is worth speaking of? What are our trials compared with those of ancient worthies who stood up for God and his truth against kings and mighty ones of earth, and were not dismayed when called upon to lay down their lives for his sake? What are they compared with those of the long army of martyrs who have pressed their way through blood and flame to gain a passport to a better world than this? And to come still nearer our own times, how will they compare with those of the noble spirits who have braved the perils of the deep, and the dangers of a foreign clime, to carry the knowledge of the true God and a crucified Saviour to the benighted heathen? Take for example the sufferings of Judson, the great Burman missionary, in the loathesome prisons of Ava and Oung-pen-la; and the sufferings of his brave, devoted wife.
Look at the suffering and toil, the intense study and anxiety of mind endured by those who have led in the van of present truth, who have not counted their lives or comfort dear unto themselves, that they might advance the cause of truth.
May the power of the truth get hold of our hearts and make us more willing to suffer and do for God. Then will the Lord work for us, and for perishing souls around us. Trials, such as we have never yet experienced, await us; and may the constant prayer of God’s people at this time be, “Lord, increase our faith.”
R. C. BAKER. Mackford, Wis.