p. 1 | The Use of Suffering by Ellen G. White

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jun 29, 1916

The Use of Suffering

By Ellen G. White

BLESSED are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.” The mourning here brought to view is true heart sorrow for sin. . . . The Saviour’s words have a message of comfort to those also who are suffering affliction or bereavement. Our sorrows do not spring out of the ground. God “doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men.” When he permits trials and afflictions, it is “for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness.” If received in faith, the trial that seems so bitter and hard to bear will prove a blessing. The cruel blow that blights the joys of earth will be the means of turning our eyes to heaven. How many there are who would never have known Jesus had not sorrow led them to seek comfort in him! The trials of life are God’s workmen, to remove the impurities and roughness from our character. Their hewing, squaring, and chiseling, their burnishing and polishing, is a painful process, it is hard to be pressed down to the grinding wheel. But the stone is brought forth prepared to fill its place in the heavenly temple. Upon no useless material does the Master bestow such careful, thorough work. Only his precious stones are polished after the similitude of a palace.—Mrs. E. G. White, in “Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing,” pp. 22-24.