CAN THE LANGUAGE OF TROUBLE BE TRANSLATED?
By David Paulson
The art of walking and the science of arithmetic both have to be acquired; but of the two, the former is far more important. So in the spiritual world some lessons are of much greater practical importance to our Christian life than are others. This is pointed out in 2 Peter 1: 12, 13. And it is necessary to be constantly stirred up in reference to these duties. Nine tenths of the mistakes people make would be avoided if they would but recall some lesson they had already learned. Many who read Job 5:7—“Man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward”—come to the conclusion that this life is naturally a vale of tears, because they do not take pains to read the previous verse: “Affliction cometh not forth of the dust, neither doth trouble spring out of the ground.” Every trial is sent for the purpose of teaching us some truth which God has tried to teach us in prosperity, but which we failed to learn. Here is an iron rod which I wish to bend in order to increase its usefulness, so I pass it through the fire, and then it yields. God is constantly seeking to mold and fashion us after the divine similitude; and when we will not bend, He passes us through the fire of affliction. This lesson is beautifully brought out in Job 33:14-30: “God speaketh once, yea twice, yet man perceiveth it not.” Many of our parents had a rule that if they spoke once, and we did not hear, they would then try more effective means. God continues to speak a number of times to withdraw man from his purpose, to keep back his soul from the pit; but if God can not arouse him to his danger by addressing him through the nerve of hearing, he will begin to speak to him through other nerves that appeal to him in a more impressive way. “He is chastened also with pain upon his bed, and the multitude of his bones with strong pain: so that his life abhorreth bread, and his soul dainty meat.” Even the very conditions that God sends are for the purpose of correction. Perhaps if it had not been for “fullness of bread” and the persistent indulgence in “dainty meat,” the poor sufferer’s nerves would have been sufficiently sensitive to hear God’s voice before He began to send trouble. “Yet, his soul draweth near unto the grave, and his life to the destroyers.” The crisis is approaching. He is sick spiritually and physically; then “if there be a messenger,”—one who can bring good news, “an interpreter,” one who can translate into plain words the meaning of this whole experience,—“to show unto man His uprightness: then He is gracious unto him, and saith, Deliver him from going down to the pit: I have found a ransom.” That this class of workers will never be in the majority is indicated by the expression “one among a thousand.” “To show unto man His [God’s] uprightness.” The nine hundred and ninety-nine will probably be saying that God is harsh, or that somebody has done wrong; if it had not been for Brother So-and-so, this thing would not have happened. But the one among a thousand will impress upon the sufferer’s mind the fact that the same hand that earlier in his experience gave him roses, lilies, and pinks is now pressing to his lips the bitter cup, and that it is all an expression of the same kindness. And as a consequence, a new life is begotten in the heart of the poor sufferer. “Then He is gracious unto him, and saith, Deliver him from going down to the pit: I have found a ransom. His flesh shall be fresher than a child’s: he shall return to the days of his youth.” God will actually restore to him “the years that the locust has eaten.” In the Life Boat Mission recently I listened to a man who a little over three years ago was one of the most notorious safe-blowers in the United States, a man who had served his time in many prominent prisons, whose picture is hanging in every rogues’ gallery. This man gave a most touching testimony of the power of the grace of God, which had been exercised in his behalf. As I looked upon this man, his face scarcely showing a trace of the forty years of sin through which he had passed, I thought, What a telling witness to the truth of this verse! All who expect to work for those in trouble and despair should be thoroughly acquainted with the shortest and most explicit course in soul-saving methods on record, which is explained in verses 27, 28: “He looketh upon men, and if any say, I have sinned, and perverted that which was right, and it profited me not; He will deliver his soul from going into the pit, and his life shall see the light.” How little God requires of the sinner! and how much He himself does! He does not use His great power to overawe us, but simply as an example of the strength He is willing to use in us. Job 23:6. He asks us to be perfect, even as He is perfect; and as soon as we are willing, He actually performs it for us himself. And these things are only a portion, or sample, of His ways; but what we see is sufficient to enable us to know that He is love, and that the hand of love is with us in all our experiences. Job 26:14.