Blessed Through Affliction
Bro. W. Goodale writes from Lapeer, Mich.: "I, with many of my brethren and sisters, have been called of late to taste of the bitter cup of affliction. I have been called to bid adieu to a dear mother, and then in less than one year have the tenderest cords of my heart been broken by the loss of my companion. And then to have our church burnt to the ground, as it has lately been, and to see the powers of the adversary pressing on us, and having many cares, has well nigh put me beyond the reach of trials. But blessed be God for all these afflictions. I feel that they have done me good. I can say like one of old, It was good for me to be afflicted; for it has increased my faith, and confirmed my hope in Christ. It has killed me to the things of this life, and I feel that it has made me alive to Christ. I can say like Job of old, 'For we are of but yesterday, and know nothing, because our days upon earth are a shadow.' Yes, when a few days or years are come, unless the Lord shall soon appear, we shall go the way of all the earth, and are we ready? Have we overcome the world? Have we lived up to all the light of God's truth? Have we that love that is requisite for our brethren and our enemies? I must confess that I come far short in all these particulars. I thank the Lord for the light of his blessed word, and for all his precious promises. God will not cast away a perfect man, neither will he help an evil doer; but they that hate him shall be cut off, or clothed with shame, and the dwelling-place of the wicked shall be cut off, or come to nought. Shall we who profess the Advent faith be of that number that will have their dwelling-place destroyed? I am determined to hold on to the truth until the end; and there is then a promise that never will fail. Yes, we are told that if this earthly house be dissolved we have a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. In view of these blessed promises let us hold on without wavering, and let nothing separate us from the love of Christ. But how often we see brethren or sisters wading through trouble or difficulties of some kind, and often neglect their duty to their heavenly Father, and that too, perhaps, on account of what some brother or sister has said against them. Now these things ought not to be. How careful we ought to be to bridle our tongue, and be careful not to wound our brother's heart. Let us be sober and show ourselves a pattern of good works and be willing to suffer shame for his name, and rejoice that we are accounted worthy, and may our hearts be knit together in love to God and love to our fellow man."