" . . . I am filled with comfort. I am exceedingly joyful in all our tribulation."
How remarkable is the Christian life, that the churchman can be "exceedingly joyful in tribulation"?! Tribulation does not feel good at all; but it does provide one of life's most fertile fields for the honor and glory of God--when we praise and thank the Lord in the midst of it.
None of this is easy; and all of it is counter-intuitive; but the entire life of the redeemed soul is "upside-down." At the very point where we might be most pressed to cave in and give up--we are able, by the grace of Christ, to find joy and comfort. Let the whole church thank God for this.
[Puritan quote of the day: "The favorers of nature are always the enemies of grace." --Richard Sibbes, in, "The Soul's Conflict with Itself"]
