Today's encouragement comes from Deuteronomy 8:16b, where we read these words:
" . . . That He [God] might humble you and that He might test you, to do you good in the end— . . . “None of us like humbling, or testing; but all of us like the good result. The hard facts are that we churchmen are not made to be like Christ *except* through difficult struggles—that drive us to Jesus and His Gospel. If every-thing came to us easily, we would never grow to value the fact that *God* pro-vided it for us, (and we would think that we ourselves earned or merited it).
Therefore, let us believers in Jesus take the initiative, and humble ourselves before the Lord (as per 1 Pet. 5:6). When we do this, we are well on the way to victory and delight. The "end" or goal will be sweet in Christ; and we will not regret the process at all.
[Puritan quote of the day: "As the power of God's Spirit raised Christ up when He was at the lowest . . . so the Spirit in every Christian raises him up at the lowest . . . “ —Richard Sibbes, in, "Glorious Freedom"]
