I Samuel 3:18

Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience.

Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.

I know, O Lord , that thy judgments are right, and that thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me.

O Lord , thou art our father, we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.

It is the Lord : let him do what seemeth him good.—Whom, though I were righteous, yet would I not answer, but I would make supplication to my judge.—The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord .—What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?

Jesus wept.—A man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows.

Is not the plowing merely a preparation for the seed-sowing to follow and after that, for the wheat which is to feed many?

When the plowshare goes through human hearts, surely it is for something! Someday we shall see when the ripe ears of corn appear that the plowshare had to come for a season.

This is not a very gratifying endorsement of Elijah. Doubtless the man’s heart swelled with eagerness to start a great reformation; his mind expanded with dreams of world-empire. To flee now, when the audacious approach to the king has been made, is to contradict all accepted methods of operation.

Nothing now but solitude? But God knows His plans and Elijah, his servant. There is wholesome truth here. To trust where we cannot trace is to give our God the full sovereignty that He longs for. The most formidable barrier in His dealings with His children is their self-will. “Let him do what is good in his eyes” (1 Samuel 3:18) is not resignation but triumphant faith, if we trust.

If I see God in everything, He will calm and color everyth ing I see!

Perhaps the circumstances causing my sorrows will not be removed and my situation will remain the same, but if Christ is brought into my grief and gloom as my Lord and Master , He will “surround me with songs of deliverance” (Psalm 32:7). To see Him and to be sure that His wisdom and power never fail and His love never changes, to know that even His most distressing dealings with me are for my deepest spiritual gain, is to be able to say in the midst of bereavement, sorrow , pain, and loss, “The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised” (Job 1:21).