A stoic person despises the shedding of tears, but a Christian is not forbidden to weep. Yet the soul may become silent from excessive grief, just as the quivering sheep may remain quiet beneath the scissors of the shearer.

Or, when the heart is at the verge of breaking beneath the waves of a trial, the sufferer may seek relief by crying out with a loud voice. But there is something even better.

It is said that springs of sweet, fresh water pool up amid the saltiness of the oceans, that the fairest Alpine flowers bloom in the wildest and most rugged mountain passes, and that the most magnificent psalms arose from the most profound agonies of the soul.

May it continue to be! Therefore, amid a multitude of trials, souls who love God will discover reasons for boundless, leaping joy. Even though “deep calls to deep” (Psalm 42:7), the clear cadence of the Lord’s song will be heard. And during the most difficult hour that could ever enter a human life, it will be possible to bless the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Have you learned this lesson yet? Not simply to endure or to choose God’s will but to rejoice in it “with an inexpressible and glorious joy” (1 Peter 1:8).

TRIED BY FIRE

I will be still, my bruised heart faintly murmured, As o’er me rolled a crushing load of woe; My words, my cries, e’en my low moan was stifled; I pressed my lips; I barred the tear drop’s flow.

I will be still, although I cannot see it, The love that bares a soul and fans pain’s fire; That takes away the last sweet drop of solace, Breaks the lone harp string, hides Your precious lyre.

But God is love, so I will stay me, stay me— We’ll doubt not, Soul, we will be very still; We’ll wait till after while, when He will lift us— Yes, after while, when it will be His will.

And I did listen to my heart’s brave promise; And I did quiver, struggling to be still; And I did lift my tearless eyes to Heaven, Repeating ever, “Yes, Christ, have Your will.”

But soon my heart spoke up from ’neath our burden, Rebuked my tight-drawn lips, my face so sad: “We can do more than this, O Soul,” it whispered. “We can be more than still, we can be glad!”

And now my heart and I are sweetly singing— Singing without the sound of tuneful strings; Drinking abundant waters in the desert; Crushed, and yet soaring as on eagle’s wings.

S. P. W.

They are His waves, whether they break over us, Hiding His face in smothering spray and foam; Or smooth and sparkling, spread a path before us, And to our haven bear us safely home.

They are His waves, whether for our sure comfort He walks across them, stilling all our fear; Or to our cry there comes no aid nor answer, And in the lonely silence none is near.

They are His waves, whether we are hard-striving Through tempest-driven waves that never cease, While deep to deep with turmoil loud is calling; Or at His word they hush themselves in peace.

They are HIS waves, whether He separates them, Making us walk dry ground where seas had flowed; Or lets tumultuous breakers surge about us, Rushing unchecked across our only road.

They are His waves, and He directs us through them; So He has promised, so His love will do. Keeping and leading, guiding and upholding, To His sure harbor, He will bring us through.

Stand firmly in the place where your dear Lord has put you, and do your best there. God sends us trials or tests, and places life before us as a face-to-face opponent. It is through the pounding of a serious conflict that He expects us to grow strong. The tree planted where the fierce winds twist its branches and bend its trunk, often nearly to the point of breaking, is commonly more firmly rooted than a tree growing in a secluded valley where storms never bring any stress or strain.

The same is true of human life. The strongest and greatest character is grown through hardship.