A Treatise on Tribulation

[Edward]

To know that nothing hurts the godly, is a matter of comfort; but to be assured that all things which fall out shall co-operate for their good, that their crosses shall be turned into blessings, that showers of affliction water the withering root of their grace and make it flourish more; this may fill their hearts with joy till they run over. God takes away the world, that the heart may cleave more to Him in sincerity.

God sweetens outward pain with inward peace. Not to be afflicted is a sign of weakness; for, therefore God imposeth no more on me, because he sees I can bear no more. When we grow careless of keeping our souls, then God recovers our taste of good things again by sharp crosses. The winter prepares the earth for the spring, so do afflictions sanctified prepare the soul for glory.

/Do not even such things as are most bitter to the flesh, tend to awaken Christians to faith and prayer, to a sight of the emptiness of this world, and the fadingness of the best it yield? Doth not God by these things (ofttimes) call our sins to remembrance, and provoke us to amendment of life? How then can we be offended at things by which we reap so much good?.... Therefore if mine enemy hunger, let me feed him; if he thirst, let me give him drink. Now in order to do this, (1) We must see good in that, in which other men can see none. (2) We must pass by those injuries that other men would revenge. (2) We must show we have grace, and that we are made to bear what other men are not acquainted with. (4) Many of our graces are kept alive, by those very things that are the death of other men's souls.... The devil, (they say) is good when he is pleased; but Christ and His saints, when displeased.

—John Bunyan/

As the wicked are hurt by the best things, so the godly are bettered by the worst. Poverty and affliction take away the fuel that feeds pride. I am mended by my sickness, enriched by my poverty, and strengthened by my weakness.... Thus was it with.... Manasseh, when he was in affliction, "He besought the Lord his God": even that king's iron was more precious to him than his gold, his jail a more happy lodging than his palace, Babylon a better school than Jerusalem. What fools are we, then, to frown upon our afflictions! These, how crabbed soever, are our best friends. They are not indeed for our pleasure, they are for our profit.

Labor to grow better under all your afflictions, lest your afflictions grow worse, lest God mingle them with more darkness, bitterness and terror. The secret formula of the saints: When I am in the cellar of affliction, I look for the Lord's choicest wines.

Afflictions are light when compared with what we really deserve. They are light when compared with the sufferings of the Lord Jesus. But perhaps their real lightness is best seen by comparing them with the weight of glory which is awaiting us.

/The highest honor that God can confer upon his children is the blood-red crown of martyrdom. The jewels of a Christian are his afflictions. The regalia of the kings that God has made, are their troubles, their sorrows, and their griefs. Griefs exalt us, and troubles lift us.

—Charles Spurgeon/

To bless God for mercies is the way to increase them; to bless Him for miseries is the way to remove them. Those blessings are sweetest that are won with prayers and won with thanks. To lean upon God and his people will always bring comfort and blessings. Many thanks to all who have prayed for me. Praise be to the most high God for the continual purification of mine spirit and heart.

 

[Sparkey]

When I am in the cellar of affliction, I look for the Lord's choicest wines.

The lees within the casks. In terms of the wineries, Lees refers to deposits of dead yeast or residual yeast and other particles that precipitate, or are carried by the action of "fining", to the bottom of a vat of wine after aging. The lees may be stirred (bâtonage in French) in order to promote uptake of the lees flavor. (See the Wiki for more). One of the characteristics of wine is it's color and it's bouquet. If the vat or cask of wine is turned and the wine begins to examine itself, there would be no wonder at its exclamation: "OH! What has become of me??" Any yet, we are consoled by the fact that we are the clay (switching metaphors for but a moment, will switch again in yet another moment) and that our Loving God is the potter. The stirring of the lees is seen as an undesirable thing to the fruit of the earth, the wine, which biblically represents the Joy of the Lord (seen in us and rightly declared by us as our "strength").

No son, no true son goes without chastisement. Yet all things are not for this purpose. There is another purpose that may take years to properly appreciate and may be seen when we look at our hearts as the soil that God plants his seed into. Wonderful how all these metaphors work toward one purpose, isn't it? Crafted by the Ancient of Days, woven into the very fabric of life, all to graphically show us the desire of our hearts, formed within us while we were yet in the womb, by our Maker and the Creator of all. Before a seed is planted, there needs to be a furrow plowed. Before a furrow may be plowed there needs to be an ox or other who is attached by the yoke, the burden made light, joyful and who walks willingly, lovingly toward our shared goal. Men like John Bunyon, Charles Spurgeon. Oxen. Blessed are the feet of those who share such things... But to the ground that is overturned? Exposed? Carved and uprooted by a seemingly uncaring process? What of this? Does it see the precious seed, which is the Word of God being placed there in the exact right spot and then, after a moment, covered again and buried?

I think maybe. Maybe we are allowed a glimpse of that process. Maybe we are witnesses of the love that God has shed abroad and into ourselves. We might focus on the thirst for rain, the blessing promised, the former rain and the latter (greater) blessing. We might look toward the sky and wonder about the clouds that the unseen wind directs over us, covering us, causing life to happen unseen in our depths. Or, and it is also possible that these things go unnoticed. Unpraised. Would the rocks (for I am a rock) rise up to Praise Him? Will we see the life, given for us, and the death, suffered for us, as an example of the promise? What great things have happened to use because of the death, and now, we partake in this even as we die to self and look to him. What marvel will happen, what promise is behind the seed that is found, now stirred within as it begins its struggle upward toward God? It has not even entered into our minds what God has prepared for they who love Him.

Blessings, my friend. Thank you again for your sharing here. I am blessed by you.

 

[Edward]

Many times, when tribulation comes, the first reaction is anger for perceived sense of not deserving what has happened to us. Am I not a good man? Then why? How am I deserving of what has happened? One naturally turns to God for help in those times. A good thing. For the Lord has said be still and know that I am God. Anxiousness follows. We turn also to our Brothers in Christ. We pray. They pray.

The prayers are heard by God. God says be still. Meditate on these things and ponder the workings of the Great and Almighty God. As I look out the window I see the plants being blown by the winds of their own tribulation. Yet they do not die but are in fact made stronger and their endurance increases. They will live and grow through the effect of the wind. Though the sun is behind the clouds, it continues to shine. The plant continues to take in the light though the light is not directly visible at the time. The nourishment from the root of the Word continues to flow.

If the plant had not the wind, it would weaken and die. If it had not not the root it would die. If it had not the son it would die. These things must be. Then, I understand. I am deserving of this. God is very good and strengthens me. I rejoice of the wind in my face. I praise God that he finds me deserving of strengthening. Prayer accomplishes much. I have been brought revelation, wisdom, understanding, and strength.

You are an oxen my brother, and the other. We must all learn to rejoice in tribulation and affliction for it makes us stronger and closer to God. Just like the plants. Spring approaches.

Bless you, and the other.

 

[Sparkey]

This reminds me of a poem. A young Jewess once shared with me her favorite poem. A little book of these writings had been given to her by her daddy, when she was young. I was touched by the fact that she wished to share her blessing and have loved this poem ever since. Here then, the gift:

Kahlil Gibran on Love

When love beckons to you, follow him,

Though his ways are hard and steep.
And when his wings enfold you yield to him,​

Though the sword hidden among his pinions may wound you.

And when he speaks to you believe in him,
Though his voice may shatter your dreams
as the north wind lays waste the garden.​

For even as love crowns you so shall he crucify you. Even as he is for your growth so is he for your pruning.

Even as he ascends to your height and caresses your tenderest branches that quiver in the sun,
So shall he descend to your roots and shake them in their clinging to the earth.​

Like sheaves of corn he gathers you unto himself.

He threshes you to make you naked.
He sifts you to free you from your husks.
He grinds you to whiteness.
He kneads you until you are pliant;
And then he assigns you to his sacred fire, that you may become sacred bread for God's sacred feast.​

All these things shall love do unto you that you may know the secrets of your heart, and in that knowledge become a fragment of Life's heart.

But if in your fear you would seek only love's peace and love's pleasure,

Then it is better for you that you cover your nakedness and pass out of love's threshing-floor,
Into the seasonless world where you shall laugh, but not all of your laughter, and weep, but not all of your tears.
Love gives naught but itself and takes naught but from itself.
Love possesses not nor would it be possessed;
For love is sufficient unto love.​

When you love you should not say, "God is in my heart," but rather, "I am in the heart of God."

And think not you can direct the course of love, for love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course.​

Love has no other desire but to fulfill itself.

But if you love and must needs have desires, let these be your desires:

To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night.
To know the pain of too much tenderness.
To be wounded by your own understanding of love;
And to bleed willingly and joyfully.
To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving;
To rest at the noon hour and meditate love's ecstasy;
To return home at eventide with gratitude;​

And then to sleep with a prayer for the beloved in your heart and a song of praise upon your lips.​

 

[Edward]

When you love you should not say, "God is in my heart," but rather, "I am in the heart of God."
And think not you can direct the course of love, for love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course.

Here is where we find the joy and praise to God in tribulation.
Great poem.

 

[Sparkey]

Then it is better for you that you cover your nakedness and pass out of love's threshing-floor,
Into the seasonless world where you shall laugh, but not all of your laughter, and weep, but not all of your tears.

And here is the part the touches me in the deepest places. The part about our tears. These are precious things. I've heard of a vial that is used to collect every tear, showing them to be more precious than those things that men collect, more precious than diamonds. I've also heard of a time where God Himself will wipe away every tear. Still, the idea as spoken in the poem, "where you shall laugh, but not all of your laughter, and weep, but not all of your tears," touches me. It speaks of a work not yet complete and a promise. A promise that ties back to what James so aptly declared. We are to let the endurance that is produced in us have its perfect work, that we may be perfect and complete, equipped to all good things. James speaks of "patience" and the whisper behind the sound is that this is the Holy Spirit working in each of us.

But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

I like Rotherham because he pays attention to the word sound. He breaks things up for us. We can see the first part: "But let" easily because of the commas. Allow it to happen.

Here is the Online Rotherham translation for James 1:4

James 1:4 But let, your endurance, have, mature work, that ye may be mature and complete, in nothing, coming short.

 

[Mountain Man]

Lets wait until wait until we get there,then we can write our own poems....be patient our time is fast aproaching

 

[Edward]

Indeed. That is one deep poem. I saved it to reread. Usually I'm not much into poetry but that's a very special poem. I've read scripture somewhere, not sure where that says something about tears to God and he hears our prayers louder if we shed tears or something like that.

Very cool. Thanks for sharing that.

 

[About the Son of God]

I don't think I've seen scripture say he hears them louder (although, he hears everything fully no matter what....)
But I do know that loud cries and tears, are heard -- as in how Jesus was heard with loud cries an supplication;
And there is a part in scripture, -- oh I think around Psalm 5 or 6.... which I'll paraphrase:

When death caresses there is no remembrance of thee,
Left in the pit, who shall thank thee?

I am drained from sighing,
Entrenched at night full of weeping,
Until the tears swirl full on my pillow.

A grief clouds my eye,
and drying becomes blighting
for so many enemies spy round me.

Withdraw! Lawless men!
For thee, O' Lord listening have heard sounds of weeping.
The Lord has Heard my plea, the Lord shall admit my prayer.

... etc.

 

[About the Son of God]

I've read scripture somewhere, not sure where that says something about tears to God and he hears our prayers louder if we shed tears or something like that.

I was thinking, in English -- this is called "crying";
Luke 18:1-7 contrast Romans 12:19

And the he will avenge them speedily.

Peace to you.

 

[Edward]

I was thinking, in English -- this is called "crying";
Luke 18:1-7 contrast Romans 12:19

And the he will avenge them speedily.

Peace to you.

It sure is. I don't remember the scripture and can't find it either, but I know that God hears us when we cry in prayer to him. Men do not like to admit that they can not handle a situation, and crying is an act of a broken and contrite spirit, total humility and helplessness. Grief that a loved one has passed and we can not bring them back. Tribulation of a sort that we can not handle on our own.

Perhaps it is the utter humility and broken spirit that brings us to tears before God. He hears us and sends us comfort. He will avenge us. I also heard something about God saves our tears in a bottle or something, I'm not sure what that's about.

 

[Sparkey]

Here is an MP3 with a song from the 70's that I love. Heard it during my Bible College days and it has just today been restored to me. By artist and musician Sue Hunt (now deceased) ----> View attachment 3120.

I know this study is about "Tribulation" and the subject of "tears" does fit. If what is said is "distracting" please ignore.

Here is a reference that will give a start: Tears - Nave's Topical . Using the Scripture found there and then looking at context for ideas and concepts (not just word studies) may be profitable here.

[MENTION=90700]Edward[/MENTION]: The Word of God that you've heard about prayers offered with tears being louder may have been a word spoken into your heart by the Holy Spirit. This is valid. You are a witness. It is not wrong to include yourself as a 'source' while speaking of the Lord. In fact, regarding your testimony, you are the expert witness. The Holy Spirit will confirm what is said by you into the hearts of others (because we are teammates; wonder that one! How awesome is our God!). We know that we have a more sure word which is the Bible but that does not mean that the Lord has not spoken [to you and through you]. You too are an epistle, written by God and read of men.

We have access to the throneroom where we may climb into the lap of our Abba-Father and how can we help but speak of things that are whispered there. Okay, here's something that I'd like to find. I think in the gospels it says something about shouting from the rooftops what is whispered [to you]. I'm thinking it was said to believers and may have been said in context of "end times" or "latter days". I've looked but have not searched long and hard, but have not readily found it? There is a book called "Treasury of Scripture Knowledge" and another that deals with Customs and another that gives Word Pictures (I like coloring book editions of things) and it could have been there (one of the sources of men) where I heard it first. I do remember reading descriptions of "rooftops" and seeing pictures while looking at this thought. It's also possible that I was looking into the Greek so that the word "shout" is included as a concept or it's possible that I was reading a translation other than KJV, because I do that sometimes. This is something from many years ago, still in me, but not fully proven (fast and sure) so if you run across it this is the "more sure word" that confirms what I'm saying here.

 

[Edward]

Really. That's interesting because I remember it, and have looked for it, but can not find it. Yet it sticks in me like something I know and have learned. I spent some time on a couple occasions trying to find it and can not. It was kind of bugging me a little bit that I can not find it, but what you say could explain it. It does make sense and wouldn't go against any scripture that I have read so perhaps you are right.

Nice song!