February 18 Morning Devotional | Why We Face Trials of Faith | Morning and Evening by C.H. Spurgeon

Morning, February 18 | “Let me know why You contend with me.” —Job 10:2 (LSB)

This Morning's Scripture Reading: Job 10:1-7 (LSB)

“My soul is loathed by my life;
I will abandon all restraint in myself to my complaint;
I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.
“I will say to God, ‘Do not account me as wicked;
Let me know why You contend with me.
‘Is it good to You that You oppress,
That You reject the labor of Your hands,
And cause the counsel of the wicked to shine forth?
‘Have You eyes of flesh?
Or do You see as a mortal man sees?
‘Are Your days as the days of a mortal man,
Or Your years as man’s years,
That You should seek for my guilt
And search after my sin?
‘According to Your knowledge I am indeed not wicked,
Yet there is no deliverer from Your hand.”

Devotional Video Transcript:

Perhaps, O tried soul, the Lord is doing this to develop your graces. There are some of your graces which would never be discovered if it were not for your trials. Do you not know that your faith never looks so grand in summer weather as it does in winter? Love is too often like a glowworm, showing but little light except it be in the midst of surrounding darkness. Hope itself is like a star — not to be seen in the sunshine of prosperity, and only to be discovered in the night of adversity.

Afflictions are often the black foils in which God sets the jewels of his children’s graces, to make them shine brighter. It was but a little while ago that on your knees you were saying, “Lord, I fear I have no faith: let me know that I have faith.” Was not this really, though perhaps unconsciously, praying for trials? For how can you know that you have faith until your faith is exercised? Depend upon it, God often sends us trials that our graces may be discovered, and that we may be convinced of their existence. Besides, it is not merely discovery, real growth in grace is the result of sanctified trials.

God often takes away our comforts and our privileges in order to make us better Christians. He trains his soldiers, not in tents of ease and luxury, but by turning them out and subjecting them to forced marches and hard service. He makes them ford through streams, and swim through rivers, and climb mountains, and walk many a long mile with heavy backpacks of sorrow. Well, Christian, may not this account for the troubles through which you are passing? Is not the Lord bringing out your graces, and making them grow? Is not this the reason why he is contending with you?

“Trials make the promise sweet;
Trials give new life to prayer;
Trials bring me to his feet,
Lay me low, and keep me there.”

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Charles Spurgeon's Morning and Evening is a classic daily devotional that has been inspiring Christians for over 150 years. It is a collection of 732 meditations on Scripture, one for each morning and evening of the year. Spurgeon's writing is known for its clarity, insight, and wit, and his devotionals are full of practical wisdom and encouragement.

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Unless otherwise stated, all Scripture quotations are from the King James Version.
Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org and 316publishing.com.

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