THE PRECIOUS PATINA FROM PAIN
BREAD
2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4 Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. James 1:2-4 (NIV)
1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. Romans 5:1-5 (NIV)
7 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? 8 If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. 9 Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! 10 Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. 11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. Hebrews 12:7-11 (NIV)
12 Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. 13 But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. 1 Peter 4:12-13 (NIV)
10 And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. 11 To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen. 1 Peter 5:10-11 (NIV)
18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. Romans 8:18 (NIV)
19 For it is commendable if a man bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because he is conscious of God. 20 But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. 21 To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. 22 “He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.” 23 When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. 1 Peter 2:19-23 (NIV)
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. 5 For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. 6 If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. 7 And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort. 2 Corinthians 1:3-7 (NIV)
32 Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you stood your ground in a great contest in the face of suffering. 33 Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated. 34 You sympathized with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions. 35 So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. 36 You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. Hebrews 10:32-36 (NIV)
33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33 (NIV)
BUTTER
“They who dive in the sea of affliction bring up rare pearls.” Charles Spurgeon
“Do you want the gifts or the giver? Do you want deliverance from suffering and discomfort or do you want the Comforter Himself? We believe the lie that if you follow and obey God into discomfort and out of what is ‘safe’ then there will be blessings and reward for you and things will go well…but instead you’ve entered into discomfort and you’re finding it’s your new normal. How can suffering and joy coexist? In suffering, there is a death to life resurrection we get to witness, a picture of new life. In suffering, we anchor ourselves in the assurance of hope and joy in Jesus not in our circumstances. In American Christianity, we have bought into the lie that if it is good, then it cannot be hard. That goodness must exclude suffering. This is not true. In Jesus’ upside-down gospel good and hard totally coexist and weave together for our goodness and His glory.” Jay and Katherine Wolf
“David passed that gloomy brook when fleeing with his sorry company from his traitorous son. The man after God’s own heart was not exempt from trouble; in fact, his life was full of it. He was both the Lord’s Anointed and the Lord’s Afflicted. Why then should we expect to escape? At sorrow’s gates the noblest of our race have waited with ashes on their heads. Why then should we complain as though some strange thing had happened unto us?” Charles H. Spurgeon
“For My way is hidden from the rebellious, and from the disobedient, and from those who seek to walk in their own wisdom. But look to Me, and I will be your beacon in the night, and you will not stumble over the hidden things. You will walk in a way of victory though turmoil is on either hand, even as Israel marched through the Red Sea on a path My hand hewed out or them. Yes, it shall be a path of deliverance, and My Spirit shall go with you, and you shall carry the glad tidings of deliverance to people that sit in darkness and captivity…You will glorify Me; for My plan for you excels all other ways, and in the center of My will is a perpetual fountain of glory.” Frances J. Roberts
“Are you fighting with the adversary today? Are Satan, the world, and the flesh all against you? Do not be discouraged nor dismayed. Fight on! For God Himself is with you. Jehovah Nissi is your banner, and Jehovah Rophi is the healer of your wounds. Do not fear, you will overcome, for who can defeat Omnipotence? Fight on, looking to Jesus; and although the conflict is long and tough, the victory will be sweet, and the promised reward will be glorious.” Charles H. Spurgeon
“Then we shall be where we would be; then we shall be what we should be; Things that are not now, nor could be, soon shall be our own.” Thomas Kelly
“While all things are quiet and comfortable, we live by sense rather than faith, but the worth of a soldier is never known in times of peace.” Thomas Manton
“The Lord Jesus is our shepherd (Psalm 23:1); therefore, we shall not lack anything necessary for our final good. He restores our souls and leads us in paths of righteousness, not with the sympathy of a distant relative, but with the empathy of one who suffered the same and more.” Marshall Segal
“Though troubles assail us and dangers affright, Though friends should all fail us and foes all unite, Yet one thing secures us, whatever betide, The promise assures us, ‘The Lord will provide’. The birds, without garner or storehouse, are fed; From them let us learn to trust God for our bread. His saints what is fitting shall ne’er be denied. So long as ‘tis written, ‘The Lord will provide’. When Satan assails us to stop up our path, and courage all fails us, we triumph by faith. He cannot take from us, though oft he has tried, This heart cheering promise, ‘The Lord will provide’. No strength of our own and no goodness we claim; Yet, since we have known of the Savior’s great name, In this our strong tower for safety we hide: The Lord is our power, ‘The Lord will provide’.” John Newton
“The details of our hard may be different, but all our need for courage is the same.” Ann Voskamp
“Because it is God’s work in us, there is no question about the outcome. His will is always good and pleasing and perfect for the child of the King.” BHY
“God’s grace is illustrated and magnified in the poverty and trials of believers. Saints bear up under every discouragement, believing that all things work together for their good, and that out of apparent evils a real blessing shall ultimately spring—that their God will either work a deliverance for them speedily or most assuredly support them in the trouble, as long as He is pleased to keep them in it. This patience of the saints proves the power of divine grace. There is a lighthouse out at sea: It is a calm night—I cannot tell whether the edifice is firm. The tempest must rage about it, and then I shall know whether it will stand. So with the Spirit’s work: If it were not on many occasions surrounded with tempestuous waters, we would not know that it was true and strong; if the winds did not blow upon it, we would not know how firm and secure it was. The masterworks of God are those men who stand in the midst of difficulties steadfast, unmovable– Calm mid the bewildering cry, Confident of victory. The one who would glorify his God must be prepared to meet with many trials. No one can be illustrious before the Lord unless his conflicts are many. If, then, yours is a much-tried path, rejoice in it, because you will be better able to display the all-sufficient grace of God. As for His failing you, never dream of it–hate the thought. The God who has been sufficient until now should be trusted to the end.” C. H. Spurgeon revised by Alistair Begg
“It is in the quiet crucible of our personal private sufferings that our noblest dreams are born and God’s greatest gifts are given.” Wintley Phipps
HEART SAVOR
• Our trials produce in us a richness – a patina if you will, which deepens us, making us of value to others as well as to ourselves! Allowing us to have something to give. Trials are God’s chosen instrument in conforming His children into the image of His precious Son.
• The path of suffering is costly but so worth it.
• Don’t “kick against the goads” of what God allows in your life – be it ever so hard.
Beth Yoe's Sharing Bread 