The Development of Character

Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition ...

Waiting for Something Better

When my son, Rusty, was five, he wanted a ball glove. So I took him, and we went to three or four stores to get a glove to fit a tiny hand. No store had ...

Pain and Growth Go Together

Everett Koop, former surgeon general of the United States and a vocal opponent of abortion on demand, tells of a family whose severely handicapped child ...

God Shapes Our Pain

Pain is only intolerable when seen in a distorted light. But when we know it is the hand of a loving God that shapes it all, and that it is our Father ...

A Heavenly Shake-Up

Sometimes your medicine bottle has on it, "Shake well before using." That is what God has to do with some of His people. He has to shake them ...

Times of Improvement

Suffering times are a Christian's best-improving times.

Let the Winds Blow

We cannot be established except by suffering. It is of no use our hoping that we shall be well-rooted if no March winds have passed over us. The young ...

God Gives Real Tests

God is always testing us, and his testing does not come when we are warned and ready. Anyone can pass a test then. ...

God's tests catch us unprepared, ...

Missions, for Heaven's Sake

Having lived in South America as missionaries, my family and I realized that moving to another jungle location meant a lot of work. We knew the discomforts ...

Preach to the Suffering

Preach to the suffering, and you will never lack a congregation. There is a broken heart in every pew.