“The clouds which rise with thunder slake
Our thirsty souls with rain;
The blow most dreadful falls to break
From off our limbs a chain.
And wrongs of man to man but make
The love of God more plain.
As through the shadowy lens of even
The eye looks farthest into heaven
On gleams of star and depths of blue,
The glaring sunshine never knew.”
It may seem strange to some to speak of the blessing of sorrow. We would say at first thought, “Surely nothing good can come from anything so terrible.” Yet the Word of God assures us, and the experience of the ages confirms the assurance, that many of the richest and best blessings of life come out of affliction.
One of the most striking visions of heaven granted to the revelator on Patmos was that of a glorified company who seemed to surpass all the other blessed ones in the splendour of their garments and the radiant honour of their state. They were arrayed in white robes, carried palms in their hands, and stood nearest the Throne and the Lamb. We would have said that these were the children of joy that they had come up from earth’s scenes of gladness, that their condition in life had been one of exceptional ease and freedom from trouble, that they had never known a care or a grief. But when the question was asked, “These which are arrayed in the white robes, who are they, and whence came they?” the answer was, “These are they which come out of the great tribulation.” They were the children of earth’s sorrow. They had been brought up in the school of trial.
Page 1