Though heaven and earth appear to be against us, let us not falter for a single moment in our confidence in God. That we are defamed, ill-treated, impoverished, bereaved, or laid low by disease is no evidence that God’s lovingkindness has forsaken us.
Affliction does not exclude divine favor. This truth is enforced throughout the Word.
Look at the demonstration afforded by the history of the apostle Paul alone. Neither his faithfulness nor Christ’s love for him admit of question. “I have fought a good fight” (2Tim 4:7) was the apostle’s last confession. And can it be denied?
“In stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a day and a night have I been in the deep, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils among false brethren, in hunger and thirst, in cold and nakedness… reviled, defamed, made as the filth of the world, the offscouring of all things” (2Cor 11:23-27; 1Cor 4:13).
With such an experience in view, let us not grow weary nor “faint in our minds”… but rather “lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees” (Heb 12:3, 12).
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One