God's Chastening Love. Lord,
he whom you love is sick. John 11.3. Your afflictions may be sharp,
but they are short. Your deliverance will be eternal. Our sufferings are but God's
tools to carve His image more clearly upon us. Affliction opens
our ears to the voice of God and shuts our hearts to the allurements
of the world. Richard Baxter Every affliction is a messenger
from God, teaching and correcting the soul for its eternal good.
The worst that God ever does to his children is to whip them
to heaven. The waters of affliction are
often the means by which we are carried nearer to Christ. William
Bridge In times of affliction we discover the sufficiency of
Christ and the shallowness of the world. John Bunyan The promises of God shine brightest
in the furnace of affliction. Thomas Brooks The bitter cup of affliction
is sweetened by the pierced hand that gives it. Sanctified afflictions
are spiritual promotions. The burdens God lays on us are
designed to press us closer to himself, Jeremiah borrows. God's greatest mercy is sometimes
wrapped in his sharpest judgments. Affliction is God's flail, to
separate the chaff from the wheat. In the furnace of affliction,
God burns away the dross of self-reliance and reveals the gold of his sufficiency. Afflictions drive the soul to
its knees, where it finds the richest treasures of grace. Stephen
Charnock The believer's afflictions are
God's pruning, not his lopping. They are to make them fruitful,
not to destroy them. God's strokes are strokes of
love, meant to awaken our souls and draw us closer to him. John
Flavell The greatest honour God can put on a soul is to place
it in the school of affliction. William Gurnall Trials are sent to teach us what
we are, to humble us, and to draw us closer to God. Extraordinary
afflictions are not always the punishment of extraordinary sins,
but sometimes the trial of extraordinary graces. The sharper the affliction,
the sweeter the promise of God's sustaining grace, Matthew Henry. Crosses are the ladders that
lead to heaven. When affliction humbles us, it
clears the eye of faith to see God's hand more distinctly. The
furnace of affliction refines the believer to reflect the brightness
of heaven. Thomas Manton God chooses the fire of affliction
to purify the gold of his people. Gold shines brightest when it
is beaten, so do the graces of the soul shine under the hammer
of affliction. The blows of affliction are blessings
in disguise, for they strike away the sins that cling to us. God's afflictions are not to
ruin us, but to refine us, that we might reflect His glory. Cotton
Mather Affliction is a stormy wind by
which God drives his people faster toward himself. The storms of
affliction drive the soul to the secure harbour of Christ's
love. Every affliction carries a message
from God and reveals his intention for our eternal good. Afflictions
reveal what is in our hearts and show us our need for God's
grace. John Owen grace grows best in
winter. Our crosses are ladders that
bring us nearer to heaven. – Samuel Rutherford As the winter prepares the earth
for the spring, so affliction prepares the soul for glory.
God's rod is a pencil to draw Christ's image more distinctly
upon us. God's afflictions are his love
tokens. They are sent to heal, not to
harm. Richard Sibbes God's correction is his seal
of sonship. He chastens us because he loves
us. John Trapp Affliction is the furnace where
God refines his gold. The sharper the medicine, the
greater the cure. Affliction is God's elixir for
the soul. Affliction is a bitter root,
but it bears sweet fruit. God's rod is a remedy to cure
us of our spiritual diseases. Thomas Watson.