Good and upright is the Lord; therefore, he instructs sinners in the way. Psalm 25:8
If some serious trouble, an extended trial, or a major crisis has recently ended for you, do two things. First, thank God for seeing you through it. Second, take some time for reflection; look for the lessons He taught in and through the situation. He’s proven himself faithful to see you through. Thomas Case would ask you these questions, “Do you grasp divine truth more inwardly, more clearly, more experientially, more powerfully, more sweetly than ever? Does it have a more abiding impression upon your heart?” If have grown in love, trust, and dependence upon God through the affliction then it is good that you’ve been afflicted! Thank God for the lesson!
It is sad to consider how our worldly affections will lie quietly in the face of trial, temptation, and trouble are overwhelming us, and how suddenly and powerfully they are revived when the danger is over. When they do, recall the pain and heartache, the distress, and the helplessness in the suffering. Were you impatient? Was there mutterings under your breath and harsh thoughts against God during your tribulation? If there were such things then but now there is rejoicing, thank God for the lesson!
Case adds, “Labor to preserve what you have learned in affliction. Work their impressions into your heart. God was pleased to teach you by his spirit; not because you were good, but because he is good; not because you please tell him, but because Mercy pleases him; not because you were upright before him, but because he is upright, true, and faithful to his own promises.” Resist the tendency, as soon as the trial over, to forget God’s deliverence and teaching and return to your selfish love of the world and its ways.
God has tested and tempered you in the fires of trial, trouble, and tribuation, it is true. More than that, however, He drew you closer to himself instruct you in the subject of His great love and care for you. Thank God for the lesson!
FLM: This reading was derived from a sermon by Puritan pastor Thomas Case that was later edited into a devotional reading. If this is of help to you, the credit goes to Case and the glory goes to God.