Reflections

Difficult Circumstances

Difficult circumstances  present no real problem to the man and woman in whom the life of Jesus Christ resides. Of these Edwin Markham says:
Defeat may serve as well as victory
To shake the soul and let glory out.
When the great oak is straining in the wind,
The boughs drink in new beauty and the trunk
Sends down a deeper root on the windward side.
Only the soul that knows the mighty grief, 

Can know the mighty rapture. Sorrows come

To stretch out spaces in the heart of joy.

Hudson Taylor knew this more than anyone. One day seated with a new missionary in a home in China he filled a glass full of water and then struck the table heavily with his fist. As the water splashed over he said to the young missionary. 'You will be stuck by the blows of many sorrows and troubles in China, but remember, they will only splash out of you what is in you'.

It was said of the quaint Cornish preacher Billy Bray that the more troubles he had the more he would shout 'Glory'. On one occasion he is reported to have said. "If you put me in a barrel I will shout 'Glory' through the bunghole." Troubles and difficulties bring out what is inside us. An old Christian travelling in a train stood up to get his suitcase as the train pulled into the station. It came to a sudden stop causing him to lurch from one side to the other. When he hit one side the passengers heard him say "Glory", and when he hit the other side, "Hallelujah"! The jolting shook the Glory out. Does it do the same in you?