Refining

Stars shine brightest in the darkest night; spices smell best when bruised, young trees root the faster for being shaken and gold looks the brighter for scouring. Such is the condition of all God’s children. They are most triumphant when most tempted; most glorious when most afflicted; most in the favour of God when least in man’s and in their own. As their conflicts, such are their conquests. As their tribulation, such their triumphs, they live best in the furnace of persecution.

Bible Study Monthly June 1948