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新年新福你们要过去得为业的那地，乃是有山、有谷、雨水滋润之地，是耶和华你神所眷顾的。从岁首到年终，耶和华你神的眼目时常看顾那地。（申命记11:11-12）
今天，我们站在一个新的境界上，摆在前面的是一个新年，等待我们经过。谁也不能预知在将来的路程中有什么遭遇、什么变迁、什么需要，可是在这里有一段从父神那里来的信息，足以鼓励我们：“耶和华你神……眷顾……从岁首到年终，耶和华你神的眼目时常看顾那地。”我们所有的接济都可仰赖于神，他那里有不干的活泉、永流的江河、恩典的誓约。如果他作我们供给的源头，就没有什么能使我们失望。没有酷热、没有干旱，能叫那道“使神的城欢喜”（诗篇46:4）的河干涸。
我们要得的那地乃是有山有谷之地，不是一片光滑的平原。若是我们前面的生活只是平淡单调，何等乏味！我们需要山和谷。山使雨水汇集谷中，使地肥沃多结果子。山对于我们的生命也是这样。山一般的困难，原是催使我们到施恩座前去得主赐福的甘霖。我们所厌烦的山境，反使我们得福。多少人因为厌烦山谷的辛苦，贪恋平地的舒服，因此受风霜的摧残，倒毙于山下的平地，埋葬在黄金色的沙中。神的山是他子民的保障！
我们不能说前面没有损失、忧虑、试炼，我们只能信靠。父神必从今日起伸出他大能的手，扶持我们走当走的路程。所以，我们的新年是一个快乐、有福的新年！
The land you are... to take possession of is a land of mountains and valleys that drinks rain from heaven. It is a land the LORD your God cares for; the eyes of the LORD your God are continually on it from the beginning of the year to its end. (Deuteronomy 11:11-12)
Today we stand at the threshold of the unknown. Before us lies a new year, and we are going forward to take possession of it. Who knows what we will find? What new experiences or changes will come our way? What new needs will arise? In spite of the uncertainty before us, we have a cheerful and comforting message from our heavenly Father:" The LORD your God cares for [it];the eyes of the LORD... are continually on it from the beginning of the year to its end." The Lord is to be our Source of supply. In Him are springs, fountains, and streams that will never be cut off or run dry. To those who are anxious comes the gracious promise of our heavenly Father: If He is the Source of our mercies, mercy will never fail us. No heat or drought can dry the "river whose streams make glad the city of God" (Ps. 46:4).
Yet the land we are to possess is a land of valleys and hills. It is not all flat or downhill. If life were always smooth and level, the boring sameness would weigh us down. We need the valleys and the hills. The hills collect the rain for hundreds of fruitful valleys. And so it is with us! It is the difficulty encountered on the hills that drives us to the throne of grace and brings the showers of blessing. Yes, it is the hills, the cold and seemingly barren hills of life that we question and complain about, that bring down the showers. How many people have perished in the wilderness valley, buried under its golden sand, who would have thrived in the hills? And how many would have been killed by the cold, destroyed or swept desolate of their fruitfulness by the wind, if not for the hills-stern, hard, rugged, and so steep to climb? God's hills are a gracious protection for His people against their foes!
We cannot see what loss, sorrow, and trials are accomplishing. We need only to trust. The Father comes near to take our hand and lead us on our way today. It will be a good and blessed New Year!
飞向最高点这围殿的旁屋，越高越宽，因旁屋围殿悬叠而上，所以越上越宽，从下一层，由中一层，到上一层。（以西结书41:7）
我们不该以在平地上驰骋为满足，还该力求登峰造极。在山顶上，露珠何等晶莹美丽，空气多么清洁、新鲜。住在山顶的人，他们一推窗就可望见广阔的远景！多少人却过着矿工一般的生活，终日不见天日。他们的脸上原该膏着天上的喜乐油，可是却抹着泪珠。他们原该在宫殿顶上散步，鸟瞰黎巴嫩的美景，可是却困守于牢狱般的枯寂。醒来吧！离开你的平地，努力向上吧！抛去你的疲倦、懒惰、冷漠，以及一切拦阻你向上追求基督的。让基督作你的源头、你的中心，让他在万有上居首位。不要安于你目前所有的。渴望一个更高、更贵、更丰富的生命。向着天！追求更近神！——司布真
我们中间没有多少人真是尽我们所能的活着。我们留恋在平地上，因为害怕攀山越岭。山程的崎岖、峻峭寒了我们的心，因此我们终生耽搁在雾谷中，从不会了解山顶上的佳境。啊，宽容自己的损失何其大啊！只要我们肯决心登高寻求神，前面必有极大的荣耀和祝福等着我们。——密勒
The side rooms all around the temple were wider at each successive level. The structure surrounding the temple was built in ascending stages, so that the rooms widened as one went upward. A stairway went up from the lowest floor to the top floor through the middle floor. (Ezekiel 41:7) We should never be content to rest in the mists of the valley when the summit of Mount Tabor awaits us. How pure is the dew of the hills, how fresh is the mountain air, how rich the food and drink of those who dwell above, whose windows look into the New Jerusalem! Many saints are content to live like people in coal mines, who never see the sun. Tears sadden their faces when they could be anointed with heavenly oil. I am convinced that many believers suffer in a dungeon when they could walk on a palace roof, viewing the lush landscape and Lebanon. Wake up, believers, from your lowly condition! Throw away your laziness, sluggishness, coldness, or whatever is interfering with your pure love for Christ. Make Him the Source, the Center, and the One who encompasses every delight of your soul. Refuse to be satisfied any longer with your meager accomplishments. Aspire to a higher, a nobler, and a fuller life. Upward to heaven! Nearer to God! Charles H. Spurgeon
Not many of us are living at our best. We linger in the lowlands because we are afraid to climb the mountains. The steepness and ruggedness discourage us, so we stay in the mist of the valleys and never learn the mystery of the hills. We do not know what is lost by our self-indulgence, what glory awaits if we only have the courage to climb, or what blessings we will find if we will only ascend the mountains of God! J. R. M.
温柔的引领我要量着在我面前群畜和孩子的力量慢慢地前行。（创世记33:14）
这真是一幅惟妙惟肖的图画，描写雅各对群畜和孩子的慈心！
他不愿他们多走一天的路程，他不愿一直照粗人以扫的心意去催促他们，他乃是量着他们的力量慢慢地领他们前行。他知道他的儿女们年幼娇嫩，牛羊正处在乳养的时候，他知道他们一天能行多少路；他深思熟虑之后，才安排他们的行程。而且这条旷野的路程，以前他也曾走过，何处崎岖、何处凶险、何处炎热、何处寒冷，他都经历过。所以他对他们说：“我要慢慢地领你们前行”，“因为这条路你们向来没有走过。”（约书亚记3:4）
前面的路程我们向来也没有走过，可是主耶稣曾走过；我们对前途真是茫然无知，可是主都经历过。这一程叫我们心慌意乱，那一程叫我们筋疲力尽，另一程叫我们干渴难忍，又一程叫我们喘不过气来——其实以前主都尝过、走过。圣经上说：“耶稣因走路困乏”（约翰福音4:6）。众水冲淹他，也不能熄灭他的爱情；他所经历的苦难，使他成为最好的牧者。“他知道我们的本体，思念我们不过是尘土”（诗篇103:14）。他每时每刻顾念我们，不让我们走一步过于我们力量的路。前面一程即或有些难行，但是尽可放心；因为他若不是加力量使我们得以安然过去，定是吩咐我们立即止步。——海弗格尔
I will move along slowly at the pace of the droves before me and that of the children. (Genesis 33:14)
What a beautiful picture of Jacob's thoughtfulness for the cattle and the children! He would not allow them to be driven too hard for even one day. He would not lead them at a pace equal to what a strong man like Esau could keep or expected them to keep, but only one as fast as they were able to endure. He knew exactly how far they could go in a day, and he made that his only consideration in planning their travel. He had taken the same wilderness journey years before and knew from personal experience its roughness, heat, and distance. And so he said, "I [will] move along slowly." "Since you have never been this way before" (Josh. 3:4).
We "have never been this way before," but the Lord Jesus has. It is all untraveled and unknown ground to us, but He knows it all through personal experience. He knows the steep places that take our breath away, the rocky paths that make our feet ache, the hot and shadeless stretches that bring us to exhaustion, and the rushing rivers that we have to cross-Jesus has gone through it all before us. As John 4:6 shows, "Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down." He was battered by every possible torrent, but all the floodwaters coming against Him never quenched His love. Jesus was made a perfect leader by the things He suffered. "He knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust" (Ps. 103:14). Think of that when you are tempted to question the gentleness of His leading. He remembers all the time and will never make you take even one step beyond what your feet are able to endure. Never mind if you think you are unable to take another step, for either He will strengthen you to make you able, or He will call a sudden halt, and you will not have to take it at all. Frances Ridley Havergal
信心的奥秘你们祷告祈求……只要信……（马可福音11:24）
如果有件事需要你专心的祷告，就该祷告直到你深信主必答应，直到你能发出衷心的赞美来感谢神的答应。如果神的答应一时还在中途，切勿重新求神答应，因为这表示你并不完全信任主。这种不信的祷告非但不能对你有所帮助，反能减少或动摇你的信心。也许神还将你放在一个等候的地位，你再去求告主，可是切记：必须带着信心。
不要反复祷告而失去信心。你可以告诉他，你仍然等着他、相信他，因此仍然赞美感谢他的答应。你能够先为着尚未来到的答应感谢赞美神，没有一件事比这更能坚固你的信心了。所以你要知道，祷告得失去了信心的祷告，是否认神在圣经上给我们的应许，也是否认神在我们心里已经给了一个肯定的答复。这种祷告不过表示我们的心没有安息，没有安息就是不信祷告会蒙答应。“但我们已经相信的人，得以进入那安息。”（希伯来书4:3）这种把我们自己祷告得失去了信心的祷告，常是因为我们的思想集中在难处上，过于在神的应许上。
神常在我们孤单的时候给我们应许，用恩典话语作为印记，盖在所给我们的约上，然后便暂时退去，以试验我们的信心；他又让那诱惑人的来试探我们，让我们的遭遇似乎与他所说的完全相反。这时候就是信心赢得冠冕的时候。这时候就该在黑云之下、波涛之中，发出胜利的欢呼来：“我信神他怎样对我说，事情也要怎样成就。”（使徒行传27:25）
Whatever you ask for in prayer, believe. (Mark 11:24)
When you are confronted with a matter that requires immediate prayer, pray until you believe God-until with wholehearted sincerity you can thank Him for the answer. If you do not see the external answer immediately, do not pray for it in such a way that it is evident you are not definitely believing God for it. This type of prayer will be a hindrance instead of a help to you. And when you are finished praying, you will find that your faith has been weakened or has entirely gone. It may not be wrong to mention the matter to the Lord again, if He is keeping you waiting for His answer, but be sure to do so in a way that shows your faith.
Never pray in a way that diminishes your faith. You may tell Him you are waiting, still believing and therefore praising Him for the answer. There is nothing that so fully solidifies faith as being so sure of the answer that you can thank God for it. Prayers that empty us of faith deny both God's promises from His Word and the "Yes" that He whispered to our hearts. Such prayers are only the expression of the unrest of our hearts, and unrest implies unbelief that our prayers will be answered. "Now we who have believed enter that rest" (Heb. 4:3). The type of prayer that empties us of faith frequently arises from focusing our thoughts on the difficulty rather than on God's promise.
God gives us His promises in a quiet hour, seals our covenants with great and gracious words, and then steps back, waiting to see how much we believe. He then allows the Tempter to come, and the ensuing test seems to contradict all that He has spoken. This is when faith wins its crown. This is the time to look up through the storm, and among the trembling, frightened sailors declare, "I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me" (Acts 27:25).
谁能负责耶和华啊，惟有你能帮助……（历代志下14:11）
让我们提醒神，叫他负完全的责任——“惟有你能帮助”。攻击亚撒的有古实王率领的士兵百万、战车三百，要抵挡似乎是不可能的。亚撒没有同盟军，所以他惟一的盼望是神。或许你也遭遇如此的难处，使你别无指望，而专一投靠全能的神。
亚撒的信心看见耶和华站在耀武扬威的谢拉和毫无力量的自己中间。他并没有弄错：古实人果然败在耶和华和他的军队面前，所以犹太人只要跟在后面收集战利品就可以了。我们的神是万军之耶和华，他能随时调遣援军来拯救他的子民。相信他站在你和你的难处中间，无论什么困难都要在他面前溃退，如云在疾风面前被吹散一般。——梅尔
亚伯拉罕信神，对眼见说：“退去！”对自然的定律说：“不要作声！”对疑惧的心说：“闭口，你这谎言的诱惑者！”他信神。——帕克
Then Asa ... said, "LORD, there is no one like you to help the powerless against the mighty." (2 Chronicles 14:11) Remind God of His exclusive responsibility:"There is no one like you to help. "The odds against Asa's men were enormous. "Zerah the Cushite marched out against them with a vast army and three hundred chariots" (v. 9). It seemed impossible for Asa to hold his own against that vast multitude. There were no allies who would come to his defense. Therefore his only hope was in God. It may be that your difficulties have come to such an alarming level that you may be compelled to refuse all human help.
Asa, realizing his lack of strength, saw Jehovah as standing between the might of Zerah and himself. And he was not mistaken. We are told that the Cushites "were crushed before the LORD and his forces" (v. 13). Then all Israel had to do was follow up and gather the plunder. Our God is "the Lord of hosts" (Isa. 10:16 KJV), who can summon unexpected reinforcements at any moment to help His people. Believe that He is between you and your difficulty, and what troubles you will flee before Him, as clouds in the wind. F. B. Meyer
"Abraham believed God" (Rom. 4:3), and said to his eyes, "Stand back!" and to the laws of nature, "Hold your peace!" and to an unbelieving heart, "Silence, you lying tempter!" He simply "believed God." Joseph Parker
从水中经过你从水中经过……水必不漫过你。（以赛亚书43:2）
如果我们尚未起步，神并不为我们开路；如果我们还不需要帮助，神并不给我们帮助；如果我们还没有碰到路上的拦阻，神并不为我们除去。可是一等到我们真有需要的时候，神的手就伸出来了。
许多神的儿女竟把这个原则忘了，终日挂虑未来的难处。他们盼望神先把前面几十里的路都铺平了，但神只肯照着他们的需要一步一步地开路。你必须从水中经过，然后才可求神实现他的应许。有许多人怕死，叹息自己并没有得到神在临终时所给的祝福。他们当然得不到，因为身体健康、正在作工的时候，离死期还远得很呢。他们没有这种需要。他们需要的是工作的恩典、生活的恩典；等到死期临到，才需要临终的恩典。——密勒
When you pass through the waters ... they will not sweep over you. (Isaiah 43:2) God does not open paths for us before we come to them, or provide help before help is needed. He does not remove obstacles out of our way before we reach them. Yet when we are at our point of need, God's hand is outstretched.
Many people forget this truth and continually worry about difficulties they envision in the future. They expect God to open and clear many miles of road before them, but He promises to do it step by step, only as their need arises. You must be in the floodwaters before you can claim God's promise. Many people dread death and are distressed that they do not have "dying grace. "Of course, they will never have the grace for death when they are in good health. Why should they have it while in the midst of life's duties, with death still far away? Living grace is what is needed for life's work and calling, and then dying grace when it is time to die. J. R. M.
我无论在什么景况都可以知足，这是我已经学会了。（腓立比书4:11）
保罗轻看了一切的福乐，在监狱中写了上面几句话。
有一个故事，讲到一个国王一天早晨到他的花园散步，他发现所有的花草树木都枯萎凋谢了，园中一片荒凉。国王非常诧异，就问园门口一棵橡树：它们中间究竟出了什么岔子。后来他才知道：橡树因为自怨没有松树那样高大挺拔，就生出厌世之心，不想活了；松树又自恨不能像葡萄藤那样多结果子；葡萄藤也将自尽，因为它终日匍匐在架上，不能直立，又不能像桃树那样开出美丽可爱的花朵；牵牛花也病倒了，因为自叹没有紫丁香那样芬芳。其余的植物都垂头丧气，自怨自艾。
只有一枝顶小的心安草，国王见它仍精神奕奕，茂盛成长，高兴极了，对它说：“心安草，我真欢喜。别的花木都悲观厌世，只有你这枝小草这样勇敢。你似乎一点都没有沮丧。”小草儿回答说：“王啊，我绝对没有，连一丝的灰心、一毫的失望也没有。我虽然算不得什么，但是我知道，如果你想要有一棵橡树，或者一棵松树，或者葡萄藤，或者桃树、牵牛花、紫丁香，你就会去种植。而我知道你要我作一枝小的心安草，所以我就心满意足地尽力作一枝小的心安草。”
I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. (Philippians 4:11) Paul, while being denied every comfort, wrote the above words from a dark prison cell.
A story is told of a king who went to his garden one morning, only to find everything withered and dying. He asked the oak tree that stood near the gate what the trouble was. The oak said it was tired of life and determined to die because it was not tall and beautiful like the pine tree. The pine was troubled because it could not bear grapes like the grapevine. The grapevine was determined to throw its life away because it could not stand erect and produce fruit as large as peaches. The geranium was fretting because it was not tall and fragrant like the lilac. And so it went throughout the garden.
Yet coming to a violet, the king found its face as bright and happy as ever and said, "Well, violet, I'm glad to find one brave little flower in the midst of this discouragement. You don't seem to be the least disheartened. "The violet responded, "No, I'm not. I know I'm small, yet I thought if you wanted an oak or a pine or a peach tree or even a lilac, you would have planted one. Since I knew you wanted a violet, I'm determined to be the best little violet I can be."
我也必叫时雨落下，必有福如甘霖而降。（以西结书34:26）
今天早晨你的光景如何？是不是一个枯燥的光景？那么你正需要时雨滋润了。是不是一个忧郁烦恼的光景？那么你正需要时雨调剂了。“你的日子如何，你的力量也必如何。”（申命记33:25）“必有福如甘霖而降”，“福”字在原文中是多数的，意思是神要降各种——不止一样的福。神一切的祝福连在一起，如一条金链一般。如果他给我们得救的恩典，他也要给我们得胜的恩典。恩典还要加上恩典，他的祝福真如甘霖一般。哦，枯萎的植物，张开你的叶子和花瓣，来接受从天上来的时雨吧。——司布真
多结果子的生命常寻求时雨。
I will send down showers in season; there will be showers of blessing. (Ezekiel 34:26)
What is your season today? Are you experiencing a season of drought? If so, then it is the season for showers. Are you going through a season of great heaviness with dark clouds? Then that too is the season for showers. "Your strength will equal your days" (Deut. 33:25). "I will send ... showers of blessing." Notice that the word "showers" is plural. God will send all kinds of blessings. And all His blessings go together like links in a golden chain. If He gives you saving grace, He will also give you comforting grace. God will send"showers of blessings". Look up today, you who are dried and withered plants. Open your leaves and flowers and receive God's heavenly watering. Charles H. Spurgeon
The fruitful life seeks rain as well as sunshine.
我想，现在的苦楚若比起将来要显于我们的荣耀，就不足介意了。（罗马书8:18）
我有一个天蛾的茧，结构非常奇异：一头是一条细管，一头是一个球形的囊，很像试验室中的细颈瓶。当蛾出茧的时候，它必须从球形囊爬过那条极细的管，然后才能展翅飞行在空中。它的身体这么肥大，那条管儿这么细小，人人都会稀奇：它怎样能够出来呢？
有一天，我恰巧看见那久囚的虫儿开始活动了。整个早晨，我守在旁边，看它努力奋斗、挣扎，可是还不能有丝毫进展。它似乎没有出来的希望了。最后，我的耐心破产了。我就想我比造物者更智慧、更慈爱，便决意要帮它的忙。我用小剪刀把茧上的丝剪薄了些，让它爬出来稍微容易一些。我正得意，看哪！蛾儿很容易地爬出来了，身体是反常的臃肿，翅膀是反常的短小。我守在旁边等它徐徐地伸展它的翅膀，显露它细巧精致的彩纹。岂知大失所望。可怜的虫儿，竟很痛苦地爬了一会儿，就不寿而终了。啊，我的“智慧”和“慈爱”害了它！
我把这事想了又想。许多时候我们看见人们在忧愁困苦和艰难中挣扎，便觉可怜，常愿意变更神的法则，照人的意思给他们帮助。啊，眼光短浅的人啊！我们怎么知道这些唏嘘和呻吟不是他们的必需呢？目光深远的、完全的爱，为要人们得益，不能不让他们经历目前暂时的苦楚。我们父神的爱正是如此。他因为爱他的儿女，所以才施管教，要使他们有份于他的圣洁。有了这样荣耀的目的，他才不顾他们的眼泪，使他的众儿女在患难中学习顺服，得以进入荣耀。
I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. (Romans 8:18) I once kept a bottle-shaped cocoon of an emperor moth for nearly one year. The cocoon was very strange in its construction. The neck of the "bottle" had a narrow opening through which the mature insect forces its way. Therefore the abandoned cocoon is as perfect as one still inhabited, with no tearing of the interwoven fibers having taken place. The great disparity between the size of the opening and the size of the imprisoned insect makes a person wonder how the moth ever exits at all.
I happened to witness the first efforts of my imprisoned moth to escape from its long confinement. All morning I watched it patiently striving and struggling to be free. It never seemed able to get beyond a certain point, and at last my patience was exhausted. In any case, I thought I was wiser and more compassionate than its Maker, so I resolved to give it a helping hand. With the point of my scissors, I snipped the confining threads to make the exit just a little easier. Immediately and with perfect ease, my moth crawled out, dragging a huge swollen body and little shriveled wings! I watched in vain to see the marvelous process of expansion in which these wings would silently and swiftly develop before my eyes. As I examined the delicately beautiful spots and markings of various colors that were all there in miniature, I longed to see them assume their ultimate size. I looked for my moth, one of the loveliest of its kind, to appear in all its perfect beauty. But I looked in vain. My misplaced tenderness had proved to be its ruin. The moth suffered an aborted life, crawling painfully through its brief existence instead of flying through the air on rainbow wings.
I have thought of my moth often, especially when watching with tearful eyes those who were struggling with sorrow, suffering, and distress. My tendency would be to quickly alleviate the discipline and bring deliverance. O shortsighted person that I am! How do I know that one of these pains or groans should be relieved? The farsighted, perfect love that seeks the perfection of its object does not weakly shrink away from present, momentary suffering. Our Father's love is too steadfast to be weak. Because He loves His children, He "disciplines us ... that we may share in his holiness" (Heb. 12:10). With this glorious purpose in sight, He does not relieve our crying. Made perfect through suffering, as our Elder Brother was, we children of God are disciplined to make us obedient, and brought to glory through much tribulation.
敞开的门圣灵……禁止他们在亚细亚讲道。（使徒行传16:6）研究圣经中圣灵怎样引导使徒传道，是很有趣味的事。他的引导大半是禁止。保罗和西拉想向西到亚细亚去，圣灵禁止了他们；他们想向东到庇推尼去，圣灵又禁止了他们。我们知道，保罗后来在那里兴起他生平最大的工作；可是目前圣灵在那里还未替他开传道之门。亚波罗必须在那里先做开垦的工作。况且当时别的地方更需要他们去工作；他们也必须受更深的造就，然后才能到亚细亚和庇推尼一带去建立神的教会。
亲爱的，当你茫然不知该走哪条路的时候，你就该完全让圣灵引导，求他封闭一切岔道，惟独留下一条正路。你该说：“神啊，我把选择的责任完全交托给你，求你封闭岔道，使我的脚步不偏左不偏右。”
同时，在没有清楚圣灵的指引之先，你应当继续站在你原来的路上。旅客哪，耶稣的灵今日等着要启示你，好似他当日启示保罗一样。你只须小心顺服，连一个顶小的禁止也须顺服；信心的祷告之后，如果圣灵没有拦阻，你只管放胆前进。可是你不要惊奇，圣灵的答应可能是禁止。若左右的路是关闭的，只有一条通路，很清楚，那条路就是通往特罗亚的。在那里有路加等着，在那里有“敞开的门”和机会，在那里也有忠心的朋友要接待你。——梅尔
Paul and his companions ...[were] kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia. (Acts 16:6) It is interesting to study the way God extended His guidance to these early messengers of the Cross. It consisted mainly in prohibiting their movement when they attempted to take a course other than the right one. When they wanted to turn to the left, toward Asia, He stopped them. When they sought to turn to the right, toward Bithynia in Asia Minor, He stopped them again. In his later years, Paul would do some of his greatest work in that very region, yet now the door was closed before him by the Holy Spirit. Apollos needed to go there first to lay the groundwork. Paul and Barnabas were needed more urgently elsewhere and required further training before undertaking this responsible task.
Beloved, whenever you are in doubt as to which way to turn, submit your judgment absolutely to the Spirit of God, asking Him to shut every door but the right one. Say to Him, "Blessed Spirit, I give to You the entire responsibility of closing every road and stopping every step that is not of God. Let me hear Your voice behind me whenever I 'turn aside to the right or to the left' [Deut. 5:32]."
In the meantime, continue along the path you have already been traveling. Persist in your calling until you are clearly told to do something else. O traveler, the Spirit of Jesus is waiting to be to you what He was to Paul. Just be careful to obey even His smallest nudging or warning. Then after you have prayed the prayer of faith and there are no apparent hindrances, go forward with a confident heart. Do not be surprised if your answer comes in doors closing before you. But when doors are shut to the right and left, an open road is sure to lead to Troas. Luke waits for you there, and visions will point the way to where vast opportunities remain open, and faithful friends are waiting. F. B. Meyer
你们的神说：“你们要安慰、安慰我的百姓。”（以赛亚书40:1）先知以赛亚所负的使命，是做安慰使者。世上充满了需要安慰的人，而要安慰别人，你自己必须先受过训练，否则难以胜任。这种训练的代价极大，因为你必须亲身尝过那种使人流泪流血的苦楚。这样，你自己的生活就会变成一间病房，在那里你可以学习安慰的艺术。你自己必须先受伤，当那位大医师替你洗涤、消毒、抹膏、包扎伤口的时候，你就可以学到救护的方法。你是不是正在稀奇，为什么你正在经受一阵特别的愁苦？或许等到十年以后，你才会明白。那时候，你会遇见许多人遭受你从前所尝过的痛苦。你可以见证你从前怎样和他们同病，怎样得着医治；把病情说明了，照着神从前包扎你的方法，为他们敷上一点止痛油。那时候，你会明白为什么你从前受那许多的苦楚，你也会感谢神给你的训练和替你预先储蓄在你生命中的经历。
神安慰我们，不是要我们享受安慰，乃是要我们做安慰使者。——乔怀德
Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. (Isaiah 40:1) Store up comfort. This was the prophet Isaiah's mission. The world is full of hurting and comfortless hearts. But before you will be competent for this lofty ministry, you must be trained. And your training is extremely costly, for to make it complete, you too must endure the same afflictions that are wringing countless hearts of tears and blood. Consequently, your own life becomes the hospital ward where you are taught the divine art of comfort. You will be wounded so that in the binding up of your wounds by the Great Physician, you may learn how to render first aid to the wounded everywhere. Do you wonder why you are having to experience some great sorrow? Over the next ten years you will find many others afflicted in the same way. You will tell them how you suffered and were comforted. As the story unfolds, God will apply the anesthetic He once used on you to them. Then in the eager look followed by the gleam of hope that chases the shadow of despair from the soul, you will know why you were afflicted. And you will bless God for the discipline that filled your life with such a treasure of experience and helpfulness.
God comforts us not to make us comfortable but to make us comforters. John Henry Jowett
无论何时你们看见你们自己被各样试炼围困了，都要以为大喜乐。因为知道你们信心经过试验，就生忍耐。（雅各书1:2-3，卫莫司译本）
神常围困他自己的儿女，为着要训练他们；可是人总错看他的围困，误会他的作为。约伯就是这样，他说：“人的道路既然遮隐，神又把他四面围困，为何有光赐给他呢？”（约伯记3:23）
啊，神的儿女们！试炼虽然围困我们，但仍留有许多缝隙，可以让光透进来。荆棘不会来刺你，除非你靠着它，并且那些伤害你的话语、使你痛心的来信、亲朋的弃绝、经济的困窘……神都知道。如果你敢完全信靠他，他必同情你，并且负你一切的责任。
Reckon it nothing but joy ... whenever you find yourself hedged in by the various trials, be assured that the testing of your faith leads to power of endurance. (James 1:2-3 WEYMOUTH) God hedges in His own in order to protect them. Yet often they only see the wrong side of the hedge and therefore misunderstand His actions. And so it was with Job when he asked, "Why is life given to a man whose way is hidden, whom God has hedged in?" (Job 3:23) Onto the pages of every trial there are narrow shafts of light that shine. Thorns will not prick you until you lean against them, and not one will touch you without God knowing. The words that hurt you, the letter that caused you pain, the cruelty of your closest friend, your financial need-they are all known to Him. He sympathizes as no one else can and watches to see if through it all, you will dare to trust Him completely.
靠着爱我们的主，在这一切的事上已经得胜有余了。（罗马书8:37）得胜有余！得胜有余并不是仅仅得胜，乃是得胜到一个地步，非但不输，而且还攻陷敌阵、掳掠战利品。
我们如何可以“得胜有余”呢？“得胜有余”必须在一个受试炼、逼迫的处境中方能经历。试炼都是绝对必需的，它可以使我们的灵命坚固。这好比瓷器上的釉彩，必须经过高温，才能永久保持鲜丽；也像山岭上的香柏树，必须经过疾风的摇撼，才会扎根更深。我们所遭遇的属灵战争，实在是一种变相的祝福。我们的大仇敌撒但，原是被利用来训练我们，为要我们得最后胜利的。我们每胜过一次试炼，属灵的力量必然倍增。因此，以后我们不只能胜过仇敌，而且还能掳掠它们，使它们替我们争战，正好像聪明的水手能利用逆风来推动前进一样。所以在我们的属灵生命中，许多不利的逆境，因着那加给我们恩典和力量的主，都成为使我们进入更深、更完全的机会。
In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. (Romans 8:37) This is more than victory. This is a triumph so complete that we not only have escaped defeat and destruction but also have destroyed our enemies and won plunder so rich and valuable that we can actually thank God for the battle.
How can we be "more than conquerors"? We can receive from the conflict a spiritual discipline that will greatly strengthen our faith and establish our spiritual character. Temptation is necessary to establish and ground us in our spiritual life. It is like the fierce winds that cause the mighty cedars on the mountainside to sink their roots more deeply into the soil. Our spiritual conflicts are among our most wonderful blessings, and the Adversary is used to train us for his own ultimate defeat. And in truth, meeting temptation victoriously doubles our spiritual strength and weaponry. Therefore it is possible not only to defeat our enemy but also to capture him and make him fight in our ranks. Just as a skilled sailor can use a head wind to carry him forward, by using its impelling power to follow a zigzag course, it is possible for us in our spiritual life, through the victorious grace of God, to turn completely around the things that seem most unfriendly and unfavorable.
既放出自己的羊来，就在前头走，羊也跟着他，因为认得他的声音。（约翰福音10:4）主把自己的羊放出来。虽然羊走路很辛苦，然而必须如此。一直赖在又暖和又舒适的羊圈中，并不是真幸福。他必须把羊放出来，让它们吃草喝水，呼吸新鲜的空气，欣赏美丽的风景。
鼓起勇气吧，让我们不再留恋那舒适的羊圈！如果是他指挥我们出来，如果是我们的主亲手放我们出来，那就绝不会错误的。起来吧，奉他的名，向着青草地和可安歇的水边迈步吧！放胆吧，因为他“在前头走”，无论什么危险，必须先经过他。信心的眼睛能看见前面领路的好牧人；如果看不见他，自己乱窜，可就危险。安心吧，主叫我们走的路，他自己都走过了；他不会叫我们走一步我们不能走的路。
这才是一个有福的生命：不挂虑明天，不自己选择路程，不把理想的重担压在背上，只是静静地一步一步紧跟着牧人。
在野地里，牧童总是走在羊群前头的。有什么危险的事情发生，必定先临到他，因为他在羊群前头。现在，神也在我们前头。明天常使我们挂虑，但主已经走在我们明天的路上。我们一生的明天，都必须先经过他，然后才临到我们。——梅尔
When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them. (John 10:4) This is intensely difficult work for Him and us-it is difficult for us to go, but equally difficult for Him to cause us pain. Yet it must be done. It would not be in our best interest to always remain in one happy and comfortable location. Therefore He moves us forward. The shepherd leaves the fold so the sheep will move on to the vitalizing mountain slopes. In the same way, laborers must be driven out into the harvest, or else the golden grain would spoil.
But take heart! It could never be better to stay once He determines otherwise; if the loving hand of our Lord moves us forward, it must be best. Forward, in His name, to green pastures, quiet waters, and mountain heights! (See Ps. 23:2.) "He goes on ahead of [us]." So whatever awaits us is encountered first by Him, and the eye of faith can always discern His majestic presence out in front. When His presence cannot be seen, it is dangerous to move ahead. Comfort your heart with the fact that the Savior has Himself experienced all the trials He asks you to endure; He would not ask you to pass through them unless He was sure that the paths were not too difficult or strenuous for you.
This is the blessed life-not anxious to see far down the road nor overly concerned about the next step, not eager to choose the path nor weighted down with the heavy responsibilities of the future, but quietly following the Shepherd, one step at a time.
The oriental shepherd always walked ahead of his sheep. He was always out in front. Any attack upon the sheep had to take him into account first. Now God is out in front. He is in our tomorrows, and it is tomorrow that fills people with fear. Yet God is already there. All the tomorrows of our life have to pass through Him before they can get to us. F. B. Meyer
当夜耶和华向他显现……（创世记26:24）
以撒上别示巴去，当夜耶和华向他显现。你想这个显现是偶然的吗？你想“当夜”也是碰巧的吗？你想神尽可以在另一夜显现吗？如果你这么想，你是绝对错误了。为什么不迟不早，正好是以撒到别示巴的那一夜，神向他显现呢？因为那一夜以撒进入了安息。在原有之地，他为了几口井与人起了几次的争闹，心头纷乱，十分痛苦。虽然争闹过去了，可是难保那地的居民以后不来找他的麻烦。因此他决意迁移，离开那是非之地，上别示巴去，另换一个环境。那里他把所有的争闹抛卸了，他得了安息。当夜耶和华向他显现。神的启示只临到灵里没有风波的人。以撒在灵的安息里听见神的话语。那安静的夜也就是多星的夜。
我的心哪，你可记得：“你们要镇静，并要知道……”（诗篇46:10）？你心里纷乱的时候，不能听见神对你祷告的答应。多少时候，我们祷告了许久，还是没有得到神的答应，都因为内心有雷轰、电闪、地震、风波。可是当你的心平静下来，进入安息，神的答应就来了。哦，我的心哪，你必须安息，不要为了争闹、纷乱、挂虑而烦躁。那么，当夜耶和华会向你显现。洪水退落以后，虹霓就现出来。照样，当你镇静的时候，也会听见神的声音。——马德胜
That night the LORD appeared to [Isaac]. (Genesis 26:24) It was the same night Isaac went to Beersheba. Do you think this revelation from God was an accident? Do you think the time of it was an accident? Do you believe it could have happened any other night as well as this one? If so, you are grievously mistaken. Why did it come to Isaac the night he reached Beersheba? Because that was the night he reached rest. In his old land he had been tormented. There had been a whole series of petty quarrels over the ownership of insignificant wells. There is nothing like little worries, particularly when there are many of them. Because of these little worries, even after the strife was over, the place held bad memories for Isaac. Therefore he was determined to leave and seek a change of scenery. He pitched his tent far away from the place of his former strife. That very night the revelation came. God spoke to him when there was no inner storm. He could not speak to Isaac when his mind was troubled. God's voice demands the silence of the soul. Only in the quiet of the spirit could Isaac hear the garments of his God brush by him. His still night became his shining night.
My soul, have you pondered these words: "Be still, and know" (Ps. 46:10)? In the hour of distress, you cannot hear the answer to your prayers. How often has the answer seemed to come much later! The heart heard no reply during the moment of its crying, its thunder, its earthquake, and its fire. But once the crying stopped, once the stillness came, once your hand refrained from knocking on the iron gate, and once concern for other lives broke through the tragedy of your own life, the long awaited reply appeared. You must rest, O soul, to receive your heart's desire. Slow the beating of your heart over concerns for your personal care. Place the storm of your individual troubles on God's altar of everyday trials, and the same night, the Lord will appear to you. His rainbow will extend across the subsiding flood, and in your stillness you will hear the everlasting music. George Matheson
忽然起了暴风……（马可福音4:37）
在我们的生活中，有许多风暴都是突然之间起的：忧患、失望、失败、病痛等等。也有许多风雨是渐渐而来的，起初只有巴掌那么大的一点，后来渐渐构成威胁。
这些风暴都是神所许可的，为要我们得益处。神栽种橡树，使它在风雨中飘摇，为的是使它根深、干高，成为林中之王。
照样，神所选用的人才，也要被放在风雨之中，过着风吹雨打的生活。世上许多做出大事业的伟人，都是经历过艰难痛苦的。神国中的伟人，也是如此。如果神要用一个人，他必定会先答应了这人奉献的祷告：“主啊，拿我，劈我，用我。”
然而风雨一过，自然的美就显得更完全了。天空中挂着彩色的虹，草叶上镶着闪光的珠子。照样，风雨之后，信徒穿上圣洁的衣裳，脸上带着属天的光彩。亲爱的，你经历过神所预备的风暴吗？你愿意免却一时的痛苦，从风暴中逃离呢？还是让风暴抬你到更高、更丰盛的生命中去？
A furious squall came up. (Mark 4:37) Some of life's storms-a great sorrow, a bitter disappointment, a crushing defeat-suddenly come upon us. Others may come slowly, appearing on the uneven edge of the horizon no larger than a person's hand. But trouble that seems so insignificant spreads until it covers the sky and overwhelms us.
Yet it is in the storm that God equips us for service. When God wants an oak tree, He plants it where the storms will shake it and the rains will beat down upon it. It is in the midnight battle with the elements that the oak develops its rugged fiber and becomes the king of the forest.
When God wants to make a person, He puts him into some storm. The history of humankind has always been rough and rugged. No one is complete until he has been out into the surge of the storm and has found the glorious fulfillment of the prayer: "O God, take me, break me, make me."
The beauties of nature come after the storm. The rugged beauty of the mountain is born in a storm, and the heroes of life are the storm-swept and battle-scarred. You have been in the storms and swept by the raging winds. Have they left you broken, weary, and beaten in the valley, or have they lifted you to the sunlit summits of a richer, deeper, more abiding manhood or womanhood?
神的仆人但以理啊，你所常事奉的神能救你……（但以理书6:20）
我们知道圣经上记着神是活的神；然而在日常生活中，我们最会忘记的，乃是神是活的神。因为他是活的神，他在三四千年以前怎样，现在还是怎样；他以前是全能的，现在还是；以前有慈爱怜悯，如今对于那些爱他、事奉他的人仍有慈爱怜悯；他是永不改变的。所以我们该完全信靠他，在最黑暗的时候，仍不忘却这个事实——他仍是、永是活的神！
如果你与神同行，仰望他给你随时的帮助，保险不会误你的事。一位信主已经44年的弟兄见证说：神从来没有耽误过我。在极大的艰难、极重的试炼、极深的穷困和需要中，神从来没有误过我的事；因为我靠着他的恩典相信他，他总随时给我帮助。我乐意述说他的名！——莫勒
马丁·路德有一次觉得前途危机四伏，因此心中充满了忧愁恐惧。这时，他知道必须抓住神的力量才能过去。他独自坐着，用手指在桌面上划这几个字：“他是永活的！他是永活的！”他喜乐了，恢复了。
“他是永活的”，也是我们的力量和盼望。今天世上的伟人、领袖、科学家、哲学家等等，只能发光一时，不久就过去了；但神是真光、众光之源，是永远常存的。——马克拉伦
Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to rescue you? (Daniel 6:20) We find the expression "the living God" many times in the Scriptures, and yet it is the very thing we are so prone to forget. We know it is written "the living God," but in our daily life there is almost nothing we lose sight of as often as the fact that God is the living God. We forget that He is now exactly what He was three or four thousand years ago, that He has the same sovereign power, and that He extends the same gracious love toward those who love and serve Him. We overlook the fact that He will do for us now what He did thousands of years ago for others, simply because He is the unchanging, living God. What a great reason to confide in Him, and in our darkest moments to never lose sight of the fact that He is still, and ever will be, the living God!
Be assured, if you walk with Him, look to Him, and expect help from Him, He will never fail you. An older believer who has known the Lord for forty-four years wrote the following as an encouragement to you:"God has never failed me. Even in my greatest difficulties, heaviest trials, and deepest poverty and need, He has never failed me. Because I was enabled by God's grace to trust Him, He has always come to my aid. I delight in speaking well of His name." George Mueller
Martin Luther, deep in thought and needing to grasp hidden strength during a time of danger and fear in his life, was seen tracing on the table with his finger the words, "He lives! He lives!" This is our hope for ourselves, His truth, and humankind. People come and go. Leaders, teachers, and philosophers speak and work for a season and then fall silent and powerless. He abides. They die but He lives. They are lights that glow yet are ultimately extinguished. But He is the true Light from which they draw their brightness, and He shines forevermore. Alexander Maclaren
感谢神！常率领我们在基督里夸胜。（哥林多后书2:14）
在人显著的失败中，神得着最完全的胜利。许多时候，仇敌似乎得胜了，神也容让它得胜；但到头来神终究铲除它所有的作为，彻底将它摧垮，正如圣经所说：“使恶人的道路颠倒”（诗篇146:9，直译）。如果神不让仇敌先得势，就不能给我们一个更大、更可夸的得胜。
三个希伯来青年被掷入火窑的故事，就是一个很好的例子。看起来，永活神的仆人似乎将陷入一败涂地的光景中了（许多时候，我们也有这样失败的光景，仇敌真是欢喜）。他们陷在火焰中，仇敌盼望看到他们在可怕的火焰中顷刻化成飞灰，万想不到他们竟在火窑中游行自如。这真使仇敌吃惊不已！尼布甲尼撒王叫他们从火中出来，他们头发没有烧焦，衣裳没有变色，也没有火燎的气味，“因为没有别神能这样施行拯救”（但以理书3:29）。
显著的失败结果，反是稀奇的胜利。
假定这三个希伯来青年失去了信心和勇气，在受困之时埋怨神说：“为什么不救我们脱离火窑呢？”他们定会被烧死，神也得不着荣耀了。今天在你的生活中，若正有一个极大的试炼，不要气馁、自认失败，仍要继续用信心借着那能使你得胜有余的主宣告胜利，荣耀的胜利立刻就要来了。我们应当知道：在一切神应许我们进入的艰难中，神在替我们制造机会，使我们在他里面学习信心的功课，借着主基督夸胜，大大荣耀他自己的名。
Thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ. (2 Corinthians 2:14)
God wins His greatest victories through apparent defeats. Very often the enemy seems to triumph for a season, and God allows it. But then He comes in and upsets the work of the enemy, overthrows the apparent victory, and as the Bible says, "frustrates the ways of the wicked" (Ps. 146:9). Consequently, He gives us a much greater victory than we would have known had He not allowed the enemy seemingly to triumph in the first place.
The story of the three Hebrew young men who were thrown into the fiery furnace is a familiar one. It looked as if the servants of the living God were going to suffer a terrible defeat. We have all been in situations where it seemed as though we were defeated, and the enemy rejoiced. They were thrown into the terrible flames while their enemies watched to see them burn. Yet the enemy was greatly astonished to see them walking around in the fire, enjoying themselves. Then King Nebuchadnezzar told them to come out of the fire. The enemy "crowded around them. They saw that the fire had not harmed their bodies, nor was a hair of their heads singed; their robes were not scorched, and there was no smell of fire on them ... for no other god can save in this way" (Dan. 3:27, 29).
This apparent defeat resulted in a miraculous victory.
Suppose these three men had lost their faith and courage and had complained, saying, "Why didn't God keep us out of the furnace!" They would have been burned, and God would not have been glorified. If there is a great trial in your life today, do not acknowledge it as a defeat. Instead, continue by faith to claim the victory through Him who is able to make you "more than conquerors" (Rom. 8:37), and a glorious victory will soon be apparent. May we learn that in all the difficult places God takes us, He is giving us opportunities to exercise our faith in Him that will bring about blessed results and greatly glorify His name.
常常祷告，不可灰心。（路加福音18:1）他墨兰常喜欢向他的朋友述说自己早年的轶事：“有一次我被仇敌追逼，不得已藏匿在一所破屋中，那时万念俱灰，再也没有志气和勇气继续前面的事业了。在绝望中，我看见一只小小的蚂蚁，拖着一粒比自己身体大数倍的谷粒，努力向墙上爬去。它多次跌下来，但每一次仍旧努力向上。我曾数过它跌下来了六十九次，可是它并不气馁，第七十次它到达了高墙的顶上。那时我重新振奋，我终身不能遗忘这个教训。”
我们如果看以前许多祷告都得不着答应，就因此灰心，我告诉你，那就不是信心的祷告了。信心的祷告看以前没有得到答应的祷告是一种鼓励、一种证据，暗示神的答应更近了，就在前面了。从起初到末了，主的教训和榜样都告诉我们：应当常常祷告，不可灰心。恳求的祷告若是没有得到答应，就该继续恳切地求，直等到神给你应许或是成就。如果神已经听了你的祷告，更应该感谢赞美，不可忘记主恩。——亚塞
大钢琴家鲁宾斯坦曾说：“如果我一天不练习，我自己会觉得；如果两天不练习，我的朋友会觉得；如果三天不练习，人人都会觉得。”我们的祷告也是如此。
Then Jesus told his disciples ... that they should always pray and not give up. (Luke 18:1) "Observe the ant," the great Oriental conqueror Tamerlane told his friends. In relating a story from his early life, he said, "I once was forced to take shelter from my enemies in a dilapidated building, where I sat alone for many hours. Wishing to divert my mind from my hopeless situation, I fixed my eyes on an ant carrying a kernel of corn larger than itself up a high wall. I counted its attempts to accomplish this feat. The corn fell sixty-nine times to the ground, but the insect persevered. The seventieth time it reached the top. The ant's accomplishment gave me courage for the moment, and I never forgot the lesson."
Prayer that uses previously unanswered prayers as an excuse for laziness has already ceased to be a prayer of faith. To someone who prays in faith, unanswered prayers are simply the evidence that the answer is much closer. From beginning to end, our Lord's lessons and examples teach us that prayer that is not steadfast and persistent, nor revived and refreshed, and does not gather strength from previous prayers is not the prayer that will triumph. William Arthur
Arthur Rubinstein, the great pianist, once said, "If I neglect practicing one day, I notice; two days, my friends notice; three days, the public notices." It is the old principle "Practice makes perfect." We must continue believing, praying, and doing His will.
忧愁之犁忧愁强如喜笑，因为面带愁容，终必使心喜乐。（传道书7:3）在神的恩典下，有时也有忧愁临到我们，使我们的生命得益，带领我们进入更深沉、更丰富的生命。终日嘻嘻哈哈的人，常流于轻浮浅薄。忧愁是神的犁头，掘到土的深处，使田地多结果子。如果我们从来没有堕落过，我们就不需要忧愁，只需要属天的喜乐鼓励我们进入更深；可是我们曾堕落过，就需要忧愁带领我们省察、痛悔、认识自己。所以忧愁常使我们多思索、多体察。
忧愁也使我们不急躁，认准动机和目标。
凡是被神大用的人，都经受过忧愁。因为神若不将他擘开，就不能用他。约瑟比雅各其余的儿子忧愁更多，神用他拯救以色列全家和整个民族。因此经上说：“约瑟是多结果子的树枝，是泉旁多结果的枝子，他的枝条探出墙外。”（创世记49:22）神常利用忧愁去训练他的仆人。
我们能够说：“夜是有福的，因为夜里有星。”照样，我们也能够说：“忧愁是有福的，因为忧愁里面有神的安慰。”——崔伦保
Sorrow is better than laughter, because a sad face is good for the heart. (Ecclesiastes 7:3) Sorrow, under the power of divine grace, performs various ministries in our lives. Sorrow reveals unknown depths of the soul, and unknown capacities for suffering and service. Lighthearted, frivolous people are always shallow and are never aware of their own meagerness or lack of depth. Sorrow is God's tool to plow the depths of the soul, that it may yield richer harvests. If humankind were still in a glorified state, having never fallen, then the strong floods of divine joy would be the force God would use to reveal our souls'capacities. But in a fallen world, sorrow, yet with despair removed, is the power chosen to reveal us to ourselves. Accordingly, it is sorrow that causes us to take the time to think deeply and seriously.
Sorrow makes us move more slowly and considerately and examine our motives and attitudes.
God never uses anyone to a great degree until He breaks the person completely. Joseph experienced more sorrow than the other sons of Jacob, and it led him into a ministry of food for all the nations. For this reason, the Holy Spirit said of him, "Joseph is a fruitful vine ... near a spring, whose branches climb over a wall" (Gen. 49:22). It takes sorrow to expand and deepen the soul.
In the same way we say, "Blessed is the night, for it reveals the stars to us, "we can say, "Blessed is sorrow, for it reveals God's comfort." Henry Clay Trumbull
伤心之后有捆锁与患难等待我，我却不以……为念。（使徒行传20:24）我们在撒母耳记里面看见：当大卫在希伯仑受膏作王的时候，“非利士众人就上来寻索大卫”（撒母耳记下5:17）。照样，我们在神前受宠蒙恩的时候，仇敌撒但不甘心，就上来寻索我们，前来拦阻我们，向我们捣乱。
患难是胜利的捷径。山路之后，就是大路。一切伟大的事业上面，都有患难的印迹。发光的金链，必须经过火烧、锤炼。没有一个人配算为得胜者，除非他历尽苦楚。额上有刺痕的忧患之子说：“在世上你们有苦难”——可是在这伤心的一句之后，就来了一句应许：“但你们可以放心，我已经胜了世界”（约翰福音16:33）。主在世上留下的脚踪，原是叫我们跟随他的。那带血的脚步，是将我们引向宝座的；冠冕必须花力气得来。这些都是公开的秘密。
每一部伟大的著作都是作者心血的结晶。希腊著名的大诗人荷马是一个盲人；写那部不朽之作《天路历程》的，不是一个穿紫袍、享安乐的王子，乃是贝德福监狱中的囚徒约翰·班扬。
I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me. (Acts 20:24) We read in 2 Samuel 5:17, "When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over Israel, they went up in full force to search for him. "The moment we receive anything from the Lord worth fighting for, the Devil comes seeking to destroy us.
Tribulation is the door to triumph. The valley leads to the open highway, and tribulation's imprint is on every great accomplishment. The chains of character found at the feet of God are forged in earthly flames. No one wins the greatest victory until he has walked the winepress of woe. With deep furrows of anguish on His brow, the "man of sorrows" (Isa. 53:3) said, "In this world you will have trouble" (John 16:33). But immediately comes the psalm of promise, "Take heart! I have overcome the world." The footprints are visible everywhere. The steps that lead to thrones are stained with spattered blood. We will wrestle our crowns from the giants we conquer. It is no secret that grief has always fallen to people of greatness.
Every great book has been written with the author's blood. In spite of his blindness, wasn't Homer the unparalleled poet of the Greeks? And who wrote the timeless dream of Pilgrim's Progress? Was it a prince in royal robes seated on a couch of comfort and ease? No! The lingering splendor of John Bunyan's vision gilded the dingy walls of an old English jail in Bedford.
休止符退到野地里去。（马太福音14:13）乐谱中有一种符号叫做休止符。当音乐奏到休止符时，声音顿时停止一刹那，而这往往是音乐最精彩之处。我们的一生也如音乐一般，时时有休止符，可是我们却愚昧地以为这是穷途末路，一生就完毕于此。神常叫失败、病痛、挫折临到我们，我们就悲哀失望，以为我们的人生音乐从此不能再弹奏了。可是让我们看看，音乐家如何对付休止符呢？他照常打拍子，在休止符之后，乐声又起，一如从未间断过。
神编就我们一生的音乐，并非没有计划。我们只管按谱奏乐，不必怕遇见休止符。它们是不能删去的，因为一删去就会破坏音乐的精彩。我们音乐的指挥——神——他自己正在为我们打拍子，我们的本分只是按照他的指导奏乐。奏到休止符的时候，虽然乐音戛然而止，可是请记得：音乐的精彩处往往在此。过了那一间歇，乐音就要重新奏起。让我们学习这功课。——罗斯金
He withdrew ... to a solitary place. (Matthew 14:13) There is no music during a musical rest, but the rest is part of the making of the music. In the melody of our life, the music is separated here and there by rests. During those rests, we foolishly believe we have come to the end of the song. God sends us times of forced leisure by allowing sickness, disappointed plans, and frustrated efforts. He brings a sudden pause in the choral hymn of our lives, and we lament that our voices must be silent. We grieve that our part is missing in the music that continually rises to the ear of our Creator. Yet how does a musician read the rest? He counts the break with unwavering precision and plays his next note with confidence, as if no pause were ever there.
God does not write the music of our lives without a plan. Our part is to learn the tune and not be discouraged during the rests. They are not to be slurred over or omitted, nor used to destroy the melody or to change the key. If we will only look up, God Himself will count the time for us. With our eyes on Him, our next note will be full and clear. If we sorrowfully say to ourselves, "There is no music in a rest," let us not forget that the rest is part of the making of the music. The process is often slow and painful in this life, yet how patiently God works to teach us! And how long He waits for us to learn the lesson! John Ruskin
隐藏的帮助耶和华啊，你为什么站在远处？（诗篇10:1）神虽然是我们“在患难中随时的帮助”（诗篇46:1），但是他常常一面许可患难追逼我们，一面自己站在远处隐藏起来，好像避开我们一般。这样，好叫我们自己努力所得的帮助告一结束，而看见从患难中能得到无限的教训和益处，让我们深信那许可患难临到我们的神是和我们一同在患难中。也许要等到试炼过去以后，我们才得见他的面；可是我们敢相信他从来没有离开过我们。在黑暗中我们的眼睛似是瞎了，不能看见我们大祭司的踪影，但他终究和我们同在。这让我们不靠感觉，不凭眼见，惟独根据他的信实来信赖他。虽然我们看不见他，但让我们和他说话。我们一开始和他说话，就会得到他答应的声音，这就证明在黑暗中他始终眷顾我们。无论我们在黑暗的通道中，还是在光明的天路上，父神都在我们身边。
Why, O LORD, do you stand far off? (Psalm 10:1) "God is ... an ever-present help in trouble" (Ps. 46:1). But He allows trouble to pursue us, as though He were indifferent to its overwhelming pressure, so we may be brought to the end of ourselves. Through the trial, we are led to discover the treasure of darkness and the immeasurable wealth of tribulation. We may be sure that He who allows the suffering is with us throughout it. It may be that we will only see Him once the ordeal is nearly passed, but we must dare to believe that He never leaves our trial. Our eyes are blinded so we cannot see the One our soul loves. The darkness and our bandages blind us so that we cannot see the form of our High Priest. Yet He is there and is deeply touched. Let us not rely on our feelings but trust in His unswerving faithfulness. And though we cannot see Him, let us talk to Him. Although His presence is veiled, once we begin to speak to Jesus as if He were literally present, an answering voice comes to show us He is in the shadow, keeping watch over His own. Your Father is as close to you when you journey through the darkest tunnel as He is when you are under the open heaven!
橄榄叶的记号但……鸽子找不着落脚之地，就回到……挪亚那里……到了晚上，鸽子回到他那里，嘴里叼着一个……橄榄叶子。（创世记8:9-11）神知道什么时候不该给我们眼见的凭据，什么时候该给我们眼见的凭据。我们若能完全信靠他，这是何等美好的一件事呢！当所有眼见的凭据都收回了的时候，是最美好的时候，因为神的美好旨意是要我们承认：他的话语、他的应许、他的恩约，比我们眼见的一切凭据更实在、更可靠。神若给我们眼见的凭据，也好，也是宝贵的。那些只信神的话而不用其他凭据的人们，倒常得到许多眼见的凭据。——崔伦保
暂缓不是拒绝；许多祷告上批着：“我的时候还没有到。”神有规定的旨意，也有规定的时间。
But the dove could find no place to set its feet ... so it returned to Noah in the ark... He waited seven more days and again sent out the dove from the ark. When the dove returned to him in the evening, there in its beak was a freshly plucked olive leaf! (Genesis 8:9-11) God knows exactly when to withhold or to grant us any visible sign of encouragement. How wonderful it is when we will trust Him in either case! Yet it is better when all visible evidence that He is remembering us is withheld. He wants us to realize that His Word-His promise of remembering us-is more real and dependable than any evidence our senses may reveal. It is good when He sends the visible evidence, but we appreciate it even more after we have trusted Him without it. And those who are the most inclined to trust God without any evidence except His Word always receive the greatest amount of visible evidence of His love. Charles Gallaudet Trumbull
Delayed answers to prayers are not refusals. Many prayers are received and recorded, yet underneath are the words, "My time has not yet come." God has a fixed time and an ordained purpose.
杖你的杖，你的竿，都安慰我。（诗篇23:4）我父亲家中有个小房间，里面藏着我家几代人所用的许多手杖。有的是爬山用的，有的是走平坦大道用的，有的是走泥泞之地用的，有的是雨雪后行路用的，每种手杖的样式各不相同。有时我回故乡探望父亲，他老人家常喜欢和我外出散步。每次出发之前，我们总先到手杖室中去拣选那一次适用的手杖。这常使我联想到神的话语就是我们生活中的手杖，会给我们无限的帮助和安慰。
在打仗的时候，紧急的风声使我们心慌意乱，神给我们的杖是：“他必不怕凶恶的信息，他心坚定，倚靠耶和华。”（诗篇112:7）这杖扶持我们经过许多黑暗的日子。
当死亡夺去我们的孩子、使我们心碎的时候，我在应许中找到另一根安慰的杖：“一宿虽然有哭泣，早晨便必欢呼。”（诗篇30:5）
有一次我病倒了，在外养病一年之久，在这期间我不知道自己究竟能否恢复，能否再回到家中。在无指望之中，我始终抓住神的杖：“耶和华说：‘我知道我向你们所怀的意念，是赐平安的意念，不是降灾祸的意念。’”（耶利米书29:11）
在危险或疑惧的时候，人的评判都说“完了”的时候，我发现一根带领我安然过去的杖：“你们得力在乎平静安稳”（以赛亚书30:15）。
Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. (Psalm 23:4) At my father's house in the country, there is a little closet near the chimney, where we keep the canes, or walking sticks, of several generations of our family. During my visits to the old house, as my father and I are going out for a walk, we often go to the cane closet and pick out our sticks to suit the occasion. As we have done this, I have frequently been reminded that the Word of God is a staff.
During the war, when we were experiencing a time of discouragement and impending danger, the verse "He will have no fear of bad news;his heart is steadfast, trusting in the LORD" (Ps. 112:7) was a staff to walk with on many dark days.
When our child died and we were left nearly brokenhearted, I found another staff in the promise "Weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning" (Ps. 30:5).
When I was forced to be away from home for a year due to poor health, not knowing if God would ever allow me to return to my home and work again, I chose this staff, which has never failed:"For I know the plans I have for you, ... plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future" (Jer. 29:11).
In times of impending danger or doubt, when human judgment seems to be of no value, I have found it easy to go forward with this staff: "In quietness and trust is your strength" (Isa. 30:15).
向前走从此起首……交给你，你要得……为业。（申命记2:31）我们生活中多少的烦恼，是出于自己的纷扰、鲁莽和焦急。我们不能等待果子成熟，常把青色的果子采摘下来。我们不能耐心等待祷告的答应，不管所求的需有较长时间的预备。我们想和神同行，不料神走得很慢。这些失败是因为不能耐心等候神。然而圣经中还有另一面的真理：就是神常等待我们，可惜我们总是耽误神。多少时候，我们没有得到神已经为我们预备好了的祝福，是因为我们不上前去接受。有的时候，我们应该静坐；有的时候，我们应该迈步上前。
圣经中有许多的应许都是带条件的。作为信徒的我们，必须先履行一些条件，然后神才实现他的应许。主对十个长大麻风的说：“你们去把身体给祭司察看。”他们在什么时候得医治的？“他们去的时候就洁净了。”（路加福音17:14）如果他们等着要先看见自己的皮肤洁净了，然后再去，他们绝不会得到医治。神等着要洁净他们，只要他们的信心一发动，祝福就来了。
当以色列人被仇敌追逼到红海的时候，神吩咐他们“往前走”（出埃及记14:15）。他们的责任不是等待，乃是鼓起信心勇敢往前走。信心是一把钥匙——一把开启应许之门的钥匙。这把钥匙是在他们自己手中，如果他们不走近那门、用钥匙去开门的话，门就绝不会自动开启。神今天在等待，要厚厚地赐福与我们。我们应该用勇敢的信心前去接受。
I have begun to deliver... Now begin to conquer and possess. (Deuteronomy 2:31) We so easily become impatient with God's delays. Yet much of our trouble in life is the result of our restless, and sometimes reckless, haste. We cannot wait for the fruit to ripen, but insist on picking it while it is still green. We cannot wait for the answers to our prayers, although it may take many years for the things we pray for to be prepared for us. We are encouraged to walk with God, but often God walks very slowly. Yet there is also another side to this teaching: God often waits for us. Quite often we fail to receive the blessing He has ready for us because we are not moving forward with Him. While it is true we miss many blessings by not waiting for God, we also lose numerous blessings by overwaiting. There are times when it takes strength simply to sit still, but there are also times when we are to move forward with a confident step.
Many of God's promises are conditional, requiring some initial action on our part. Once we begin to obey, He will begin to bless us. The ten lepers Jesus healed were told to show themselves to the priest, and "as they went, they were cleansed" (Luke 17:14). If they had waited to see the cleansing come to their bodies before leaving, they would never have seen it. God was waiting to heal them, and the moment their faith began to work, the blessing came.
When the Israelites were entrapped by Pharaoh's pursuing army at the Red Sea, they were commanded to "go forward" (Ex. 14:15 KJV). No longer was it their duty to wait, but to rise up from bended knees and "go forward"with heroic faith. They held the key to unlock the gate into the Land of Promise in their own hands, and the gate would not begin to turn on its hinges until they had approached and unlocked it. The key was faith. God is waiting to pour out His richest blessings on you. "Go forward" with bold confidence and take what is yours.
确定身份……成全你们，坚固你们，赐力量给你们。（彼得前书5:10）我们与基督联合，应始终保持沟通的关系。开始的时候，任何疑问的阴影都会破坏我们的信心。我们必须大胆地确认，像树木被栽种在泥土中，或新娘在礼坛前许配终身一样，确定自己的身份。要永远不渝，既无保留，亦无反悔的余地。
然后，经过一段试炼和培植的过程，直到新的关系变成根深蒂固的常规。像用板保护骨折的膀臂，要避免任何的摇撼，神也要给他的子女安上了属灵的夹板，使他们安定不动，直到他们通过信心的第一阶段。这一点很不容易做到，但“赐诸般恩典的神曾在基督里召你们，得享他永远的荣耀，等你们暂受苦难之后，必要亲自成全你们，坚固你们，赐力量给你们”。——信宣
Make you strong, firm and steadfast. (1 Peter 5:10) Before we can establish a new and deeper relationship with Christ, we must first acquire enough intellectual light to satisfy our mind that we have been given the right to stand in this new relationship. Even the shadow of a doubt here will destroy our confidence. Then, having seen the light, we must advance. We must make our choice, commit to it, and take our rightful place as confidently as a tree is planted in the ground. As a bride entrusts herself to the groom at the marriage altar, our commitment to Christ must be once and for all, without reservation or reversal.
Then there follows a time of establishing and testing, during which we must stand still until the new relationship becomes so ingrained in us that it becomes a permanent habit. It is comparable to a surgeon setting a broken arm by splinting it to keep it from moving. God too has His spiritual splints He wants to put on His children to keep them quiet and still until they pass the first stage of faith. Sometimes the trial will be difficult, but "the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast" (1 Peter 5:10). A. B. Simpson
琴我为你们起的愤恨，原是神那样的愤恨。（哥林多后书11:2）一个善奏古琴的琴师，何等爱惜他的古琴！他把它怀抱在胸中，抚它，偎它！他和它相依为命。可是，你看他怎样调整弦音。他把它紧紧握住，用力在弦上拨一下，弦立刻震颤，好似惊痛之下的战栗。他侧耳细听，觉得弦音粗浮，还未准确，于是他把弦绞紧，弹拨再三，直等到它能发出柔和准确的声音，他才面露笑容，点头满意。
亲爱的，其实神也是如此对待你，他爱你远胜琴师爱琴。他发现你的声音走调，就把你紧紧握住，用力拨你的心弦。他侧耳细听，岂知你所发的声音仍是咒诅和怨恨。他只得绞紧你的心弦，再拨，再弹，直等到你的声音是赞美、感谢，以及“不要成就我的意思，只要成就你的意思”（路加福音22:42）——神所最喜欢听的音乐。
I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. (2 Corinthians 11:2) Oh, how the old harpist loves his harp! He cuddles and caresses it, as if it were a child resting on his lap. His life is consumed with it. But watch how he tunes it. He grasps it firmly, striking a chord with a sharp, quick blow. While it quivers as if in pain, he leans forward, intently listening to catch the first note rising from it. Just as he feared, the note is distorted and shrill. He strains the string, turning the torturing thumbscrew, and though it seems ready to snap with the tension, he strikes it again. Then he leans forward again, carefully listening, until at last a smile appears on his face as the first melodic sound arises.
Perhaps this is how God is dealing with you. Loving you more than any harpist loves his harp, He finds you nothing but harsh, discordant sounds. He plucks your heartstrings with torturing anguish. Tenderly leaning over you, he strikes the strings and listens. Hearing only a harsh murmur, He strikes you again. His heart bleeds for you while He anxiously waits to hear the strain "Not my will, but yours be done" (Luke 22:42)-a melody as sweet to His ears as angels'songs.
不倒城神在其中，城必不动摇；到天一亮，神必帮助这城。（诗篇46:5）“必不动摇”——这是何等的宣言！像我们这样容易被世上之物所摇动的人，竟可以到一个地步，没有一件东西能够摇动或是颠覆我们吗？是的，这是绝对可能的事。使徒保罗就懂得这个秘诀。在去耶路撒冷的路上，他已经预见前面“有捆锁与患难等待我”（使徒行传20:23），却能够坦然说：“这些东西没有一件可以摇动我”（24节，KJV）。保罗一生中，凡是可以摇动的东西，都已经摇掉了；他并不以性命为念，也不以他所有的为宝贵。照样，我们如果愿意让神按照他的方法对付我们，如同对付保罗一般，我们也能够达到同样的地步：没有一件琐碎的事情，也没有一个重大的试炼，能够摇动我们的平安。这样的平安，只有完全安息在神里面的人才有。
当神在一个城中，他就使那城像锡安山一般坚固，不能移动分毫。当他在我们里面，虽然四周有骇浪怒涛、狂风暴雨，可是在我们里面仍有恒久的平安。这种平安，是世界所不能给的，也是世界所不能夺去的。在我们里面的是神，在世人里面的是世界；这就是为什么我们能有平安，而世人当风浪来的时候，会像落叶那样飘摇不定。——雷登
“倚靠耶和华的人，好像锡安山，永不动摇。”（诗篇125:1）
God is in the midst of her, she will not be moved; God will help her when morning dawns. (Psalm 46:5 NASB) "Will not be moved"-what an inspiring declaration! Is it possible for us who are so easily moved by earthly things to come to a point where nothing can upset us or disturb our peace? The answer is yes, and the apostle Paul knew it. When he was on his way to Jerusalem, the Holy Spirit warned him that "prison and hardships" (Acts 20:23) awaited him. Yet he could triumphantly say, "But none of these things move me" (Acts 20:24 KJV). Everything in Paul's life and experience that could be disturbed had already been shaken, and he no longer considered his life or any of his possessions as having any earthly value. And if we will only let God have His way with us, we can come to the same point. Then, like Paul, neither the stress and strain of little things nor the great and heavy trials of life will have enough power to move us from "the peace of God, which transcends all understanding" (Phil. 4:7). God declares this peace to be the inheritance of those who have learned to rest only on Him.
When God is the center of a kingdom or a city, He makes it strong "like Mount Zion, which cannot be shaken" (Ps. 125:1). And when God is the center of a soul, although disasters may crowd in on all sides and roar like the waves of the sea, there is a constant calm within. The world can neither give nor take away this kind of peace. What is it that causes people to shake like leaves today at the first hint of danger? It is simply the lack of God living in their soul, and having the world in their hearts instead. R. Leighton
"Those who trust in the LORD are like Mount Zion, which cannot be shaken but endures forever" (Ps. 125:1).
朝露我必向以色列如甘露。（何西阿书14:5）露珠代表新鲜、朝气、活泼。神降露珠原是为着更新大地、滋润花草。圣经中也常说起露珠，用来比喻灵性的更新。神常借圣灵更新他的子民，犹如用露珠更新大地一般。提多书3章5节所说的“圣灵的更新”，就是讲圣灵有如露珠一般的功用。
许多神的仆人不懂得属灵的露珠对他们生命的重要性，结果就缺乏朝气和活力。他们的灵性下沉，甚至枯萎，就是因为没有灵露的更新。
亲爱的，你想一个工人能不吃东西，而整天做工吗？你想一个神的工人能不吃属灵的吗哪，而专一事奉吗？不，绝对不能。偶然吃一次也是不够的，必须每天接受圣灵的更新，当作你灵性的滋养。怎样去接受神的灵露呢？安静，吸收。到了深夜寂静时，花草叶子的气孔都张开了，这正是他们吸收露珠的时候。属灵的露珠也是这样，当我们在神面前安静等待的时候，就会得到更新和滋润。急躁不会叫你得到什么。安静等待，直到你浸沉在主的同在里，然后带着基督的新鲜和活泼到工场去。——巴亭登
大风或是酷热的夜晚，露珠难以凝结。风必须平静，热度必须下降。空气里有了凉意，有了宁静，露珠才能凝结在叶子或花瓣上。照样，神更新的恩典也是如此。必须等到你心平气和，灵里充满和平与宁静，然后神才降甘露滋润你。
I will be like the dew to Israel. (Hosea 14:5) The dew is a source of freshness. It is nature's provision for renewing the face of the earth. It falls at night, and without it vegetation would die. It is this great renewal value of the dew that is so often recognized in the Scriptures and used as a symbol of spiritual refreshment. Just as nature is bathed in dew, the Lord renews His people. In Titus 3:5 the same thought of spiritual refreshment is connected with the ministry of the Holy Spirit and referred to as "renewal by the Holy Spirit."
Many Christian workers do not recognize the importance of the heavenly dew in their lives, and as a result lack freshness and energy. Their spirits are withered and droopy for lack of dew.
Beloved fellow worker, you recognize the folly of a laborer attempting to work all day without eating, but do you recognize the folly of a servant of God attempting to minister without eating of the heavenly manna? Neither is it sufficient to have spiritual nourishment only occasionally. Every day you must receive the "renewal by the Holy Spirit. "You know the difference between your whole being pulsating with the energy and freshness of God's divine life or feeling worn-out and weary. Quietness and stillness bring the dew. At night when the leaves and grass are still, the plants' pores are open to receive the refreshing and invigorating bath. And spiritual dew comes from quietly lingering in the Master's presence. Get still before Him, for haste will prevent you from receiving the dew. Wait before God until you feel saturated with His presence. Then move on to your next duty with the awareness of the freshness and energy of Christ.
Dew will never appear while there is either heat or wind. The temperature must fall, the wind cease, and the air come to a point of coolness and rest-absolute rest-before the invisible particles of moisture will become dew to dampen any plant or flower. And the grace of God does not come forth to bring rest and renewal to our soul until we completely reach the point of stillness before Him.
使人安静他使人安静。（约伯记34:29）神能在风浪中给人安静。今天我们仍旧和他一同在船中。在深夜离岸甚远，船到了湖中心的时候，忽然起了暴风，甚至船被波浪掩盖，似乎地狱正张口等着吞吃我们。在这样绝望的光景中，主很镇静地起来，斥责风和浪。在他一挥手之下，风浪去了。风号浪啸了不能混乱他的声音——“住了吧！静了吧！”（马可福音4:39）你听见他的声音了吗？
“他使人安静。”这安静不是普通的安静，乃是在失去指望和安慰中的安静。有时候他故意将指望和安慰收回，因为我们太注重这些了。我们很容易专看喜乐、奋兴、盼望、安慰、经历、恩赐、异象等等过于看主。所以为了爱的缘故，主把这些暂时收回，好叫我们靠着他的恩典，分辨主所赐的和主自己。但是当我们以为失去了一切福分的时候，主就来了，叫我们尝到他同在的滋味。这时候我们因为有了他自己，就忘记了他所收回的，心中只觉得无限的安静。“他使人安静。”
He giveth quietness. (Job 34:29 KJV) He gives quietness in the midst of the raging storm. As we sail the lake with Him, reaching deep water and far from land, suddenly, under the midnight sky, a mighty storm sweeps down. Earth and hell seem mobilized against us, and each wave threatens to overwhelm our boat. Then He rises from His sleep and rebukes the wind and the waves. He waves His hand, signaling the end of the raging tempest and the beginning of the restful calm. His voice is heard above the screaming of the wind through the ropes and rigging, and over the thrashing of the waves. "Quiet! Be still!" (Mark 4:39). Can you not hear it?
"He giveth quietness"-quietness even in the midst of losing our inner strength and comforts. Sometimes He removes these because we make too much of them. We are tempted to look at our joys, pleasures, passions, or our dreams, with too much self-satisfaction. Then through His gracious love He withdraws them, leading us to distinguish between them and Himself. He draws near and whispers the assurance of His presence, bringing an infinite calm to keep our hearts and minds. "He giveth quietness."
安稳无忧这事出于我。（列王纪上12:24）孩子，今天我有一个信息传给你，好叫你头顶的乌云消散，前面崎岖的道路变平。这个信息是很短的，只有五个字，但是我要你铭刻在心中，又把它当作一个枕头来安放你疲倦的头，使你真能高枕无忧。这个信息是什么呢？就是“这事出于我”。
你有没有想到过：凡与你有关的事，也与我有关？因为“摸你们的，就是摸我眼中的瞳仁”（撒迦利亚书2:8）、“我看你为宝为尊”（以赛亚书43:4）。所以，我着意训练你。
你是不是正处在艰难的环境中，四围的人都不了解你、看不起你，令你不耐烦？“这事出于我。”我是管理环境的神。你所处的境遇并非偶然的，都有我的美意在其中。你不是曾求我给你谦卑吗？你看，我已经把你放在一个学习谦卑的学校里了。你所接触的人和环境是我用来成就我旨意的。你是不是正感觉经济困窘呢？“这事出于我。”因为我是经管你用度的，我要你向我支取，完全仰赖我。我的供给是充足的（腓立比书4:19）。我要向你证实我的应许，我不愿意你“在这事上却不信耶和华你们的神”（申命记1:32）。
今天我把这个信息当作珍贵的香膏送给你，你可以自由敷用。我的孩子，不顺利的环境、扎心的毁谤、无故的逼迫临到你的时候，你就敷上这香膏。如果你能在一切事上看见“这事出于我”，所有的痛苦便会立时消失了。
This is my doing. (1 Kings 12:24) My child, I have a message for you today. Let me whisper it in your ear so any storm clouds that may arise will shine with glory, and the rough places you may have to walk will be made smooth. It is only four words, but let them sink into your inner being, and use them as a pillow to rest your weary head. "This is my doing."
Have you ever realized that whatever concerns you concerns Me too? "For whoever touches you touches the apple of [my] eye" (Zech. 2:8). "You are precious and honored in my sight" (Isa. 43:4). Therefore it is My special delight to teach you.
Are you in difficult circumstances, surrounded by people who do not understand you, never ask your opinion, and always push you aside? "This is my doing." I am the God of circumstances. You did not come to this place by accident-you are exactly where I meant for you to be. Have you not asked Me to make you humble? Then see that I have placed you in the perfect school where this lesson is taught. Your circumstances and the people around you are only being used to accomplish My will. Are you having problems with money, finding it hard to make ends meet? "This is my doing," for I am the One who keeps your finances, and I want you to learn to depend upon Me. My supply is limitless and I "will meet all your needs" (Phil. 4:19). I want you to prove My promises so no one may say, "You did not trust in the LORD your God" (Deut. 1:32).
Today I place a cup of holy oil in your hands. Use it freely, My child. Anoint with it every new circumstance, every word that hurts you, every interruption that makes you impatient, and every weakness you have. The pain will leave as you learn to see Me in all things. Laura A. Barter Snow
磨亮的箭他……将我藏在他手荫之下；又使我成为磨亮的箭，将我藏在他箭袋之中。（以赛亚书49:2）“在他手荫之下”，我们常有到那里去的需要。日光太强烈了，我们的视力会受到损伤，不能分辨相仿的颜色。所以神将我们暂时藏在疾病的荫中、忧愁的荫中、穷苦的荫中，在那里和日光隔绝。
但是不要怕！这是神的手荫，他正在引导。有许多功课你只能在那里学得的。
不要想神已经把你丢在一边了。你仍旧在他箭袋之中；他并没有把你当作无用之物扔掉。他现在把你藏起来，保守你；直到一定的时候，他要配在你的弓弦上，送你出去，使仇敌受亏损，使神得荣耀。哦，在神手荫之下的人啊，战士如何宝贝他的箭，把它藏在贴身的箭袋中，神也如此宝贝你、爱护你，将你藏在他的荫庇之下。
许多时候，阴暗倒是植物生长的必要条件。美丽的玉米在夏夜的荫下生长得最快。在炎热的日光下，它的叶子是卷着的；到了天上起云的时候，叶子很快舒展开来。也有许多美丽的花朵，日间藏起它们的美丽，晚荫降时方才开放。神的手荫也能帮助我们生命的发长，彰显我们属灵的美丽。
In the shadow of his hand he hid me; he made me into a polished arrow and concealed me in his quiver. (Isaiah 49:2) "In the shadow"-each of us must go there sometimes. The glare of the sunlight is too bright, and our eyes become injured. Soon they are unable to discern the subtle shades of color or appreciate neutral tints, such as the shadowed sickroom, the shadowed house of grief, or the shadowed life where the sunlight has departed.
But fear not! It is the shadow of God's hand. He is leading you, and there are lessons that can be learned only where He leads.
But do not assume that He has pushed you aside. You are still "in his quiver." He has not thrown you away as something worthless. He is only keeping you nearby till the moment comes when He can send you quickly and confidently on some mission that will bring Him glory. O shadowed, isolated one, remember how closely the quiver is tied to the warrior. It is always within easy reach of his hand and jealously protected.
In some realms of nature, shadows or darkness are the places of greatest growth. The beautiful Indian corn never grows more rapidly than in the darkness of a warm summer night. The sun withers and curls the leaves in the scorching light of noon, but once a cloud hides the sun, they quickly unfold. And there are beautiful flowers that bloom in the shade that will never bloom in the sun. The evening primrose will not open in the noonday sun but only reveals its beauty as the shadows of the evening grow longer.
峰一程谷一程圣灵立刻把耶稣催到旷野里去。（马可福音1:12）这似乎是很奇怪的一回事。“立刻”，在什么事情发生之后，才有这“立刻”呢？在主从水里上来，看见天裂开了，圣灵仿佛鸽子降在他身上，父神公开宣布“你是我的爱子，我喜悦你”（11节）之后。这并不是反常的经历。
你是否有这样的经历？岂不是一程山峰之后，立刻就是一程低谷吗？也许昨天你曾翱翔天空，歌唱赞美；但是今天你的翅膀下垂，歌声全止了。早晨你曾享受父神赐你的欢笑，晚上你会在旷野中说：“我的道路向耶和华隐藏。”（以赛亚书40:27）
可是你要知道，事情突然转变并非出乎偶然，乃是有神的美意在其中。你有没有想过：为什么祝福之后，就有这“立刻”呢？原来祝福是手续，“立刻”是目的。“立刻”就是祝福的下文。神给你祝福，原是要使你能胜任前面的荒漠——客西马尼、各各他。神光照你、高举你、给你力量，原是要你冲过前面可怕的阵地；神给你亮光，原是要你经过黑夜；神给你帮助，原是要你帮助那些无助的人。
你并不是随时可以到旷野去受试炼；你必须先有约旦河的祝福，然后才配到旷野去。——马德胜
At once the Spirit sent him out into the desert. (Mark 1:12) This seemed a strange way for God to prove His favor. "At once"-after what? After heaven was opened and the Spirit descended "like a dove" (v. 10), and the Father voiced His blessing, "You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased" (v. 11). Yet it is not an abnormal experience.
You, my soul, have also experienced it. Aren't your times of deepest depression the moments that immediately follow your loftiest highs? Just yesterday you were soaring high in the heavens and singing in the radiance of the morning. Today, however, your wings are folded and your song is silent. At noon you were basking in the sunshine of the Father's smile, but by evening you were saying from the wilderness, "My way is hidden from the LORD" (Isa. 40:27).
No, my soul, the actual suddenness of the change is proof that it is not abnormal. Have you considered the comfort of the words"at once," and why the change comes so soon after the blessing? Simply to show that it is the sequel to the blessing. God shines His light on you to make you fit for life's deserts, Gethsemanes, and Calvaries. He lifts you to new heights to strengthen you so that you may go deeper still. He illuminates you so He may send you into the night, making you a help to the helpless.
You are not always worthy of the wilderness-you are only worthy of the wilderness after the splendor of the Jordan River experience. George Matheson
御风耶和华要使你乘驾地的高处。（以赛亚书58:14）熟习航空的人告诉我们：他们初习的时候，常是逆风驾驶。逆风会使飞机升高。这个秘诀他们是从哪里学来的呢？从鸟类那里学来的。如果一只鸟儿悠闲地飞翔，它就随风而飞；如果遇到危险，它就立刻转身，逆风而上，飞得更高。
人生的逆境是神给你的逆风，它能抬你到属天的生活去。这就是“耶和华要使你乘驾地的高处”的方法。
夏日空气闷热的时候，连气也透不过来。但是乌云一来，便降下大雨。大雨倾盆，电闪雷鸣，不一会儿，空气就清新了。人生也是如此。风雨一来，空气就会变得清明，充满生气，天上的生活也能带到地上来了。
我们一遇到障碍，就当立即开口歌唱。风什么时候发出声音来？不是在冲过海洋的时候，乃是在碰到树枝的时候。
I will cause you to ride on the heights of the land. (Isaiah 58:14) One of the first rules of aerodynamics is that flying into the wind quickly increases altitude. The wings of the airplane create more lift by flying against the wind. How was this lesson learned? It was learned by watching birds fly. If a bird is simply flying for pleasure, it flies with the wind. But if it senses danger, it turns into the wind to gain altitude, and flies up toward the sun.
The sufferings of life are God's winds. Sometimes they blow against us and are very strong. They are His hurricanes, taking our lives to higher levels, toward His heavens.
Do you remember a summer day when the heat and humidity were so oppressive, you could hardly breathe? But a dark cloud appeared on the horizon, growing larger and larger, until it suddenly brought a rich blessing to your world. The storm raged, lightning flashed, and thunder rumbled. The storm covered your sky, the atmosphere was cleansed, new life was in the air, and your world was changed. Human life works exactly on the same principle. When the storms of life appear, the atmosphere is changed, purified, filled with new life, and part of heaven is brought down to earth.
Facing obstacles should make us sing. The wind finds its voice not when rushing across an open sea but when it is hindered by the outstretched limbs of a pine tree.
安静你们出来必不至急忙。（以赛亚书52:12）我不相信我们已经了解在安静中的奇妙能力了。我们常过于急躁，总想靠己力去奋斗一番，不给神一个机会彰显他的大能。因此，神常对我们说：“站住”（出埃及记14:13）、“安坐”（路得记3:18）、“住了吧，静了吧”（马可福音4:39），他才可以发挥他的全能。
在我们的生活中，我们的失败常是因为我们要自己工作来得胜。其实，我们需要让神在我们里面工作。当你请一个摄影师替你照相的时候，你必须安静不动，完全让他做。
神对我们有一个永久的目的：就是要我们像他的儿子。我们自己能做吗？神要我们得救，我们自己能做吗？他要我们得胜，我们自己能做吗？他要我们像他那样圣洁，我们自己能做吗？我们太以为自己能做，其实一样都不能。何不安静等待神呢？我们太会为神活动，不会为神安静。所以我们真需要知道什么叫做安静。
You will not leave in haste. (Isaiah 52:12) I do not believe we have even begun to understand the wonderful power there is in being still. We are in such a hurry, always doing, that we are in danger of not allowing God the opportunity to work. You may be sure that God will never say to us, "Stand still," "Sit still," or "Be still," unless He is going to do something.
This is our problem regarding the Christian life: we want to do something to be Christians, instead of allowing Him to work in us. Think of how still you stand when your picture is being taken, as the photographer captures your likeness on film.
God has one eternal purpose for us: that we should be "conformed to the likeness of his Son" (Rom. 8:29). But in order for that to happen, we must stand still. We hear so much today about being active, but maybe we need to learn what it means to be quiet.
在那里他将海变成干地，众民步行过河；我们在那里因他欢喜。（诗篇66:6）按照人之常情，百姓过红海时，波涛在两边翻腾，追兵在后面吶喊，他们一定惊恐战栗、仓皇痛苦。可是诗篇的作者竟说：“我们在那里”——大水中——“因他欢喜”。
有多少人能有这样的经历？“在那里”——在一个失望的绝境中，一个外患内忧的时候，能“因他欢喜”？
“在那里”，立约的神来了！“在那里”，他的应许实现了！如果不“在那里”，在一个顺利的境遇中，即使花尽力气去找，也找不到这些荣耀的事实。好像白日有了阳光，把星光遮掩了；黑夜一到，满天的明星出现了——经上的应许、安慰和盼望，也都是在忧愁之夜出现的。
拔摩海岛上的约翰，在孤单凄凉中得见主荣耀的异象。今天在地上仍有许多荒凉的拔摩岛，那里有主的爱和恩典，有主的同在，可以消灭孤单和忧愁。读者啊，你愿不愿意去呢？
有多少旅客，在经过红海和约旦河的苦难时，能纪念神的美善和慈爱，说：“我们步行过河，在那里——在这些黑暗的经历里，在波涛四边翻腾的光景里——因他欢喜。”——马克特夫
He turned the sea into dry land, they passed through the waters on foot-come, let us rejoice in him. (Psalm 66:6) It is a profound statement that "through the waters," the very place where we might have expected nothing but trembling, terror, anguish, and dismay, the children of Israel stopped to "rejoice in him"!
How many of us can relate to this experience? Who of us, right in the midst of our time of distress and sadness, have been able to triumph and rejoice, as the Israelites did?
How close God is to us through His promises, and how brightly those promises shine! Yet during times of prosperity, we lose sight of their brilliance. In the way the sun at noon hides the stars from sight, His promises become indiscernible. But when night falls-the deep, dark night of sorrow-a host of stars begin to shine, bringing forth God's blessed constellations of hope, and promises of comfort from His Word.
It was during a dark time of loneliness and exile that John had the glorious vision of his Redeemer. Many of us today have our "Isle of Patmos, "which produces the brightest memories of God's enduring presence, uplifting grace, and love in spite of solitude and sadness.
How many travelers today, still passing through their Red Seas and Jordan Rivers of earthly affliction, will be able to look back from eternity, filled with memories of God's great goodness, and say, "We 'passed through the waters on foot.'And yet, even in these dark experiences, with waves surging all around, we stopped and said, 'Let us rejoice in him'!" J. R. Macduff
举目仰望我的心哪，你为何忧闷？……应当仰望神，因我还要称赞他。（诗篇43:5）有什么理由叫我们忧闷呢？有两个理由：第一，如果我们还没有信耶稣而得救，我们就有理由忧闷；第二，如果我们已经得救了，而仍活在罪中，那么我们一定会忧闷的。除了这两件事情以外，我们就没有理由忧闷。一个正常的信徒如果忧闷，是一件奇怪的事，因为一切的事我们都可以借着祷告、祈求和感谢来告诉父神。我们一切的需要、一切的困难、一切的试炼，只要相信神的大能和慈爱，样样都可以过去的。
“应当仰望神。”哦，让我们记住这句话：没有一刻可以不仰望神。不管我们的需要何等多，难处何等大，指望何等小，我们的责任只是仰望神。最终，我们会发现：这样的仰望并不是徒然的。到了神自己的时候，帮助就来了。
哦，在我过往的七十年中，我已经试过几百、几千次；仰望神没有一次失败的！往往当我以为没有指望的时候，帮助就在这时来了。神有千万个不同的方法、千万个不同的时间可以帮助我们。他不受任何限制。我们只要把我们的事情摆在神面前，带着小孩子那样的单纯，倾心吐意地对神说：“父神啊，我本来不配求你听我的祷告，但是为了我主耶稣基督的缘故，求你答应我的祈求，也给我恩典使我能安静等候你的时候。我深信你必在你自己的时候，用你自己的方法，为我成就。”——莫勒
Why are you downcast, O my soul? (Psalm 43:5) Is there ever any reason to be downcast? Actually, there are two reasons, but only two. If we were still unbelievers, we would have a reason to be downcast;or if we have been converted but continue to live in sin, we are downcast as a consequence. Except for these two conditions, there is never a reason to be downcast, for everything else may be brought to God "by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving" (Phil. 4:6). And through all our times of need, difficulty, and trials, we may exercise faith in the power and love of God.
"Put your hope in God" (Ps. 43:5). Please remember there is never a time when we cannot hope in God, whatever our need or however great our difficulty may be. Even when our situation appears to be impossible, our work is to "hope in God." Our hope will not be in vain, and in the Lord's own timing help will come.
Oh, the hundreds, even the thousands, of times I have found this to be true in the past seventy years and four months of my life! When it seemed impossible for help to come, it did come, for God has His own unlimited resources. In ten thousand different ways, and at ten thousand different times, God's help may come to us. Our work is to lay our petitions before the Lord, and in childlike simplicity to pour out our hearts before Him, saying, "I do not deserve that You should hear me and answer my requests, but for the sake of my precious Lord Jesus;for His sake, answer my prayer. And give me grace to wait patiently until it pleases You to grant my petition. For I believeYou will do it in Your own time and way." George Mueller
不再孤独我……常与你们同在，直到世界的末了。（马太福音28:20）不要带着惧怕的心去看前面将临的事。要带着盼望往前看，因为主是我们的主，必要带领我们一步一步过去。神常与你同在，你只要紧紧抓住他的手，他会引导你安然经过一切的。当你软弱无力、站立不住的时候，他会将你保抱在他大能的膀臂中。
不要为明天忧虑。永活的神今天既然看顾你，明天，每一天，也必定会同样看顾你。有时他不叫你遇见试探，有时他加给力量使你能忍受试探。所以放心，抛弃一切多余的挂虑和烦恼。——赛尔斯
“耶和华是我的牧者。”（诗篇23:1）
“是”字在原文是现在式，不是过去式“曾是”，也不是将来式“将是”，也不是未定式“或是”。“耶和华是我的牧者”，他现在是，他永远是；在礼拜日是，在星期一也是，在一星期中每一天都是；在正月是，在十二月也是，在一年中每一月都是；在家里是，在外乡也是；在平安时是，在危险时也是；在丰余时是，在缺乏时也是。在任何环境中都是。——戴德生
我们的信心说神是什么，他就是什么。
Surely I am with you always. (Matthew 28:20) Never look ahead to the changes and challenges of this life in fear. Instead, as they arise look at them with the full assurance that God, whose you are, will deliver you out of them. Hasn't He kept you safe up to now? So hold His loving hand tightly, and He will lead you safely through all things. And when you cannot stand, He will carry you in His arms.
Do not look ahead to what may happen tomorrow. The same everlasting Father who cares for you today will take care of you tomorrow and every day. Either He will shield you from suffering or He will give you His unwavering strength that you may bear it. Be at peace, then, and set aside all anxious thoughts and worries. Francis de Sales
The LORD is my shepherd. (Psalm 23:1)
Not was, not may be, nor will be. "The LORD is my shepherd." He is on Sunday, on Monday, and through every day of the week. He is in January, in December, and every month of the year. He is when I'm at home and in China. He is during peace or war, and in times of abundance or poverty. J. Hudson Taylor
Whatever our faith says God is, He will be.
默然的爱他……必……默然爱你。（西番雅书3:17）一个基督徒梦见有三个基督徒女子跪着祷告，他看见主渐渐走近她们。
当主走到第一个女子面前，他脸上带着荣光和爱，俯下身去，用极温柔、极甜蜜的声音安慰她、勉励她。当他走近第二个女子身边，只伸出他的手来在她额上一按，点点头走了。最后，当他走过第三个女子，却一声不响，连看都不看就走了。
那个基督徒自言自语道：“第一个女子，一定灵命很深，所以主很爱她；第二个女子也不错，可是不及第一个；第三个女子，一定在什么事情上得罪了主，深深伤了主的心，所以主不屑理睬她。”
当他正在猜疑，主站在他旁边说：“你完全误会了。那第一个跪着祷告的女人最软弱、最幼稚，她时刻需要我的扶持与眷顾，否则她会失败、跌倒。第二个有较强的信心和较深的爱，我信任她在任何环境中能因我而站稳。
“而那个我似乎不去注意、把她略过的，其实她的信心和爱心是极大极强的，我正用一种严格的方法训练她。她已经完全认识我、信任我，她不需要能听、能见、能摸的帮助，她不因我所安排给她的环境而灰心跌倒，她绝对顺从——因为她知道我的用意是为她将来永远的荣耀。我所做的，她如今虽然不知道，后来必明白。
“我默然爱她，因为我爱她的心不是言语所能表达的，也不是人心所能领会的。”
He will quiet you with his love. (Zephaniah 3:17) One Christian dreamed she saw three other women in prayer. When they knelt the Master drew near to them.
As He approached the first of the three, He bent over her with tenderness and grace. He smiled with radiant love and spoke to her in tones of pure, sweet music. Upon leaving her, He came to the next but only placed His hand upon her bowed head and gave her one look of loving approval. He passed the third woman almost abruptly, without stopping for a word or a glance.
The woman having the dream said to herself, "How greatly He must love the first woman. The second gained His approval but did not experience the special demonstrations of love He gave the first. But the third woman must have grieved Him deeply, for He gave her no word at all, nor even a passing look."
She wondered what the third woman must have done to have been treated so differently. As she tried to account for the actions of her Lord, He Himself came and stood beside her. He said to her, "O woman! How wrongly you have interpreted Me! The first kneeling woman needs the full measure of My tenderness and care to keep her feet on My narrow way. She needs My love, thoughts, and help every moment of the day, for without them she would stumble into failure. The second woman has stronger faith and deeper love than the first, and I can count on her to trust Me no matter how things may go or whatever people may do.
"Yet the third woman, whom I seemed not to notice, and even to neglect, has faith and love of the purest quality. I am training her through quick and drastic ways for the highest and holiest service. She knows Me so intimately, and trusts Me so completely, that she no longer depends on My voice, loving glances, or other outward signs to know of My approval. She is not dismayed or discouraged by any circumstances I arrange for her to encounter. She trusts Me when common sense, reason, and even every subtle instinct of the natural heart would rebel, knowing that I am preparing her for eternity, and realizing that the understanding of what I do will come later.
"My love is silent because I love beyond the power of words to express it and beyond the understanding of the human heart."
坚定的温柔亲爱的弟兄，不要自己伸冤。（罗马书12:19）许多时候，静比动更费力。静是力的最高效能。对于那些一无根据的、最恶毒的控告，主始终“什么都不回答……连一句话也不说”，以致审判官甚觉稀奇。对于那些无端的侮辱、不堪的虐待和嘲笑，连旁人都会激起忿怒，可是主始终镇静。凡曾受过冤枉、毁谤、虐待的，都知道维持镇静需要何等大的力量。
使徒保罗说：“没有一件东西可以摇动我。”（使徒行传20:24）他不是说：“没有一件东西可以伤害我”。伤害是一件事，摇动又是一件事。我们没有读过有什么人曾像使徒保罗那样痛苦过，一个男子痛哭是不容易的事。虽然保罗的心是仁慈、温柔的，但是却没有一件东西可以摇动他。他不贪求安适，也不以性命为念，他所求的只有一件，就是对主至死忠心，要得主的喜悦。——濮登
Do not take revenge, my friends. (Romans 12:19) There are times when doing nothing demands much greater strength than taking action. Maintaining composure is often the best evidence of power. Even to the vilest and deadliest of charges, Jesus responded with deep, unbroken silence. His silence was so profound, it caused His accusers and spectators to wonder in awe. To the greatest insults, the most violent treatment, and to mockery that would bring righteous indignation to the feeblest of hearts, He responded with voiceless, confident calmness. Those who are unjustly accused, and mistreated without cause, know the tremendous strength that is necessary to keep silent and to leave revenge to God.
The apostle Paul said, "None of these things move me" (Acts 20:24 KJV). He did not say, "None of these things hurt me." It is one thing to be hurt, and quite another to be moved. Paul had a very tender heart, for we do not read of any other apostle who cried as he did. It takes a strong man to cry. The apostle Paul had determined not to move from what he believed was right. He did not value things as we are prone to do. He never looked for the easy way, and placed no value on his mortal life. He only cared about one thing, and that was his loyalty to Christ-to gain Christ's smile. Margaret Bottome