Hardship

The Prayer Life of DL Moody – RA Torrey

Out of a very intimate acquaintance with DL Moody, I wish to testify that he was a far greater pray-er than he was preacher. Time and time again, he was confronted by obstacles that seemed insurmountable, but he always knew the way to overcome all difficulties. He knew the way to bring to pass anything that needed to be brought to pass. He knew and believed in the deepest depths of his soul that nothing was too hard for the Lord, and that prayer could do anything that God could do.

– RA Torrey –

Stand in the Hour of Trial – George Müller

Do but stand still in the hour of trial, and you will see the help of God, if you trust in Him. But there is so often a forsaking the ways of the Lord in the hour of trial, and thus the food of faith, the means whereby our faith may be increased, is lost.

– George Müller – 
from Answers to Prayer

Hold Christ More Closely – JC Ryle

Let us hold to Christ more closely, love him more heartily, live for him more thoroughly, copy him more exactly, confess him more boldly, follow him more fully. Religion like this will always bring its own reward. Worldly people may laugh at it. Weak brethren may think it extreme. But it will wear well. In sickness it will bring peace. In the world to come it will give us a crown of glory that fades not away.

– JC Ryle –
from Sickness

Everyone Was Happy – Richard Wurmbrand

It was strictly forbidden to preach to other prisoners. It was understood that whoever was caught doing this received a severe beating. A number of us decided to pay the price for the privilege of preaching, so we accepted their [the communists’] terms. It was a deal; we preached and they beat us. We were happy preaching. They were happy beating us, so everyone was happy.

– Richard Wurmbrand –
from Tortured for Christ

Treasures of Darkness – Oswald Chambers

Any great calamity in the natural world—death, disease, bereavement—will awaken a man when nothing else would, and he is never the same again. We would never know the “treasures of darkness” if we were always in the place of placid security.

– Oswald Chambers –

Walking Through Difficulty, Obscurity, and Suffering – FB Meyer

We all need to go to Arabia to learn lessons like these. The Lord Himself was led up into the wilderness. And in one form or another, every soul who has done a great work in the world has passed through similar periods of obscurity, suffering, disappointment or solitude.

– FB Meyer –
1847-1929

Don’t Preach Repentance Unless … – Joseph Parker

The man whose little sermon is “repent” sets himself against his age, and will for the time being be battered mercilessly by the age whose moral tone he challenges. There is but one end for such a man—”off with his head!” You had better not try to preach repentance until you have pledged your head to heaven.

– Joseph Parker –