Streams in the Desert Oct 24 A Bar of Steel "I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument" (Isa. 41:15).
Today's Scripture & Insight: Isaiah 41:10-16 10 So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God.I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.11 “All who rage against you will surely be ashamed and disgraced;those who oppose you will be as nothing and perish.12 Though you search for your enemies, you will not find them.Those who wage war against you will be as nothing at all.13 For I am the LORD your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.14 Do not be afraid, you worm Jacob, little Israel, do not fear,for I myself will help you,” declares the LORD, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.15 “See, I will make you into a threshing sledge, new and sharp, with many teeth.You will thresh the mountains and crush them, and reduce the hills to chaff.16 You will winnow them, the wind will pick them up, and a gale will blow them away.But you will rejoice in the LORD and glory in the Holy One of Israel.
A bar of steel worth five dollars, when wrought into horseshoes, is worth ten dollars. If made into needles, it is worth three hundred and fifty dollars; if into penknife blades, it is worth thirty-two thousand dollars; if into springs for watches it is worth two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. What a drilling the poor bar must undergo to be worth this! But the more it is manipulated, the more it is hammered and passed through the fire, and beaten and pounded and polished, the greater the value. May this parable help us to be silent, still, and longsuffering. Those who suffer most are capable of yielding most; and it is through pain that God is getting the most out of us, for His glory and the blessing of others. --Selected Life is very mysterious. Indeed it would be inexplicable unless we believed that God was preparing us for scenes and ministries that lie beyond the veil of sense in the eternal world, where highly-tempered spirits will be required for special service. "The turning-lathe that has the sharpest knives produces the finest work."
Today’s Hymns Son of Suffering
Trials Make Pure Gold
Scripture to Respond Malachi 3:3 He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the LORD will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness, James 1:3-4 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
Reflection: Are you willing to learn to be silent, still and longsuffering during trials? Do you believe that it is through pain that God is getting the most out of us, for His glory and the blessing of others, and that your faith will be purified after refining?
Prayer: Dear Lord, please help me embrace the refining of life with a more willing heart. I am willing to become an instrument useful to you.
Wong Wai Tung (Chief executive officer of The Great Wall Education Foundation) & Sam Chow (Administrative officer of The Great Wall Education Foundation) Reflection and prayer translated by Jenny Hung
