May 3, Morning

C. H. Spurgeon · Modern retelling

"In the world ye shall have tribulation." — John 16:33 · KJV

Are you asking the reason for this, Believer? Look upward to your heavenly Father and consider how pure and holy He is. Do you understand that you are one day to be like Him? Will you be shaped into His image easily? Will you not need much refining in the furnace of affliction to purify you? Will it be a light thing to be rid of your corruptions and made perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect? Next, Christian, turn your eyes downward. Do you know what enemies lie beneath your feet? You were once a servant of Satan, and no king willingly loses his subjects. Do you imagine he will leave you alone? No, he will always be at you, for he "goeth about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour." Expect trouble, then, when you look below you. Now look around you. Where are you? You are in enemy country, a stranger and a temporary resident. The world is not your friend; and if it were, you would not be God's friend, for whoever is the friend of the world is the enemy of God. Be sure of it, you will meet opponents everywhere. When you sleep, remember you are resting on a battlefield; when you walk, suspect an ambush behind every hedge. As mosquitoes are said to bite strangers more than natives, so the trials of earth will bite most sharply at you. Last of all, look within, into your own heart, and notice what is there. Sin and self are still lodged inside. If you had no devil to tempt you, no enemies to fight you, and no world to trap you, you would still find evil enough within yourself to be a serious trouble to you, for "the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked." Expect trouble, then, but do not despair because of it, for God is with you to help you and strengthen you. He has said, "I will be with thee in trouble; I will deliver thee and honour thee."