November 12, Morning

C. H. Spurgeon · Modern retelling

"The trial of your faith." — 1 Peter 1:7 · KJV

Faith untried may be true faith, but it is sure to be little faith, and it is likely to stay dwarfish so long as it is without trials. Faith never prospers so well as when all things are against her: tempests are her trainers, and lightnings her illuminators. When a calm reigns on the sea, spread the sails as you will, the ship does not move to its harbor; on a slumbering ocean the keel sleeps too. Let the winds rush howling forth, and the waters lift themselves up, and then, though the vessel may rock, her deck be washed with waves, and her mast creak under the pressure of the full and swelling sail, it is then that she makes headway toward her desired haven. No flowers wear so lovely a blue as those that grow at the foot of the frozen glacier; no stars gleam so brightly as those that glisten in the polar sky; no water tastes so sweet as that which springs amid the desert sand; and no faith is so precious as that which lives and triumphs in adversity. Tried faith brings experience. You could not have believed your own weakness had you not been forced to pass through the rivers; and you would never have known God's strength had you not been supported amid the floods. Faith increases in solidity, assurance, and intensity, the more it is exercised with tribulation. Faith is precious, and its trial is precious too. Let not this, however, discourage those who are young in faith. You will have trials enough without seeking them; the full portion will be measured out to you in due season. Meanwhile, if you cannot yet claim the fruit of long experience, thank God for what grace you have; praise Him for the degree of holy confidence you have reached; walk according to that rule, and you shall have more and more of the blessing of God, till your faith shall remove mountains and conquer impossibilities.