"Glorify ye the Lord in the fires." (Isa. 24:15)
Mark the little word "in"! We are to honor Him in the trial--in that which is an affliction indeed and though there have been cases where God did not let His saints feel the fire, yet, ordinarily, fire hurts.
But just here we are to glorify Him by our perfect faith in His goodness and love that has permitted all this to come upon us.
And more than that, we are to believe that out of this is coming something more for His praise than could have come but for this fiery trial.
We can only go through some fires with a large faith; little faith will fail. We must have the victory in the furnace. --Margaret Bottome.
A man has as much religion as he can show in times of trouble. The men who were cast into the fiery furnace came out as they went in--except their bonds.
How often in some furnace of affliction God strikes them off! Their bodies were unhurt--their skin not even blistered. Their hair was unsinged, their garments not scorched, and even the smell of fire had not passed upon them. And that is the way Christians should come out of furnace trials--liberated from their bonds, but untouched by the flames.
"Triumphing over them in it." (Col. 2:15)
That is the real triumph--triumphing over sickness, in it; triumphing over death, dying; triumphing over adverse circumstances, in them. Oh, believe me, there is a power that can make us victors in the strife. There are heights to be reached where we can look down and over the way we have come, and sing our song of triumph on this side of Heaven. We can make others regard us as rich, while we are poor, and make many rich in our poverty. Our triumph is to be in it. Christ's triumph was in His humiliation. Possibly our triumph, also, is to be made manifest in what seems to others humiliation. --Margaret Bottome.
Is there not something captivating in the sight of a man or a woman burdened with many tribulations and yet carrying a heart as sound as a bell? Is there not something contagiously valorous in the vision of one who is greatly tempted, but is more than conqueror? Is it not heartening to see some pilgrim who is broken in body, but who retains the splendor of an unbroken patience? What a witness all this offers to the enduement of His grace! --J. H. Jowett.
"When each earthly prop gives under,
And life seems a restless sea,
Are you then a God-kept wonder,
Satisfied and calm and free?"
四月三日
“因你们要在火中荣耀耶和华”（赛二十四：15直译）。
注意这小字“在！”我们要在火中——试炼中（彼前四：12）——荣耀他。虽然那里是一个受苦的地方，我们要用信心来荣耀他。我们相信他是良善的，慈爱的，他既准许“火炼的试验临到”我们，我们相信试炼过后，我们会有更多赞美和感谢的根据。
只有大信心才能通过火的试炼，小信必注定失败，让我们争取烈火中的得胜！——濮登
在困难中的人才能表现他的信心坚决，被投入烈焰中的三个少年人（但以理的同伴），他们从火焰中出来的时候，和被投进去的时候只有一点不同——他们的捆绑已经解除了。
神使他们经过了炉火的试炼，结果毫无损伤——身体不伤，头发不焦，衣裳不变色，也没有火燎气味。前后不同的就是身上缺了捆绑，脸上添了荣光。难怪亵渎神的尼布甲尼撒不得不屈服来赞美荣耀神了。今天基督徒从试炼的炉中出来的时候，也该这样——脱了捆绑，添上荣光，丝毫不受火的影响。——选
“就仗着十字架夸胜。”（西二：15）
这是真正的得胜，从疾病中战胜病魔，从奄奄一息中战胜死亡，从逆境中战胜。必需相信，在奋斗中，有一种使我们胜利的力量。要从试炼之中去获取胜利。基督在他的屈辱中得到胜利。我们的胜利，或许也要从别人认为屈辱的境遇中去发现。——濮登
有许多人，肩头上压着沉重的担子，心中仍满了喜乐，岂非可奇吗？有许多人在受到逼迫攻击下，仍能得胜有余，岂非可敬？有许多人身体破碎，仍保持着完好的信心，岂非可羡？他们对神的恩典，这些都是最美好的见证。——乔怀德
人间的支柱都在动摇，
生命如在烈火中煎熬，
你是否不愧为基督信徒，
镇定，自在而心无牢骚？