Read: Psalm 66:8-16

When you pass through the
waters, I will be with you;
…they shall not overflow
you. -Isaiah 43:2

In a book written in 1696, I found these statements:
“Sharp afflictions are to the soul as a soaking rain to
the house. We know not there are such holes in the roof
till the shower comes, and then we see it drop down here
and there. Perhaps we did not know that there were such
unmortified cuts in our soul till the storms of
affliction came, then we found unbelief, impatience, and
fear dropping down in many places.”

How true! Affliction tests us and proves what sort of
Christians we are. If there are defects in our
spiritual armor, they will show up under the strain and
pressure of trouble.

When the floodgates of distress are opened, it is then
we echo with understanding the words of the psalmist,
who exclaimed, “Save me, O God! For the waters have
come up to my neck” (Ps. 69:1). Yet we need not fear,
for it is our loving Father who allows the waters to
come, not to drown us but to cleanse us and help us to
see where our life needs repairing.

Have you been through a storm? Have you been
disturbed, irritated, faithless, fearful, or rebellious?
Consider that God may have put you through this
difficulty to reveal your spiritual needs. By prayer,
faith, and yielding to the Holy Spirit, repair the
“leaky roof.”
-Henry G. Bosch

God’s way is the best way, though I may not see
Why sorrows and trials oft gather ’round me;
He ever is seeking my gold to refine,
So humbly I trust Him, my Savior divine. -Leech

GOD TAKES US INTO DEEP WATERS
NOT TO DROWN US BUT TO CLEANSE US.

OUR DAILY BREAD, Copyright 1999 by Radio Bible Class,
Grand Rapids,Michigan. Used by permission.