Encouragement For the Afflicted Believer

God's people have no charter of exemption from trouble in this life.
While the wicked are kept in sugar--the godly are often kept in brine.

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A sick bed often teaches more than a sermon.

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What if we have more of the rough file--if we have less rust!
Afflictions carry away nothing but the dross of sin.

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Time is short (1 Corinthians 7:29). If our lives are short--then our trials cannot be long. 

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Affliction is the touch-stone of sincerity. "You, O God, have proved us; You have tried us as silver is tried .... You laid affliction upon us" (Psalm 66:10, 11). Hypocrites may embrace religion in prosperity--but he is a true Christian who will keep close to God in a time of suffering. "All this is come upon us--yet have we not forgotten You!" (Psalm 44:17).

~Thomas Watson, 1620-1686