When you are suffering, stay near the cross of Christ – it heals, strengthens, and blesses, and it is the only place to be!
Hi, I’m Joni, and I’m spending time in one of my old favorite books.
Actually, it was not a favorite when I was first given it. My friend Diana handed it to me decades ago, shortly after I got out of the hospital right after my diving accident. She gave me this small book – it was written in the 1800s by an old Scottish preacher named Horatius Bonar. I stared at the title: “Night of Weeping: When God’s Children Suffer.” I looked up to Diana, a little bewildered. She just pointed to the cover and said, “Joni, if you haven’t already figured it out, that’s you. And you need to know what God is doing when his children suffer.” And so, Diana took the little book, broke its binding, three-hole punched all the pages, and slipped them into a three-ring binder. She opened and propped the binder on a black music stand and gave me my mouth stick – that’s a long stick with an eraser on one end that enables me to turn pages with my mouth – and she said, “There you go. You’re all set. You have no excuse but to read the book.”
Well, not even a quarter way into this little volume, I was hooked. The pages were not filled with lightweight content or feel-good stories. No, my afflictions were too deep for that. My suffering wasn’t about to be satisfied with insights that merely skated the surface of my need. I mean, my needs were just too pressing. Paralysis was too big of a thing to be assuaged by featherweight content. And so, I lived in that little book for maybe a month or more, underlining things and asking Diana to yellow highlight sentences. Horatius Bonar had hit a chord in my heart. And you know what? I still have that little book. Fifty years have passed, and it’s still a treasure; I still know exactly where it sits on my bookshelf, should my hardships require a reminder of rugged Bible truths from the old Scottish preacher.
The other day, I was showing “Night of Weeping: When God’s Children Suffer” to a friend, and I noticed all kinds of yellow highlights on the old pages. Like this one: it said, “Smoothness and brightness and greenness are not the features of the narrow way; but rather, thorns and briars, darkness and dust, and ruggedness, all along fighting without and fears within. Joy and security yonder – but here, endurance, and watchfulness – it’s the race, the battle, the burden, the stumbling block, and often times, the heavy heart. However, the destination is glory, honor, and immortality. But on the way, there is the thorn in the flesh, the sackcloth, and the cross. The cross, heals, unites, strengthens, quickens, and blesses. It is the wing, under which we are gathered and ‘he that dwells in the secret place of the most high shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.’… The cross on which we are crucified with Christ and the cross which we carry are different things, yet they both point in one direction, and lead us along [the] way. [The narrow way]. The cross brings both our hearts and our wills to the side of God.”
Now, I don’t know if that resonates with you, but I sure hope so, especially if you are struggling under a weight of affliction. And take these words by Horatius Bonar as your hope in hardship today. And if you’d like to see a copy of that old book by this Scottish preacher, I’ve posted a photo of it at joniradio.org. And finally, friend, stay near the cross, for it heals, unites, strengthens, and blesses; oh, does it bless! It’s the only place to be when God’s children suffer. We’ll see you over at joniradio.org.
© Joni and Friends