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經文：「親愛的弟兄阿，有火煉的試驗臨到你們，不要以為奇怪…倒要歡喜．因為你們是與基督一同受苦。」（彼前4:12-13） 大衛的苦難使他的古琴發出更動人的音樂，他的遇險使他發出「感謝和歌唱的聲音」（賽51:3）；他的詩篇直到今日能叫許多軟弱的信徒得到幫助，叫天上的父神得到快樂。 究竟是甚麼使耶西的兒子能有這般屬靈的藝術呢？是仇敵的吼叫，逼他向神發出呼求。神大能的拯救與豐富的恩慈，使他唱出感謝和歡樂的讚美。所以每一次的苦難在他的琴上添一根弦；每一次的拯救給他一個讚美的新題材。 躲過一次痛苦，扣留一回祝福；避過一次危難，失去一回榮耀。平穩度日的人因為不懂得依靠，所以他們不會看見父神的榮耀，也就無法唱出讚美來。 如果我們想要更加明白屬靈的奧秘，就不能懼怕在前方等待我們的苦難；因為正有許多寶貴的功課，就是必須在苦難中才能學到的。--Anna Shipton 「祂試驗我，為要派我服事祂。」（提前1:12）--Way's Translation 新譯｜荒漠甘泉讀書會
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Scripture: "Beloved, do not be surprised at the ordeal that has come to test you…you are sharing what Christ suffered; so rejoice in it" (1 Peter 4:12). Many a waiting hour was needful to enrich the harp of David, and many a waiting hour in the wilderness will gather for us a psalm of "thanksgiving, and the voice of melody," to cheer the hearts of fainting ones here below, and to make glad our Father's house on high. What was the preparation of the son of Jesse for the songs like unto which none other have ever sounded on this earth? The outrage of the wicked, which brought forth cries for God's help. Then the faint hope in God's goodness blossomed into a song of rejoicing for His mighty deliverances and manifold mercies. Every sorrow was another string to his harp; every deliverance another theme for praise. One thrill of anguish spared, one blessing unmarked or unprized, one difficulty or danger evaded, how great would have been our loss in that thrilling Psalmody in which God's people today find the expression of their grief or praise! To wait for God, and to suffer His will, is to know Him in the fellowship of His sufferings, and to be conformed to the likeness of His Son. So now, if the vessel is to be enlarged for spiritual understanding, be not affrighted at the wider sphere of suffering that awaits you. The Divine capacity of sympathy will have a more extended sphere, for the breathing of the Holy Ghost in the new creation never made a stoic, but left the heart's affection tender and true. --Anna Shipton "He tested me ere He entrusted me" (1 Tim. 1:12, Way's Trans.). ｜ Mrs. Charles Cowman
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