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經文：「你要的確知道，你的後裔必寄居別人的地....那地的人要苦待他們四百年....後來他們必帶著許多財物，從那裡出來。」（創15:12-14） 在神所賜的祝福中，有兩個是我們最不歡迎的：一是遲延，一是苦難。曾經，神給亞伯蘭一個誓約尚未實現，後來又給他的後裔一個同樣需要耐心等候的誓約。這些誓約雖然遲延，但是無論如何，至終都得到實現 ：以色列人出埃及的時候，果然「把埃及人的財物奪去了」。（出 12: 36） 神常用遲延和苦難來試驗我們；但是在這一切中卻立著神的誓約；那是祂在基督裡與我們所立的新約。所以請讓我們為著遲延和苦難來讚美祂吧，因為這是祂給我們的祝福。--崔倫保 C.G. Trumbull 新譯｜荒漠甘泉讀書會
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Scripture: "Know of a surety that thy seed shall be sojourners in a land that is not theirs; . . . they shall afflict them four hundred years; . . . and afterward they shall come out with great substance" (Gen. 15:12-14). An assured part of God's pledged blessing to us is delay and suffering. A delay in Abram's own lifetime that seemed to put God's pledge beyond fulfillment was followed by seemingly unendurable delay of Abram's descendants. But it was only a delay: they "came out with great substance." The pledge was redeemed. God is going to test me with delays; and with the delays will come suffering, but through it all stands God's pledge: His new covenant with me in Christ, and His inviolable promise of every lesser blessing that I need. The delay and the suffering are part of the promised blessing; let me praise Him for them today; and let me wait on the Lord and be of good courage and He will strengthen my heart. --C. G. Trumbull ｜ Mrs. Charles Cowman
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