07/15/2026
July 15, 2026
Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.
James 1:12
The greatest helpers of humanity have been its cross-bearers. The leaders of men have suffered in loneliness; the prophets have learned their lessons in the school of pain. The corals in the sheltered lagoon grow rank and useless; those that are broken and crushed by the surf form the living rock and the foundations of continents. Ease has not produced greatness.
Men who have had to struggle with an unfavorable environment, to fight cold, to buffet the storm, to blast the rock or wring a livelihood from hard soil, have won character by their pains.
The bird rises against a strong head wind, not only in spite of the wind but because of it. The opposing force becomes a lifting force if faced at the right angle.
The storm may buffet ships and rend the rigging, but it makes strong hands and brave hearts. Oh, fellow-voyager amid the storms and calms of life’s wide sea, “Spread they sails to catch the favoring breezes of adversity.”
If the greatest character of all time, even He who was the very touchstone of destiny, could be made perfect only through suffering, (Hebrews 2:10; 5:8-9), is it not probable that you and I must be also?
The best things all lie beyond some battle plain: you must fight your way across the field to get them!
High natures must be thunder-scarred
With many a searing wrong!
Naught unmarred with struggle hard,
Can make the soul’s sinews strong.
(James Russell Lowell 1819-1891)
Take the hardest thing in your life—the place of difficulty, outward or inward, and expect God to triumph gloriously in that very spot. Just there He can bring your soul into blossom. (Lilias Trotter 1853-1928)
Streams in the Desert
by: Littie Burd Cowman (1870-1960)
