Luke 4:38-39 And he arose out of the synagogue, and entered into Simon's house. And Simon's wife's mother was taken with a great fever… When God would rescue a man from that unreal world of names and mere knowledge, He does what He did with Job — He strips him of his flocks, and his herds, and his wealth; or else, what is the equivalent, of the power of enjoying them — the desire of his eyes falls from him at a stroke. Things become real then. Trial brings man face to face with God — God and he touch; and the flimsy veil of bright cloud that hung between him and the sky is blown away; he feels that he is standing outside the earth with nothing between him and the Eternal Infinite. Oh I there is something in the sick-bed, and the aching heart, and the restlessness and the languor of shattered health, and the sorrow of affections withered, and the stream of life poisoned at its fountain, and the cold, lonely feeling of utter rawness of heart which is felt when God strikes home in earnest that forces a man to feel what is real and what is not. This is the blessing of affliction to those who will lie still and not struggle in a cowardly or a resentful way. It is God speaking to Job out of the whirlwind, and saying: " In the sunshine and the warmth you cannot meet Me; but in the hurricane and the darkness, when wave after wave has swept down and across the soul, you shall see My Form, and hear My Voice, and know that your Redeemer liveth." (F. W. Robertson.) Parallel Verses KJV: And he arose out of the synagogue, and entered into Simon's house. And Simon's wife's mother was taken with a great fever; and they besought him for her. |
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