Puritan thinker and author William Gurnall, when writing about how we can have assurance when our various comforts have left us, shares this piece of insight:

Take heed thou thinkest not grace decays because thy comfort withdraws… Did ever faith triumph more in our Saviour crying “My God, my God!” Here faith was at its meridian when it was midnight in respect of joy.

These are thoughts we’re acquainted with. Most of us have already reasoned with our spirit that our standing with God isn’t necessarily measured by the comforts we’re enjoying. But, it’s good to be reminded.

Gurnall, then, reminds us that perhaps the highest peak of Christ’s faith rested on him as he hung on the cross. Yet, in that moment, there was perhaps nothing more emotionally and spiritually and physically painful. And likewise, we can remember that. 

We do not need our comfort to be full of faith and confidence in God’s power and love for us. It’s just there.

Job 10:1-3:

"I loathe my life;I will give free utterance to my complaint;
   I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.
I will say to God, Do not condemn me;
   let me know why you contend against me.
Does it seem good to you to oppress,
   to despise the work of your hands
    and favor the designs of the wicked?”

The book of Job is kind the of go-to book for people in the midst of trials. But I think that Job presses on the major difficulty we all have underneath our trials: Why?

In the flesh, “just because” isn’t a satisfying answer. And some wager between God and the Devil seems even less settling. I think we would like to find comfort in understanding our plight. But I suspect that it’s an unreasonable request. As the book of Job affirms over and over again, God is not like us. He doesn’t think like us. He doesn’t operate like us. The difficulty we experience in this life is not something we’re probably going to get to understand. Maybe ever.

So, while the story of Job is often used to comfort the distressed, I think the Gospel, in all of its simplicity, should really go much farther in achieving that goal.

Matthew Henry writes:

“That is best for us which is best for our souls, though it be unpleasing to sense.”

The verse he had in mind when he wrote that was Ecclesiastes 7:3:

Sorrow is better than laughter,
    for by sadness of face the heart is made glad.

I had to scratch my head at that verse for a little while before I grasped what was in mind when it was written. The English language really makes things confusing here. It almost seems like a paradox—a ‘sad’ face makes a ‘glad’ heart?

But the concept he’s touching on here is much bigger than it would seem at first.

Our physical, temporal appreciation for life and our heart-gut level appreciation for it do not necessarily line up all the time. If we allow ourselves to sink into old, sinful habits, we may enjoy the temporal experience. But our soul is wincing in pain.

The argument is being made that often temporal discomfort is much better for the soul than anything otherwise. And what is better for the soul will make us truly ‘glad’.

I think this is a concept Americans have difficulty grasping because in our society of the middle-class, there’s virtually always a way out of any kind of temporal discomfort. I imagine that few of us can really understand what these writers are saying.

Yesterday I wrote about self-righteousness being revealed in our guilt after some stubborn failure in sin. Last night, I was reading in Isaiah, and there was a short bit that really stuck out to me. I thought I’d like to share it. The verses speak fairly clearly enough for themselves.

Isaiah 12:1-5

You will say in that day: "I will give thanks to you, O LORD,
   for though you were angry with me,
your anger turned away,
   that you might comfort me.

"Behold, God is my salvation;
   I will trust, and will not be afraid;
for the LORD GOD is my strength and my song,
   and he has become my salvation."

With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. And you will say in that day:
"Give thanks to the LORD,
   call upon his name,
make known his deeds among the peoples,
   proclaim that his name is exalted.

"Sing praises to the LORD, for he has done gloriously;
   let this be made known in all the earth.