Suffering and the Rock of Ages
Learning to kiss the waves of trial
Trials ebb and flow throughout the course of our lives. We have seasons in which we feel we’re being tossed about from one trial to the next — they come in wave after wave. The words of the Psalmist echo as we struggle to catch our breath: “Deep calls to deep at the roar of your waterfalls; all your breakers and your waves have gone over me. (Psalm 42:7).”
James starts out his epistle by telling fellow believers to “count in all joy” when trials come. Joy? Can there really be joy when you’re being battered against the rocks, crushed under the weight of despair and suffering?
Yes. In fact, for those in Christ it is suffering that tests and refines our faith. For the Christian, joy is firmly fixed to the promises of an unchangeable God.
The 19th century Baptist minister Charles Spurgeon was not a stranger to suffering. The same man that was dubbed the “Prince of Preachers” and who amassed thousands at the Metropolitan Tabernacle also battled depression.
While this Victorian preacher was well-known for his wit and cheerful demeanor, physical ailments coupled with a myriad of bereavements led the cheerful Englishman through sloughs of despond. Of this he said:
“When troubles multiply, and discouragements follow each other in long succession, like Job's messengers, then, too, amid the perturbation of soul occasioned by evil tidings, despondency despoils the heart of all its peace. Constant dropping wears away stones, and the bravest minds feel the fret of repeated afflictions. If a scanty cupboard is rendered a severer trial by the sickness of a wife or the loss of a child, and if ungenerous remarks of hearers are followed by the opposition of deacons and the coolness of members, then, like Jacob, we are apt to cry, ‘All these things are against me’...Wave upon wave is severe work for the strongest swimmer.”
— The Minister's Fainting Fits; Lectures to My Students
But, as James taught, we are not supposed to be dismayed when trials and sufferings of life encompass us. Spurgeon knew this. He knew full well that suffering was never meaningless for those in Christ. At the close of the lecture he admonished his students with a wisdom that is only wrought through suffering:
“By all the castings down of his servants God is glorified, for they are led to magnify him when again he sets them on their feet, and even while prostrate in the dust their faith yields him praise…Put no trust in frames and feelings. Care more for a grain of faith than a ton of excitement. Trust in God alone, and lean not on the reeds of human help. Be not surprised when friends fail you: it is a failing world.”
Only a soul who has held fast to the anchor of Christ during misery and despair can learn to kiss the waves of trial that batter him. In Christ, your suffering and your hour of trial is never in vain.
We’re called to be patient, to endure, and to persevere — but we do not do it alone. The same God that knows our weaknesses and knows our frame is the same God that will pull us out from the depths when He is ready.
We can hold fast to the hope that when the waves encompass us and the currents threaten to pull us down we have a Savior who is sovereign over all. The winds and waves of His mercy are stronger and they will ultimately cast us upon our final shore — an eternity with Him.
So fix your eyes upon Him, the Rock of Ages, Jesus strong and kind.