We are not wise enough to judge as to things, whether they are really in their essence joys or sorrow, but the Lord knows; and, because he loves us with an unselfish and limitless love, he cannot fail to make the apparently hard, or cruel, or even wicked thing, work together for our best good. I say "cannot fail" simply because it is an unthinkable thing to suppose that such a God as ours could do otherwise.
It is no matter who starts our trial, whether human, or devil, or even our own foolish self. If God permits it to reach us, he has by this permission made the trial his own, and will turn it for us into a chariot of love which will carry our souls to a place of blessing that we could not have reached in any other way. I say that to the Christian who hides in the fortress of God's will, there can be no "second causes," for nothing can penetrate into that fortress unless the divine keeper of the fortress shall give it permission; and this permission, when given, means that he adopts it as being for our best good. Joseph was sold into Egypt by the wickedness of his brethren, but God made their wickedness the chariot that carried Joseph to his place of triumph over the Egyptians.
We may be certain therefore, more certain than we are that the sun will rise tomorrow that God's will is the most lovely thing the universe contains for us; and this, not because it always looks or seems the best, but because it cannot help being the best, since it is the will of infinite unselfishness and of infinite love. AUTHOR: Hannah Whitall Smith
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