FJWL_02:12
         Think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you; knowing this, that the trying of your faith works patience. Let patience have her perfect work, that you may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing--whole but broken; in pieces, but one.
         It is for a purpose. It is a test of your worthiness. For as the metal is heated and forged in the fire and put under the hammer and cast into the cold and thrown again into the heat and bashed again on the anvil with the hammer to strengthen it and to temper it, so it is with you. There is nothing you can do about it. It is an affliction from the spirit, and all the remedies of man and all the words of man's wisdom cannot do anything to defeat My purpose.
         The only remedy is faith--faith to trust in Me, faith to trust in My Words, faith to hold on, knowing that I have promised that I will make you whole. When My purpose is accomplished, you shall be restored to full health.
         It is the furnace of My love, and the heat of the furnace burns out the dross and the wood and the hay and the stubble. The hammer and the anvil pounds out the false strength and independence and pride and self. The cold waters drown the worldliness and the desire for the things of the world. And this process goes on over and over until the metal is forged and strong and fit for the Master's use.
         So if you must fight, fight to stay close to Me, fight to trust Me, fight to have faith in Me and in My Words and in My promises. See each heating and each hitting and each drowning as part of the goal of strengthening you, of making you into the tool and vessel that I wish to make. Don't be afraid, for the aches and the pains will all cease in My time.
         I will honor you with humility. I will honor you with desperation. I will honor you with closeness to Me. For there is no greater honor that can be bestowed upon a man than that a man is so low that I can touch him, and that a man is so weak that I can keep him, and that a man is so desperate that I will hear him. For the honor of God is different than the honor of man, and I bestow upon you the honor of God. (ML #2993)



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