Receiving Suffering
Mary Wilder Tileston teaches that receiving suffering is a way to offer it as a sacrifice to God, bringing dignity and purpose to what might otherwise be painful and annoying.
Mary Wilder Tileston emphasizes the importance of maintaining a calm and unwavering spirit in the face of trials and suffering, finding delight in God's presence and His will. She encourages offering up daily struggles as sacrifices to God, embracing them with dignity and purpose rather than resisting them. By surrendering to God and accepting suffering willingly, one can find that the burden becomes lighter and more bearable.
Text
Take heed, and be quiet; fear not, neither be faint.hearted.
--ISAIAH 7:4
THOUGH everything without fall into confusion, and though thy body be in pain and suffering, and thy soul in desolation and distress, yet let thy spirit be unmoved by it all, placid and serene, delighted in and with its God inwardly, and with His good pleas.ure outwardly.
--GERHARD TERSTEEGEN
To say each morning, "I must have things weariful, painful, to bear to.day, and they shall all be offered up beforehand as my heart's sacrifice; they shall be, not fought against, but received calmly and as welcome, for His sake who suffers them to come," gives a dignity, a purpose, nay, a very joy to what otherwise is all cheerless annoyance.
--H. L. SIDNEY LEAR
As soon as anything presents itself to your mind as a suffering, and you feel a repugnance to it, resign yourself immediately to God with respect to it; give yourself up to Him in sacrifice, and you will find that, when the cross arrives, it will not be so very burden.some, because you had disposed yourself to a willing reception of it.
--MADAME GUYON
Sermon Outline
- The Importance of Receiving Suffering
- God's sovereignty in suffering
- The role of the human spirit in receiving suffering
Key Quotes
“Though everything without fall into confusion, and though thy body be in pain and suffering, and thy soul in desolation and distress, yet let thy spirit be unmoved by it all, placid and serene, delighted in and with its God inwardly, and with His good pleasure outwardly.” — Mary Wilder Tileston
“To say each morning, 'I must have things weariful, painful, to bear today, and they shall all be offered up beforehand as my heart's sacrifice; they shall be, not fought against, but received calmly and as welcome, for His sake who suffers them to come,' gives a dignity, a purpose, nay, a very joy to what otherwise is all cheerless annoyance.” — Mary Wilder Tileston
Application Points
- Prepare yourself to receive suffering by resigning yourself to God and giving yourself up to Him in sacrifice.
- Find joy and peace in the midst of pain and distress by delighting in God's presence and pleasure.
- Offer your suffering as a sacrifice to God, bringing dignity and purpose to what might otherwise be painful and annoying.