"He led them forth by the right way" (Psalm 107: 7).
Changes often lead the anxious believer to inquire, "Why is it like this with me? I looked for light, but darkness came. I looked for peace but experienced trouble. I said in my heart, 'My mountain stands firm; I will never be moved.' It was only yesterday that I could read my title clear. Today, my hopes are clouded. Is this part of God's plan for me? Can this be the way in which God would bring me to heaven?" Yes, it could be. The eclipse of your faith, the darkness of your mind, the fainting of your hope--all these things are part of God's method of making you ready for the great inheritance which you will soon receive. These trials are for the testing and strengthening of your faith--they are waves that wash you farther upon the rock--they are winds which waft your ship more swiftly toward the desired haven. According to David's words, so it might be said of you, "So he bringeth them to their desired haven" (Psalm 107: 30). By honor and dishonor, by evil report and by good report, by plenty and by poverty, by joy and by distress, by persecution and by peace, by all these things is the life of your soul maintained. Do not think, believer, that your sorrows are out of God's plan; they are necessary parts of it. "We must, through much tribulation, enter the Kingdom" (Acts 14: 22). Learn then to "count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations" (James 1: 2).