«Your faith grows exceedingly, and the love of every one of you all abounds toward each other . . . your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that you endure» (2 Thessalonians 1:3, 4).
THE CENTRIPETAL AND CENTRIFUGAL FORCES, acting in opposition to each other, act and react in such a way that the earth, rather than flying out of space, remains in the path of its orbit in balance and spinning around the sun.
Similarly, the driving force that comes from God and the driving force that are the result of the pressures received as we face adversity, balance our Christian walk. We have to thank God for both wings to fly and for the weights that hold us back. And thus guided by God we advance with faith and patience in our sacred vocation.
Paul is thankful for the faith that grows and the love that abounds. They are the wings provided by God’s driving force. But he also mentions patience and faith to face the weights of persecutions and tribulations.
Patience and faith are combined, for without divine help it is impossible to have a patience that leads us to growth. We do not need a stoic patience, but an active and productive patience that leads us to endure, that is to say, to stand upright, standing firmly and moving forward.
«The great stories were written in the blood of their authors. Joseph would not have reached the pinnacle of glory without passing through the well of adversity. Nebuchadnezzar would not have been saved if the three faithful young men had not walked inside the fiery furnace. The jailer of Philippi would not have been baptized if instead of singing, Paul and Silas had complained, and instead of staying after the earthquake, would have escaped.
Ellen G. White adopted an attitude of joy in adversity, for her faith did not allow her to be sad. However, there were times when she suffered greatly, for example, in Australia. Widowed and sick and confined to bed for months, she herself wrote that the Lord brings about the good in all things. «I now look upon this matter as a part of the Lord’s great plan, for the good of His people here in this country, and for those in America, and for my good. I cannot explain why or how, but I believe it. And I am happy in my affliction. I can trust my Heavenly Father. I will not doubt His love» (Counsels for the Church, P. 22).
God always balances our weights with His wings.
We can be sure that if God lets us walk among stones,
He will give us proper shoes. The same Lord who allows the weights that hold us back gives us the wings to fly.
