0625 在悲傷火焰中接納自己
…我說什麼才好呢？父啊，救我脫離這時候。但我原是為這時候來的。父啊，願你榮耀你的名。 《約翰福音 12:27-28》
作為神的聖徒，我對待悲傷和困難的態度不應該是求阻止它們，而是請求神保護我，使我能夠繼續保持祂創造我的所是，儘管在我一切悲傷火焰。我們的主在悲傷烈火中接納了自己，接受了祂的地位並實現了祂的目的。祂不是被拯救脫離了那時辰，而是在那時辰中得救。
我們說不應該有悲傷，但悲傷確實存在，我們必須在其烈火中接受並接納自己。如果我們試圖逃避悲傷，拒絕面對處理它，我們就是愚不可及的。悲傷是生命中最大的事實之一，說不應該有悲傷是沒有用的。罪惡、悲傷和苦難都是存在的，我們不能說神允許它們就是錯誤的。
悲傷很大程度消除了一個人的膚淺，但並不總是使這人變得更好。苦難要麼讓我擁有自我，要麼摧毀我。你無法通過成功找到或接納自己，因為你會因驕傲而失去理智。你也無法通過一成不變的日常生活來接納自己，因為你會陷入抱怨中。找到自己的唯一途徑就是在悲傷火焰中。為什麼會這樣並不重要；事實上，在聖經和人類的經驗里都是真的。
你總能辨識出誰經歷了悲傷火焰並接納了自己，你知道在你困境時你可以去找祂，並發現祂有足夠的時間給你。但如果一個人沒有經歷過悲傷的火焰，他很容易輕蔑你，對你不尊重或沒有時間給你，只會把你拒之門外。如果你在悲傷火焰中會接納自己，神就會使你成為他人的滋養。
來自章伯斯的智慧
我們對神的看法有可能像熔化的鉛倒入專門設計的模具中一樣危險，當它又冷又硬時，我們就把它扔到不同意我們觀點的宗教人士的頭上。《真的門徒》
0625 Receiving Yourself in the Fires of Sorrow
…what shall I say? “Father, save Me from this hour”? But for this purpose I came to this hour. “Father, glorify Your name.” —John 12:27-28
As a saint of God, my attitude toward sorrow and difficulty should not be to ask that they be prevented, but to ask that God protect me so that I may remain what He created me to be, in spite of all my fires of sorrow. Our Lord received Himself, accepting His position and realizing His purpose, in the midst of the fire of sorrow. He was saved not from the hour, but out of the hour.
We say that there ought to be no sorrow, but there is sorrow, and we have to accept and receive ourselves in its fires. If we try to evade sorrow, refusing to deal with it, we are foolish. Sorrow is one of the biggest facts in life, and there is no use in saying it should not be. Sin, sorrow, and suffering are, and it is not for us to say that God has made a mistake in allowing them.
Sorrow removes a great deal of a person’s shallowness, but it does not always make that person better. Suffering either gives me to myself or it destroys me. You cannot find or receive yourself through success, because you lose your head over pride. And you cannot receive yourself through the monotony of your daily life, because you give in to complaining. The only way to find yourself is in the fires of sorrow. Why it should be this way is immaterial. The fact is that it is true in the Scriptures and in human experience. You can always recognize who has been through the fires of sorrow and received himself, and you know that you can go to him in your moment of trouble and find that he has plenty of time for you. But if a person has not been through the fires of sorrow, he is apt to be contemptuous, having no respect or time for you, only turning you away. If you will receive yourself in the fires of sorrow, God will make you nourishment for other people.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
It is perilously possible to make our conceptions of God like molten lead poured into a specially designed mould, and when it is cold and hard we fling it at the heads of the religious people who don’t agree with us. Disciples Indeed, 388 R