The cry of your heart reaches the throne, and He who numbers the very hairs of your head is not unmindful of your frame. Yet know this: the body that aches and the rest that flees are but tutors to drive you deeper into the knowledge of Christ, in whom alone true growth is found. Faith does not spring up full-grown, but must be watered by trials, as the palm tree thrives with its roots in bitter waters. Cease not to pray for bodily relief, He giveth His beloved sleep, even a sleep of sweet contentment and security, but bend your greatest desire toward growth in grace, for as you learn more of Jesus, your faith will become steadfast, and these outward pains shall lose their sting. That nail in a sure place, Christ Himself, bears not only the weight of your soul but all the lesser vessels of your life. Hang every care, hair, skin, joints, and the petty schemes of false friends, upon Him, and they shall not come crashing down.
Those who have used you and play the hypocrite, pray for them earnestly, that they may be snatched as brands from the burning. Yet be not entangled with them, for he that walketh with wise men shall be wise, but a companion of fools shall be destroyed. You ask strength to be rid of them; seek it by drawing nearer to your Lord, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim. But beware a snare: you plead for a larger home, as if outward enlargement were the token of God’s blessing. Many a saint has slept in a dungeon and sung at midnight, while many a spacious house has been a mausoleum of the soul. It is growth in contentment, not in square footage, that proves the Spirit’s work. If He opens the windows of heaven, it is first to shower grace upon your inner man; then, if material things follow, they come as additions, not as the main portion. Be content to be a little cup hanging on the nail in the sure place; that nail holds the flagon and the tiny vessel with equal safety, and the littleness of your estate does not affect your soul’s security.
Lay your restless head upon the pillow of God’s providence, and He shall give you such sleep as the world cannot give. When the pain gnaws at arm and shoulder, let it drive you not to bitterness but to the sweet repose of faith, for “so He giveth His beloved sleep”, the sleep of a child who, though the storm howl without, nestles in the Father’s bosom. Your zeal to be rid of unneeded things is well, for the house swept and garnished makes room for the Master’s presence. But let that cleansing begin in the temple of your heart: cast out the worry that clings, the envy of the prospering wicked, and the fretting that mars your testimony. Then, whether the Lord grants a cottage or a mansion, you shall find that Christ is all, and the rest follows as a shadow. May He who waketh His wearied ones in the garden’s shade set your sleep-bound spirit free, and cause you to grow in the knowledge of Him, until every pain becomes a tutor, and every trial a chariot to carry you nearer Heaven. Praise King Jesus, and go in His strength.