September 19

I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction. — Isa 48:10

Does not the word come like a soft shower, assuaging the fury of the flame? Yea, is it not an asbestos armor, against which the heat hath no power? Let affliction come God has chosen me. Poverty, thou mayest stride in at my door but God is in the house already, and He has chosen me. Sickness, thou mayest intrude, but I have a balsam ready God has chosen me. Whatever befalls me in this vale of tears I know that He has “chosen” me. Fear not, Christian; Jesus is with thee. In all thy fiery trials His presence is both thy comfort and safety. He will never leave one whom He has chosen for His own. “Fear not, for I am with thee,” is His sure word of promise to His chosen ones in the “furnace of affliction.” — Spurgeon.