August 21

O Lord, by such things men live, and in all of them my spirit finds life. You have restored me to health and have let me live. — Isa 38:16 BSB

When Hezekiah said, “By these things men live,” he meant that through trials and deliverances, through sinking low and rising again, through being stripped and clothed, emptied and filled—these are the things by which spiritual men live. It’s a mystery, yet it is true: as we die to the world, to self, to our senses, and to false religion, the life of God within us is strengthened. Some of you may have learned this through great afflictions. At first, these trials seemed like they would overwhelm you completely, shaking your faith and hope.

But as these floods of temptation swept over your soul, they carried away only the debris—the false teachings and false comforts you had mistaken for the Spirit’s work. Far from overwhelming your faith, you found that the very trial that seemed to threaten it instead strengthened it. True faith is not destroyed by severe trials, just as an oak tree is not harmed when the wind blows away the ivy or a storm takes down its dead branches. The more the wind blows upon the oak, the deeper its roots grow into the soil. Likewise, the storms that blow upon our souls only cause us to root ourselves more firmly in the truth, deepening our reliance on the Person, love, and work of Jesus. Thus, “by these things men live,” for it is through these trials that the life of God is maintained and strengthened in the soul, as the Holy Spirit works in us through what seems at first to be our undoing.