The evangelist George Whitefield had just survived a dangerous nine and a half week long voyage across the Atlantic from America in which he and all on board came close to losing their lives. In his journal entry for Tuesday, November 14, 1738, he stated, "Whilst I continue on this side Eternity, I never expect to be free from trials, only to change them. For it is necessary to heal the pride of my heart, that such should come."

Christians today are looking for the absence of trials. The saints of old understood that the Christian life took them from one trial to another for the cause of Christ. "Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God" (Acts 14:22Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.
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