October 24

"I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument"(Isa. 41:15)

A bar of steel worth five dollars, when wrought¹ into horseshoes, is worth ten dollars. If made into needles, it is worth three hundred and fifty dollars; if into penknife blades, it is worth thirty-two thousand dollars; if into springs for watches it is worth two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. What a drilling the poor bar must undergo to be worth this! But the more it is manipulated, the more it is hammered and passed through the fire, and beaten and pounded and polished, the greater the value.

May this parable² help us to be silent, still, and longsuffering. Those who suffer most are capable of yielding most; and it is through pain that God is getting the most out of us, for His glory and the blessing³ of others. ━Selected

"Oh, give Thy servant patience to be still,

And bear Thy will;

Courage to venture wholly on the arm

That will not harm;

The wisdom that will never let me stray

Out of my way;

The love that, now afflicting⁴, knoweth best

When I should rest. "

Life is very mysterious. Indeed it would be inexplicable⁵ unless we believed that God was preparing us for scenes and ministries⁶ that lie beyond the veil of sense in the eternal world, where highly-tempered spirits will be required for special service.

"The turning-lathe that has the sharpest knives produces the finest work."

十月二十四日

「我已使你成为有快齿打粮的新器具。」 （赛四十一:15）

一条值五块钱的钢铁，如果作成蹄铁，可以卖十块钱；如果作成细针，可以卖三百五十块钱；如果作成小刀，可以卖三万二千块钱；如果作成钟表上的发条，可以卖二十五万块钱。但愿一根钢条，要值到这许多钱，必须经过多少锻炼啊！钢铁越经锻炼、锤打、琢磨、越是值钱，这是人所共知的。

但愿这个譬喻能帮住我们缄默、安静、坚忍。受苦受得最多的人，常是结果结得最多的人，因为我们的苦难能叫神得到荣耀，叫人得到祝福。━选

赐祢仆人耐心，

能安静遵从祢的旨意；

赐我勇气，

敢完全投靠到祢的手臂；

赐我智慧，

使我永远不致走入邪途；

赐我爱心，

使我知道暂时苦楚必得安憩。

生命是很神秘的，生命确实是难以说明的，除非我们相信神正在为我们准备场所和事工，那里需要经过高度锻炼的心灵来从事特殊的事工。

「配有最锋利刀具的车床，能生产出最精细的产品。」

1 wrought   

v.引起；以…原料制作；运转；adj.制造的

参考例句：

• Events in Paris wrought a change in British opinion towards France and Germany.巴黎发生的事件改变了英国对法国和德国的看法。
• It's a walking stick with a gold head wrought in the form of a flower.那是一个金质花形包头的拐杖。

2 parable   

n.寓言，比喻

参考例句：

• This is an ancient parable.这是一个古老的寓言。
• The minister preached a sermon on the parable of the lost sheep.牧师讲道时用了亡羊的比喻。

3 blessing   

n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿

参考例句：

• The blessing was said in Hebrew.祷告用了希伯来语。
• A double blessing has descended upon the house.双喜临门。

4 afflicting   

痛苦的

参考例句：

• Violent crime is only one of the maladies afflicting modern society. 暴力犯罪仅仅是困扰现代社会的严重问题之一。
• Violent crime is only one of the maladies afflicting modern society. 暴力犯罪仅仅是危害社会的弊病之一。

5 inexplicable   

adj.无法解释的，难理解的

参考例句：

• It is now inexplicable how that development was misinterpreted.当时对这一事态发展的错误理解究竟是怎么产生的，现在已经无法说清楚了。
• There are many things which are inexplicable by science.有很多事科学还无法解释。

6 ministries   

（政府的）部( ministry的名词复数 )； 神职； 牧师职位； 神职任期

参考例句：

• Local authorities must refer everything to the central ministries. 地方管理机构应请示中央主管部门。
• The number of Ministries has been pared down by a third. 部委的数量已经减少了1/3。