I have no doubt that the Lord has something to say in these things, and that exercise is needed to learn what His mind is. If you will read in Hebrews 12, you will see that there are three things spoken of in connection with chastening. These are despising, fainting, and being exercised thereby. The first two are in verse 5, and the third in verse 11. We are not to despise when chastened, nor to faint under His rebuke, but we are to be exercised; and there is yielded the peaceable fruit of righteousness in those who are exercised. I hope you may be able to learn something from these things, and seek to profit in the way the Lord would have you. It is a serious thing to go through life as Christians, and we need to be daily and hourly cast upon the Lord’s care, for we never know what unseen dangers we may be exposed to. I had mishaps when I was your age and a little older, and little realized what it meant at the time, but I did not know the truth as you do. And in thinking over them since I have seen how God’s care was over me in the midst of terrible dangers, the thought of these things has often served to make me more careful since. In Philippians 2:12-13 we get “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God that worketh in you, to will and to do of His good pleasure.” This is not the salvation of the soul, but getting though the difficulties of the way, etc. God works in us to will and to do of His good pleasure, and when we yield ourselves up entirely to Him and His will in simple obedience, we get on. Otherwise we may get into serious trouble; and fear and trembling are not meaningless words. A holy fear is ever needed, and seeking of God’s help and care. And we need to be careful and to guard against recklessness, going on with God, in the sense of dependence on Him. “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee: because he trusteth in Thee” (Isa. 26:3). And again, “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in Him will I trust. Surely He shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. He shall cover thee with His feathers, and under His wings shalt thou trust: His truth shall be thy shield and buckler” (Psa. 91:1-4). It is good to realize the truth and reality of such scriptures. There is a divine care that we can count on. If you will read 2 Kings 6:15-17, you will see how the man of God is protected from danger whether there are eyes to see it or not. Horses and chariots of fire were round about Elisha. Thus God’s care is seen in his case. Nothing can befall us that He does not permit, and if He permits something, He has a purpose in it. And thus we need to seek His face and learn what He means.
A. H. Rule, 1896 (from a letter)