Troubles, troubles, troubles! by Henry Smith (ca. 1560 – 1591?)

​“Man is born to trouble as surely as sparks fly upward.” Job 5:7

“Many are the afflictions of the righteous!” Psalm 34:19

“Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows!” John 16:33

“We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God!” Acts 14:22

Since we are not in paradise–but in the wilderness, we must expect one trouble after another. As in the case of David . . . first he fought a lion, and then a bear, and then a giant, and then the Philistines, and then a King!

In the same way, believers may first fight with poverty, and then with envy, and then with slander, and then with sickness. They shall be like a laborer who is never out of work.

“While I continue on this side of eternity, I never expect to be free from trials and hardships–only to change them. Every new scene brings its new trials!” (George Whitefield)

“Troubles come, and then a respite is granted; and then new troubles follow on the heels of the old ones.” (Arthur Pink)

“Expect daily trouble while in the flesh. Something or other happens every day that will grieve us. Perhaps events concerning ourselves, our families, or friends, that are matters of sorrow. Perhaps we have some bodily pain or sickness every day; or, some cross and disappointment in our affairs.” (Matthew Henry)

“God has appointed this whole life to be as a race or a battle. The state of rest, wherein we shall be so out of danger as to have no need of watching and fighting, is for the eternal world.” (Jonathan Edwards)

“My own experience is a daily struggle with the evil within.” (Charles Spurgeon)

“O dear friends, make up your minds to carry the cross daily. To be fore-warned is to be fore-armed. All God’s children go through these tribulations.” (Robert Murray M’Cheyne)

“You will have your trials and crosses before you will have your crown–and they will not come in the way most suited to your natural wishes. A cross is to be a cross! You will have trials with your church, trials with your family, and trials with the world. But that monster SELF will be your worst trial! Nevertheless, as the sufferings abound, so also the consolations; and as your day is, so your strength shall be.” (William Tiptaft)

Henry Smith (ca. 1560 – 1591?) was an English clergyman, widely regarded as “the most popular Puritan preacher of Elizabethan London.” His sermons at St. Clement Danes drew enormous crowds and earned him a reputation as “Silver Tongued” Smith.