J. I. Packer
Story★★★★In his book Knowing God, J. I. Packer writes: “We should not, therefore, be too taken back when unexpected and upsetting and discouraging things happen to us now.
What do they mean? Why, simply that God in his wisdom means to make something of us which we have not attained yet, and is dealing with us accordingly .... “It is often the case, as all the saints know, that fellowship with the Father and the Son is most vivid and sweet, and Christian joy the greatest, when the cross is heaviest.”
Packer then suggests two ways of handling the trials of life when we cannot, for the moment, see God’s purpose in them. “First, by taking them as from God, and asking ourselves what reactions to them, and in them, the gospel of God requires of us; second, by seeking God’s face specifically about them. If we do these two things, we shall never find ourselves wholly in the dark as to God’s purpose in troubles.”
The point
J.I. Packer explains that unexpected, discouraging trials are God's means of shaping believers, and that fellowship with God is often sweetest when the cross is heaviest.