Spurgeon: March PM
* 03/08/PM
"She called his name Ben-oni (son of sorrow), but his father
called him Benjamin (son of my right hand)."
--Genesis 35:18
To every matter there is a bright as well as a dark side.
Rachel was overwhelmed with the sorrow of her own travail and
death; Jacob, though weeping the mother's loss, could see the
mercy of the child's birth. It is well for us if, while the
flesh mourns over trials, our faith triumphs in divine
faithfulness. Samson's lion yielded honey, and so will our
adversities, if rightly considered. The stormy sea feeds
multitudes with its fishes; the wild wood blooms with beauteous
flowerets; the stormy wind sweeps away the pestilence, and the
biting frost loosens the soil. Dark clouds distil bright drops,
and black earth grows gay flowers. A vein of good is to be found
in every mine of evil. Sad hearts have peculiar skill in
discovering the most disadvantageous point of view from which to
gaze upon a trial; if there were only one slough in the world,
they would soon be up to their necks in it, and if there were
only one lion in the desert they would hear it roar. About us
all there is a tinge of this wretched folly, and we are apt, at
times, like Jacob, to cry, "All these things are against me."
Faith's way of walking is to cast all care upon the Lord, and
then to anticipate good results from the worst calamities. Like
Gideon's men, she does not fret over the broken pitcher, but
rejoices that the lamp blazes forth the more. Out of the rough
oyster-shell of difficulty she extracts the rare pearl of
honour, and from the deep ocean-caves of distress she uplifts
the priceless coral of experience. When her flood of prosperity
ebbs, she finds treasures hid in the sands; and when her sun of
delight goes down, she turns her telescope of hope to the starry
promises of heaven. When death itself appears, faith points to
the light of resurrection beyond the grave, thus making our
dying Benoni to be our living Benjamin.