COR 4:17{We think of trials as intended to do us good in the long run and in a general sort of way, but the Lord says of each one, "It yieldeth." Apply this to the present. The particular annoyance which befell you this morning, the vexatious words which met your ear, and grieved your spirit, the disappointment which was His appointment for you today, the slight but hindering ailment, the presence of someone who is a grief of mind to you, whatever this day seemeth not joyous but grievous is linked in "the good pleasure of His goodness" with a corresponding afterward of peaceable fruit, the very seed from which if you only do not choke it shall spring up and ripen. If we set ourselves to watch the Lord's dealings with us, we shall soon be able to detect a most beautiful correspondence and proportion between each individual chastening and its own resulting afterward. The habit of thus watching and expecting will be very comforting and a great help to quiet trust when some new chastening is sent, for then we shall simply consider it as the herald and earnest of a new afterward.
What shall Thine "afterward" be. O Lord?
How long must Thy child endure?
Thou knowest! 'Tis well that I know it not!
Thine "afterward" cometh, I cannot tell what,
But I know that Thy Word is sure.