The deeper and more varied the exercise, the more peculiar is the expression, i.e., the result indicates the nature of the foundry where it has been wrought.
For every Christian there are two divisions of his history—the history of events, and that of exercises—the history of events is easily written and remembered, though the events themselves be not often easily explained, nor ever truly explained, if the history of the exercises which preceded and accompanied them is not known. To every conscientious soul there is some exercise preceding and accompanying every event; though continually one is more occupied with the mere event than with the education offered to the soul in connection with it. The exercise is properly speaking to prepare one for the event. The Psalms celebrate events; but they detail also the exercises which prepared the souls for the events.
I believe it is healthy for the soul to be exercised, not knowing possibly what is coming; but I do not think it helpful or happy for a soul to go back and dwell, like an aged man, on the feelings of his youth. I think we ought to be able to celebrate the results of our exercises, and not reproduce them as if fruitless, for if they have had their proper fruit, they have laid the basis for larger and fuller development of the divine nature in us. We are unprepared for events, if we have no exercises. We are often surprised at some unusual exercise, and it is some subsequent event, (i.e. some occurrence, trial, &c.,) which explains to us the value of the exercise. Which was intended to engage us so with the Lord, that when the event occurred, we might meet it in His grace. Jacob’s wrestling was his exercise, it was to prepare him for meeting his brother Esau. If Jacob had not been so unsubdued, his lameness would not afterward have been so constantly felt; yet it was a blessed time for him—not to be talked of afterward to promote feelings of self-importance—but to establish his faith in God, who had thus in spite of himself strengthened him for an emergency. The whale’s belly was the place and time of exercise for Jonah; learning God there in His absolute mercy and power-he was prepared for the service appointed for him; he only dwells on the exercise as declaring how by it he was led in a state of mind spited to his calling, which was the fruit of it, and to abide in the fruit of the exercise, and not in the mere operation of it, is the only true place of blessing.
I do not believe any exercises are objectless. Job did not understand the exercises through which his soul in terrible bitterness passed; we have the benefit of his history, and therefore we may say that from whatever cause, ignorance as with him; unbelief as with Jacob; willfulness as Jonah; self-corruption as with David and Peter—they always prepare us for another scene or event, and our blessing is to dwell on what they prepare us for, rather than on the conflict we went through, foe we reached the dry land, or the morning dawned upon us.