Suppose the Lord's hand is upon you; the great principle is that He is doing it for your good. "Whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth." Love would not do it if not needed. Do not despise it. God loves you too well to punish you for nothing. You say, "Oh, I do not despise it; my heart is sinking under it." Not so either. Do not faint; it is love that does it, and love will bring good out of it.
Mark, too, that we are to expect chastening; there is a great deal to correct. You may be as sincere as possible and, as to the purpose of your heart, single-eyed; but is there nothing hindering you. You may not know what it is. Would you wish God to leave it there? He knows the thoughts and intents of your heart when you do not. He is not a physician for nothing. No child is without chastening, bringing us nearer to God. We must all know how easily we get out of God's presence; and He does it for our benefit, that we may be partakers of His holiness, that holiness which is in God Himself.
Mark how thoroughly this is grace. He calls us according to His holiness, and then sets about making us partakers of it; and when all is done, there is "the peaceable fruit of righteousness." Like Paul's thorn in the flesh, our very service and devotedness may bring us into suffering for His sake, and at the same time into that which humbles the flesh. The thorn was something that met him in his service, made him despicable, and was a correction to the tendency to be puffed up. God may give it the character of a trial for Christ.