480 The Spiritual Man
enjoy this kind of bliss too long he shall not be able to live by every
word which proceeds from His mouth; instead he shall live wholly
by that word which makes him glad. Thus he abides in the comfort of
God but not in the God Who gives comfort. For this reason God must
remove these pleasurable sensations so that His child may live
exclusively by Him.
We know that the Lord at the commencement of our spiritual walk
normally comforts us during those times we suffer on His behalf. He
causes the believer to sense His presence, see His smiling face, feel
His love, and experience His care in order to prevent him from
fainting. When the believer apprehends the mind of the Lord and
follows it He usually gives him great pleasure. Although he has paid
some price for following the Lord yet the joy he obtains far surpasses
what he has lost and hence he delights to obey His will. But the Lord
perceives a danger here: upon having experienced comfort in
suffering and happiness in heeding His mind, the child of God
naturally looks for such comfort and joy the next time he suffers or
obeys the Lord’s will or else expects to be helped immediately by
His comfort and joy. Hence he suffers or does the Lord’s will not
purely for His sake but for the sake of being rewarded with
consolation and happiness as well. Without these crutches he is
powerless to continue. The will of the Lord becomes inferior to the
joy which He bestows at the moment of obedience.
God realizes His child is most eager to suffer if he is comforted,
and is delighted to follow His will if he is accorded joy. But God
now wishes to learn what motivates him: whether he suffers
exclusively for the Lord’s sake or for the sake of being consoled:
whether he heeds God’s mind because it should be heeded or because
he derives some joy by so heeding. For this reason, after a Christian
has made some progress spiritually God commences to withdraw the
consolation and delight which He gave him in the hour of suffering
and obedience. Now the Christian must suffer without any
ministration of comfort from God: he suffers externally while feeling