The Christian's path is not always bright with sunshine. We have our seasons of darkness and storm.

Yes, God's Word declares that wisdom's "ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace." And it's absolutely true that faith is designed to bring happiness here below as well as bliss above. But experience teaches us something else. Even if the path of the righteous is like "the shining light that grows brighter and brighter until the perfect day," sometimes that light goes dark. Sometimes clouds cover the believer's sun, and we walk in darkness, seeing no light at all.

So many have rejoiced in God's presence for a season. They basked in sunshine during the early days of their Christian journey. They walked through green pastures beside still waters. But suddenly, the glorious sky clouded over. Instead of the fertile Land of Goshen, they found themselves trudging through sandy desert. Instead of sweet waters, they tasted bitter streams. And they cried, "Surely, if I were really God's child, this would not be happening to me!"

Oh! Don't say that! You who are walking in darkness right now—don't say that! The best of God's saints must drink the wormwood. The dearest of His children must bear the cross. No Christian has enjoyed perpetual prosperity. No believer can keep their harp from the willows forever.

Perhaps the Lord gave you a smooth and cloudless path at first because you were weak and timid. He tempered the wind for the shorn lamb. But now that you're stronger in the spiritual life, you must enter the riper and rougher experiences of God's full-grown children.

We need winds and tempests! They exercise our faith. They tear off the rotten branches of self-dependence. They root us more firmly in Christ. And the day of evil? It reveals to us the true value of our glorious hope.