You've seen a rainbow arch across the sky—glorious colors, rare hues. Beautiful! But alas, wait a moment and it's gone. The magnificent display fades to ordinary clouds. The sky no longer blazes with the tints of heaven. It cannot last. How could it? A glorious show made of fleeting sunbeams and passing raindrops—how can such a thing abide?

The graces of Christian character must not resemble the rainbow in its transitory beauty. No! On the contrary, they must be established, settled, abiding. Seek this, O believer: that every good thing in you would be an abiding thing. May your character be no writing in the sand, but an inscription carved in rock! May your faith be no "baseless fabric of a vision," but built of materials able to endure that awful fire which shall consume the wood, hay, and stubble of the hypocrite.

May you be rooted and grounded in love. May your convictions be deep, your love real, your desires earnest. May your whole life be so settled and established that all the blasts of hell and all the storms of earth shall never be able to remove you.

But notice how this blessing of being established in the faith is gained. The apostle's words point us to suffering as the means employed: "After that ye have suffered awhile." It is of no use to hope that we shall be well rooted if no rough winds pass over us.

Look at an old oak tree. Those gnarled roots, those strange twistings of the branches—all tell of the many storms that have swept over it. And they are also indicators of the depth into which the roots have forced their way. So the Christian is made strong and firmly rooted by all the trials and storms of life.

Shrink not then from the tempestuous winds of trial! Take comfort instead, believing that by their rough discipline God is fulfilling this benediction to you. The storm that threatens to uproot you is the very thing driving your roots deeper still.