My life has never been what the world would consider blessed from the outside looking in. I have lived a life full of misguided goals, unrealistic expectations, and poor choices. Yet looking back, I can now see that even the paths I thought were wasted time were never outside the sovereign hand of God. Time and again He has gently taken the broken pieces of my life and fashioned them into something beautiful that could bring glory to His name. To acknowledge that I believe God has a good purpose in all my suffering goes against what the modern church teaches but has been evident in the writings of many dead saints. I probably relate to Charles Spurgeon and his struggles more than just about any other. Spurgeon said, “I am afraid that all the grace that I have got of my comfortable and easy times and happy hours, might almost lie on a penny. But the good that I have received from my sorrows, and pains, and griefs, is altogether incalculable. . . . Affliction is the best bit of furniture in my house. It is the best book in a minister’s library.” I feel that because of the struggles that I have endured, it has helped me become better prepared for the spiritual battles going on around me, and has molded me to be a more compassionate pastor, to be able to minister to the broken and downtrodden with an understanding humble heart. There are wounds that no textbook can explain, yet those very wounds have become the classroom where Christ Himself has taught me His sufficiency. Affliction has enabled me to write devotionals from a different perspective than many other spiritual leaders, one that is real and touches people’s hearts on a variety of different levels. There is a place in suffering where human explanations fall silent and only the sustaining grace of God remains loud enough to hold the soul together. In those moments, faith is not theoretical or ornamental but forged into something raw, tested, and unshakably real by the hand of divine providence. It is there, in the furnace of affliction, that God proves Himself not merely as comforter in word, but as the very life and strength of His people. If the Lord can use the cause of my tears to strengthen another weary believer, then every sleepless night and every painful season has been invested in eternity. I pray often about what is written in 1 Peter 1:6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ To help others understand and endure God’s purpose in different trials and tribulations is one of the greatest privileges I have ever experienced as well as the most challenging. The thought that others might actually profit from the pain of my life no matter how bad it may have been for me is humbling. It is quite clear from Scripture that through a believers’ suffering, God refines them like gold in a furnace. Another quote from Spurgeon on the subject, “when the gold knows why and wherefore it is in the fire…[it] will thank the Refiner for putting it into the crucible, and will find a sweet satisfaction even in the flames.” Brethren, it is only through the repeated heating process of gold and our lives that the impurities rise to the surface. It is only after the impurities are removed that the refiner can see His perfect reflection in the gold, and you my Beloved are more precious than gold. May God be glorified through my suffering and yours. Even in seasons when I have felt unseen or alone in my struggles, I am reminded that I am never outside the reach of Christ’s compassion nor beyond the fellowship of His people who also suffer in silence. I write these things not as one who stands above others, but as one who walks beside them, trusting that the same grace that has sustained me will sustain us all until the end. May the Lord grant us the grace to endure with steadfast hope, even when the reasons for our trials remain hidden from our understanding. And may our lives, refined through mercy and discipline, bear witness to a faith that does not waver when tested by fire. May we endure with joyful hope when the day comes when all suffering is redeemed in His presence, and we are found faithful, clinging to Christ as our greatest treasure. And all of God’s people say, Amen.

My BeLoved, may the grace and peace of the Lord Jesus, the love of God the Father, and the communion of the Holy Spirit, be with you all. Amen. In Christ Love, douglas. HE>i. pastord.blog

Special Note: I want to thank those who read what I write and are encouraged to support the ministry God has entrusted to me either one time or have decided to give on a monthly basis. I am encouraged to see certain verses playing out before my eyes like what is written in Philippians 4:16 For even in Thessalonica you sent aid once and again for my necessities. 17 Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that abounds to your account.

To any who are interested, please feel free to reach out to me with prayer requests, questions, encouragement, or for information on how to come alongside me with financial support at pastord.blog@gmail.com or I do have a Zelle account associated with my phone number, 5202720387 last name Blaser. Thank you my Beloved for your ongoing prayers and support.