Great Trials, Great Saints

In these past few months, I have discovered a helpful exercise for the soul: studying the lives of great saints. These men and women often had great trials, and when I read about their trials it puts my own in proper perspective. Martyn Lloyd-Jones makes this point in the book Faith on Trial:

"No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man." 1 Co. 10:13

"Where the devil gets us is just here. He persuades us that nobody has ever had this trial before: no one has ever had a problem like mine, no one else has been dealt with like this. But Paul says, 'There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man,' and the moment you remember even that much, you feel better. All God's people know something about this: we are such strange creatures, and sin has had a strange effect upon us. We are always helped in our suffering by hearing that somebody else is suffering too!.... Some of the greatest saints that have ever adorned the life of the Church have experienced trials and troubles and tribulations which cause our little problems to pale into insignificance." Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Faith on Trial, pp. 56-57

So let me encourage you, sometime soon, to read a biography of a godly man or woman. Or, if you don't have time to read, listen to John Piper's biographical sermons online. For me, this spiritual exercise has caused my "little problems to pale into insignificance."