E. J. Waggoner
We are exhorted to resist the devil “steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are experienced by your brotherhood in the world” (1 Peter 5:9). What a great mistake, then, to imagine that afflictions must be an evidence of God’s displeasure. This leads also to the error of thinking that one who serves the Lord ought to have a smooth and easy life. Afflictions come from resisting the temptations of the devil, and resisting them “steadfast in the faith.” And this is as true today as when the words were written by the apostles. Science and civilization have not smoothed the pathway of the Christian -that still leads to Gethsemane and Calvary. But beyond these is the resurrection and eternal life.
The Present Truth 11, 24 (June 13, 1895), p. 377.