e himself to danger by showing himself to Ahab
(18:1); he is led to face popular religious error, and in doing so is
left to stand alone (18:19-38); God delays answer to his prayer till
he prays seven times (18:42-45); he suffers the further humiliation of
Elisha being anointed prophet in his room (19:15, 16); he is taken up
by a whirlwind to Heaven (2 Kings 2:11). A study of these trials will
show that they were all hard trials, and that they increased in
severity. God tells us that Elijah was a man subject to like passions
as we are (James 5:17); but by trials, hardships, burdens, God
developed him into one of the noblest characters of all ages. God's
redeemed people may expect, then, trials through their lives, and that
the trials shall be increasingly severe, as they advance in the
Christian life.

Often God's children are discouraged because they cannot see any
purpose in their trials. But God assures us that there is a purpose.
The child cannot understand the purpose of the lessons at school, but
the father has the purpose. Elijah, possibly filled with apprehension,
sitting by the drying brook Cherith, did not see any purpose, but God,
who makes all things work together for good to His people, had the
purpose and accomplished it in the development of Elijah's character;
and so, as F. B. Meyer has so aptly put it, the redeemed, sitting by
the drying brook of health, of property, of reputation, of family
happiness, may not see the purpose, but the Heavenly Father will
work, in His plan for each, every trial into the warp or woof of each
life. The Saviour said to Peter, "What I do thou knowest not now, but
thou shalt know hereafter."--John 13:7.

"Behind our life the Weaver stands
And works His wondrous will;
We leave it all in His wise hands
And trust His perfect skill.
Should mystery enshroud His plan,
And our short sight be dim,
We will not try the whole to scan,
But leave each thread to Him."

Who knows the defects, the weaknesses, of each character? Only God.
Who knows what each character ought to be? Only God. Who knows how to
develop each character properly? Only God. Who is able to so shape the
circumstances of each life as to properly develop each character? Only
God. And He has promised that He will. "We know that all things work
together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called
according to his purpose" (Rom. 8:28); "that the trial of your fa