「我父是栽培的人。」－約翰福音15:1
若從世人的眼光來看，苦難所作的就是傷害剝奪；但從屬靈的眼光看來，苦難往往引來祝福。
過去我們所領受最豐盛的祝福，豈不都是患難和憂傷產生的果實嗎？
別忘了，救贖－這個世上最美的祝福－就是世上最大傷痛的結果。
每當我們被利刃傷得痛徹心扉時，若讀到「我父是栽培的人」，必定為我們帶來極大的安慰。
文生博士曾參觀一間葡萄結實纍纍的溫室，主人講解說：
「當我新任的園丁一來到這裡，他就說，若不將整間的葡萄藤剪的精光，他就不知該做什麼。他也的確這麼作了。
其後的兩年內，葡萄園中看不見任何一顆葡萄，然而兩年過後，豐碩的成果卻擺在我們的眼前。」
把修剪的意義，應用到基督徒生命的經歷上，是再恰當不過的了。看似葡萄被園丁毀壞淨盡，實際上他心裡遙望著將來，望見了一片生機勃勃、豐富收成的景象。
－密勒博士
"My Father is the husbandman" (John 15:1).It is comforting to think of trouble, in whatever form it may come to, us, as a heavenly messenger, bringing us something from God. In its earthly aspect it may seem hurtful, even destructive; but in its spiritual out-working it yields blessing. Many of the richest blessings which have come down to us from the past are the fruit of sorrow or pain. We should never forget that redemption, the world's greatest blessing, is the fruit of the world's greatest sorrow. In every time of sharp pruning, when the knife is deep and the pain is sore, it is an unspeakable comfort to read, "My Father is the husbandman."
Doctor Vincent tells of being in a great hothouse where luscious clusters of grapes were hanging on every side. The owner said, "When my new gardener came, he said he would have nothing to do with these vines unless he could cut them clean down to the stalk; and he did, and we had no grapes for two years, but this is the result."
There is rich suggestiveness in this interpretation of the pruning process, as we apply it to the Christian life. Pruning seems to be destroying the vine, the gardener appears to be cutting it all away; but he looks on into the future and knows that the final outcome will be the enrichment of its life and greater abundance of fruit.
There are blessings we can never have unless we are ready to pay the price of pain. There is no way to reach them save through suffering. --Dr. Miller.
