Puritan Thomas Manton
“Spices are most fragrant when burnt and bruised, so have saving graces their chiefest fragrance in hard times. The pillar that conducted the Israelites appeared as a cloud by day, but as a fire by night. The Excellency of faith is beclouded till it be put upon a thorough trial”
Im not the cooking type person, so I don’t know much about spices. I have seen in movies, spices being put into a mortar and beat and ground with the pestle into a fine powder. Many times multiple spices are thrown into the mortar and ground and beaten together with the pestle.
Some herbs only have a smell when they are crushed. Then, through the use of the pestle, those herbs bring out their familiar fragrance.
Like the herbs, we often need bruised and ground into dust through our afflictions to develope a stronger faith and find where our loyalty lies. When life is easy and we get comfortable, we can seem to be like the uncrushed herb with no scent, but in our trials, when the bruising begins, just like the herbs we begin to change. We get our faith tested, our perseverance is tried and through the pain we see God’s light shining through his promises.
Our faith strengthens by the bruising of the pestle. Our faith produces a greater love for God. A greater love for God produces a greater love for our neighbor. And when we see our neighbor in a time of trial and affliction we can remind them of the great graces the pestle brings and the never ending love and care the Father, whose hand controls the pestle, has for them.
No King but Christ 