Never cuts deeper than is absolutely necessary...
In all sickness, the Lord saith to the waves of pain, “Hitherto shall ye go, but no further.” His fixed purpose is not the destruction, but the instruction of his people.
The limit is encouragingly comprehensive. The God of providence has limited the time, manner, intensity, repetition, and effects of all our sicknesses; each throb is decreed, each sleepless hour predestinated, each relapse ordained, each depression of spirit foreknown, and each sanctifying result eternally purposed. Nothing great or small escapes the ordaining hand of him who numbers the hairs of our head.
This limit is wisely adjusted to our strength, to the end designed, and to the grace apportioned. . . . The limit is tenderly appointed. The knife of the heavenly Surgeon never cuts deeper than is absolutely necessary.
Charles Spurgeon, Morning and Evening, August 17
