Tests

Have joy that another week has been safely passed. Have also that inner, deeper, joy which comes from the knowledge of the Spirit that the days left behind have built up something towards that great and glorious Hereafter when sorrow will be no more. Gladness, such gladness as no words can express, will be yours because of so much fought through and the defeat of the contending forces.

Think a little more on that big, almost unending subject, of Tests. The majority of people while in the physical body do think that many times before the inward Light becomes their own, and they exclaim at the why and the wherefore of so much trying and re-trying of the soul. There are some, however, who are never able to see the Finger of God while still bound by the flesh. They suffer far more than is necessary to bring about that development which their stronger self has determined shall be there. They suffer because of that blindness of the mind, and the bitterness adds to their pain in a way impossible to describe. The sense of injustice is as the torturing of an open wound, and so the days drag on and only when the eyes of the Spirit are opened beyond this vale of tears can the comfort come.

Look at this matter in an evenly balanced manner. You are hindering yourself unnecessarily if you take a biased view one way or the other in regard to the sorrows and tribulations which are so evident in the lives of others.

Do not think that your point of view should be that such troubles are to be accepted thankfully, and that the ways of God are never to be questioned even under circumstances most trying. That would be directly against Love Itself.

On the other hand, it is foolish to regard such cases as an outward and visible sign of God's indifference to the plight of His helpless children. Here you see what is meant about getting a well-balanced view of everything.

These tests, in some instances are so terribly severe that they call forth from the Master infinite help, compassion and understanding. Because His child so suffers, recompense altogether beyond your comprehension not only awaits them in that far-distant future, but now, minute by minute, hour by hour. It takes the form of a solid hedge of protection, over which the evil may throw its darts but through which it shall find no opening to force its way in.

Consider those who, apparently, find it so easy to show these stricken ones, stricken from a physical point of view, that their condition is either punishment for faults committed in the past or, on the other hand, that the silver lining to their cloud is greater than the cloud itself!

This attitude is unintelligible from the Spirits point of view so do not dwell upon it because those who hold such opinions have much to learn, and the only way of learning is to tread the path of sorrow until they gain freedom from self.

It is all in the nature of tests; of trying the endurance and the staying power of the soul which is protecting the Divine within. When viewed in that way, which is the only sane and normal way in which to look at it, you do see the reason that lies underneath. How often do the children of earth exclaim at this drastic training and testing and trying of the physical will! They view it as punishment direct, and from their heart the cry of despair goes up again and again that God should not defend them from the evil that attacks them with so much ferocity.

During these trials of spiritual strength you are held in a most marvellous way, not only by the Spirits, but these great tests call to your side the Tender Saviour and the Father of humankind. During the contests with the evil forces you fight with the strength that remains, but the battle, the real conflict, is between the Master and the destroyer, and because He is the Master it is only a question of time.

Try to take in something of the meaning and the power which lies under these simple words. Literally and actually you are held by the Christ. If you could only keep in your heart and mind, way down underneath, all the rebellion, the bitterness and the sense of injustice; if even crushed down by these thoughts there remains just the wish to do better, the Saviour, out of the magnitude of His compassion and understanding, can do the rest.

You see where the danger line comes in. If once a person allows that faint desire to be stamped out of being then God, even though He is God, cannot work directly against the independence of the individual, and the evil, for the time being, gains the upper hand. Yet even so do not think that this spells defeat. Always and for ever the still small Voice of the Spirit goes on entreating, pleading, urging that they should try and think one thought of holiness. Holiness can be brought out even by that faint thought of God; the merest wish that He should intervene. Holiness, which seems so far away to you, is able to show itself in that fraction of desire because it is of the Spirit itself.

This is the message of hope which countless Spirits have come to teach. It is entirely opposed to despair or to criticism and blame; it is a message of hope in as much as it says to the least developed: "Come, arise, the Master calls!"

Take in something of the comfort which lies underneath the Name of the Christ. To you and to so many others so often your Creator appears merely as a stern taskmaster who exacts for every act His account and which, it seems to you, is never paid in full. This is the interpretation of Love sent forth over a suffering world by the evil which is out to destroy. Yet rising above that insistent noise there is the clarion voice of the Spirit which gives the line direct! "I am Love and I am here to save" cries the Master! If only the suffering could take this in; if only those who are forced to watch the suffering of others could listen to the voice of Peace which is everywhere, even in your world of conflict and of trouble! If only the children of the earth could listen to the Spirit, troubles and sorrows would be halved and God would be enabled by their faith to show what Love is like!

It is difficult because everything on the physical plane works against this teaching. Misunderstandings arise on every side. Those who are brave seem to call down the reward of fresh blows upon themselves. Those who are cowardly step aside and allow even their meagre allowance to strike the other, and God is condemned by humankind out of the ignorance of their own heart.

Keep ever before you what the Spirits have tried to teach during those sacred evenings. God's Love is stronger than all and His power is able to work through even the deepest, the broadest, and the highest fortification of evil. But it takes time when humanity throws their strength on to the wrong side! They are not able to frustrate good but they can hamper it in a way that causes the Spirits much sorrow; sorrow because in so doing they have one more ring to their path. Each time they turn to the shadows and from their Guardian and rightful Companion, the Christ, so a further ring is added which they must traverse before they can reach the Centre, which is the Spirit; Divinity Itself.

You have often thought over your many experiences, and it seems to you that very often so many of them were repeated, with only slight variation, again and again over the course of your earthly experience. You have had the illustration before of the spiral staircase, but you would find it easier if you took into your mind the symbol of the rings, each one centred by God. However large the ring may be that you are on, you are under the direct eye of your Creator, Who is able at any moment to stretch forth His Hand across the intervening space and lift you out of danger.

Each ring, long and wearying as its journey may be, slowly though imperceptibly to you brings you nearer to the Centre, and as you reach certain portions memory catches up to the echo of what the past has held. Again in regard to certain tests, where perhaps the vessel was not sufficiently strong, that echo is turned into actual experience. Nothing is learnt over twice, but those parts which were not quite taken in at the first instance have to be gone over again and thus it is that experiences are repeated, but as the years go on the memory of the anguish grows less and less. You are farther away from that which was, but remember that there is no part of the journey which does not hold something which links you to God and which at some future stage will not be used to bind you to Him.

As you go on the weary round, and only those whose Spirit is out for the best can testify how weary it is, as you pass on those rounds, gradually yet certainly you are getting nearer to the One Great Goal; the Light of Light. Each ring so traversed brings you just that degree closer under the rays of the Light, and with the pilgrim who loves the Saviour it is surprising how soon the dark stages are over; surprising how quickly they can get under the direct rays of the Sun of God, when darkness is no more and sorrow falls from them for their eyes are fixed upon Love Itself.

That is the picture you must build up in your mind. Take it which way you like; as the spiral road or the circles of experience. It is so described because however long the way may be the drawing power of the Spirit urges you on! With the spiral staircase it seems at times that God is lost from view, and it is more helpful if you visualise God in the centre; all-seeing, all-knowing, all-wise. With His children travelling ever round Him, always in touch with Him and He always having them under His care, no blocks in between, no portions of the road when the Vision is obliterated. In your times of sorrow or temptation, there the Father stands; you are under His immediate and personal care, and instantly when you look to Him the power comes.

Try and hold this little simile in your mind. Think of God as your Father, as the Light of the world, as the Power that is drawing all humanity to Him. Think of you travelling, separated only by conditions of holiness and of experience, but always in direct and open communion with Him and He with you. Never forget that although it is impossible for a child in their inexperience to cross the circles, instead of going round them, God does that to you and to the Spirits and to the weakest and the frailest again and again. You cannot approach His Godhead, but by His Fatherhood He is ever by your side. It is a wonderful thought; how wonderful you will never know until you are free from the body and see the rings that you have traversed and the protection all along the way; protection in numerous forms because the Mind of the Greatest Protector of all is unlimited in thought and in Love.

You have much to do in the future and much then will be explained and all will be as happy as a bright spring day with the promise of summer to follow!

Those free from the bonds of the physical look at things in so different a way. They see them like this; that it is even as a week out of the twelve months of the year, and if you knew that for all those other months you were going to have joy and peace and harmony beyond expression, you would willingly go through a very uncomfortable week because of what lay beyond.

Try and translate that in your mind in this wise; physical life is as one second of time out of the great immensity of Eternity! Suffering and trial and dark days, there is no denying their presence, but with the larger view, looking at things with the eyes of the Spirit, isn't it worthwhile? You are companioned safely on all sides and you shall yet find God's blessing in evidence in a tangible and a literal way!

There is a blessing upon all from the Great Spirit, from He who is not only your God but your tender, understanding Father. Never forget this or allow it to be confused in your mind. The blessing of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit means in literal fact that you are linked and tied to the sweetest Companion you could imagine. Take in the love-side and let the power-side be submerged in the greatest of all. This is God's will. His Father-Heart cries out to all His children to give, in the measure that you can, love and trust.

Love and Trust! That is His blessing and may God so open your heart and mind that indeed you may be able to regard Him as your Father; all understanding, all Love, unutterable Love!

Commend yourself into God’s tender care knowing that He has, out of His great knowledge, provided just what the Spirit within longs for most. Ask God to lead you and control you, trusting and confident in your Father!

This message was first given in 1924 through Winifred Moyes.

© The Greater World Christian Spiritualist Association 2025

All rights reserved. No parts of this message may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of The Greater World Christian Spiritualist Association.