GOD’S LIGHT ON DARK CLOUDS
By Theodore L. Cuyler
Banner of Truth. 134 pages. £5.00
ISBN 978-1-84871-023-8
This heart-warming book was written by a 19th-century pastor following the death of his beloved 21-year-old daughter.
It is because of his painful experience that it is so insightful, comforting, gentle and instructive. Being short and a compelling read, it is ideal to give to someone who has recently lost a loved one in the Lord, or is struggling with trials — it does not belittle the grief or the difficulties, but rather it exalts the tender mercy and faithfulness of God, reminding the reader of the sovereign care of the One who lovingly disciplines us to share in his holiness.
For any struggling to trust God, he shows how ‘in providence, divine wisdom is married to divine love’. Theodore L. Cuyler fills the pages with memorable and apposite illustrations which help to explain how God uses afflictions to glorify himself, and he cites numerous verses of Scripture that ensure it is God, and not just the author, who comforts the reader.
Though easy to read, this book is anything but trivial, nor is it simply aimed at making the reader feel better — it will, I trust, make you more in love with the Lord. As one who has never had the education of a sharp trial (and since so many lessons are only learned through tears), I am grateful to the Lord for this book for giving me a better insight into what it means to endure hardship. I was challenged especially by Theodore L. Cuyler’s teaching on worrying about tomorrow, and about how frequently we regard God’s dealings in a wrong light, speaking of things as afflictions when they are really blessings in disguise. Above all else, in reading this book I was shown afresh that ‘God’s people are never so exalted as when they are brought low, never so enriched as when they are emptied, never so advanced as when they are set back by adversity, never so near the crown as when under the cross’. I recommend you read this book, and then give it away.
Richard Peskett,
Downe Baptist Church, Kent
