Knowing that each of us as sinners, deserve eternal damnation--anything better than Hell is sheer mercy! This solemn truth must settle deeply into the heart of every redeemed sinner. For if we truly understood the infinite guilt of our sin, and the unspeakable holiness of God--then we would count even the bitterest affliction as sweet, compared to what we justly deserve. Every breath that is not drawn in Hell, is grace. Every hour outside of eternal torment, is mercy. And every drop of suffering in this life, though painful, is far lighter than the cup of divine wrath which Jesus drained for us on the cross! If we were to lie in pain for fifty years, unable to find even a moment's relief--yet had the Lord pardoned our sins and made us His redeemed people--would we not still be infinitely more blessed than we deserve? Yet God has not only spared us from Hell, but He has given us His Son, adopted us into His family, and prepared for us an eternal inheritance that can never perish, spoil, or fade. Therefore, let us never complain under God's chastening rod, nor grow bitter in the furnace of affliction. For these light and momentary troubles are not punishments, but purifying fires. They come from a Father's hand--not to destroy us, but to refine us into the image of His beloved Son. Therefore, as sinners deserving divine wrath, we are bound to humbly submit to the chastenings of the Lord. Let us confess that we are sinners, and that every sorrow we endure is mingled with mercy. Let us accept His chastisements with reverence--acknowledging that our worst days on earth, are still infinitely better than the Hell we've been rescued from. "Blessed is the man who perseveres