L. C. FOX-SMITH - 25/07/26 - Today I read the twelfth chapter of The Imitation of Christ by Thomas à Kempis. The chapter is titled The Value of Adversity.
If you haven't read this book yet, I would highly recommend it. When I first picked it up, its pages showed me what a life lived with Christ could truly look like. Each chapter is short, soaked in Scripture, and shaped by years of prayer and devotion. It is a book that has changed many lives, including my own.
I've included chapter 12 for you to read at the bottom of this Field Note, and if you would like to pick up your own copy of the book, you can find it here.
Reading this chapter reminded me that many Christians have described their life as a pilgrimage. Pilgrims expect hills, rain and tired feet. They do not expect every path to be smooth. If our destination is Christ, then even difficult stretches of the road can become important parts of our journey.
There are seasons when God feels wonderfully close, and there are seasons when faith feels harder than it did yesterday. Thomas à Kempis reminds me that neither season is wasted. The difficult ones may be the very places where my pride dies a little, where my dependence on the Lord grows and where Christ becomes more precious.
Perhaps that is why so many of the saints spoke of suffering with such honesty. They were not searching for pain but rather they had simply learned that God often does His deepest work there.
The Twelfth Chapter: THE VALUE OF ADVERSITY
It is good for us to have trials and troubles at times, for they often remind us that
we are on probation and ought not to hope in any worldly thing. It is good for us
sometimes to suffer contradiction, to be misjudged by men even though we do well and
mean well. These things help us to be humble and shield us from vainglory. When to all
outward appearances men give us no credit, when they do not think well of us, then we
are more inclined to seek God Who sees our hearts. Therefore, a man ought to root
himself so firmly in God that he will not need the consolations of men.
When a man of good will is afflicted, tempted, and tormented by evil thoughts, he
realizes clearly that his greatest need is God, without Whom he can do no good.
Saddened by his miseries and sufferings, he laments and prays. He wearies of living
longer and wishes for death that he might be dissolved and be with Christ. Then he
understands fully that perfect security and complete peace cannot be found on earth.
By Thomas à Kempis