While I was doing some research for a writing project, I interviewed 24 people who had been prisoners during World War II. Although they had not been tortured or mistreated, they had suffered hunger, cold, separation, loss of privacy, and a gnawing uncertainty of what lay ahead. None of them spoke of their liberation without tears.

I asked them, "How did your prison experience affect your life?" All of them said that during their year of confinement God had taught them lessons that had prepared them for their life's work. But when I asked if they would have gone to the prison camp voluntarily, each one answered, "No!"

Most of us would not choose difficult circumstances to help us learn to trust God. So, in His perfect wisdom He often will lead us into situations that can strengthen our faith.

The psalmist discovered God's marvelous kindness while he was in a besieged city (Ps. 31:21). When surrounded and cut off by enemies, he feared the worst, but the Lord gave him strength and hope (v.22).

God uses life's "prison" experiences to teach us spiritual lessons we could learn in no other way. We can therefore praise Him and trust Him in any circumstance.  — David C. McCasland