We can be sure that the Lord has His eye and heart towards His own in their gatherings, and that His thoughts for them are thoughts of peace. He knows what we are, and where we are, and sets the Table accordingly. Faith will never be disappointed, for "Our Shepherd is the Lord, the living Lord who died." The need from our side is of prepared hearts.
Anything that casts the soul utterly upon Himself must be for enrichment. Arabia and Patmos, tempered by the hand of an all-wise and gracious God, were more than compensated for by the divine revelations that thereafter characterised the ministry that exalted Christ.
Fears and frustrations belong to the flesh, but the Holy Spirit has been given, yea indwells its, that we might know the deep things of God. Our very weakness, which should cast us the more on the Lord to prove the sufficiency of His grace and strength, can be used of the enemy to cast us in upon ourselves, and to lose sight of the functions of the Spirit, both as regards His ministry in the assembly and to our souls individually.
Extracted from a recent letter.