Going through the mill

by Amy Carmichael
2 Corinthians 1:8 Pressed out of measure, above strength.
Exceedingly beyond power were we weighed down. (Roth.)
Crushed, crushed far more than I could stand. (Moff.)
Exceedingly weighed down, and felt overwhelmed. (Weym.)

This is what we mean by going "through the mill". But would any one of us wish to escape its pressure? We can if we choose. It is possible to pass through life without knowing much of what Paul wrote of as an ordinary experience. But if we are in earnest to know our Lord, "the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings," then we shall be crushed and ground between the upper and nether millstones, we shall often be pressed out of measure, above strength, weighed down exceedingly beyond our power, crushed far more than we can stand; being weighed down we shall feel overwhelmed. And yet we shall not be overwhelmed. Paul was  not. All that we mean by "the mill" will turn to eternal good, and (I think this is the gladdest good of all) will make us more able to help others. So, do not let us be surprised as though some strange ting happened unto us when we feel the feeling of 2 Corinthians 1:8 a minute or two before those words were written, Paul wrote verses 3 and 4: "Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God."