“Many people have spent much time before God, but they have not passed through many experiences before God. If one wants to become rich, he must spend time before God, and he must pass through many experiences before God. The experiences one has to go through are the discipline of the Holy Spirit.

…Let us not be dismayed by the difficulties we face before God. Every one of these situations adds to our wealth. The fewer problems we have, the less we will have in reserve, and the fewer words we will be able to share with others. No one can have a word without experience. Our wealth in the Word and our service to God’s children are in proportion to the experiences we go through. Our supply comes through the lessons we have learned before God. This is not something that doctrines can give to us; nor is it something that commentaries on the Bible can give to us. It is something we learn when the Holy Spirit leads us in our daily walk.

Therefore, I hope that we will not be slack in our daily experience in learning to follow God. In all the disappointment and disillusionment we face, let us recognize the Lord’s severe dealings with us. Let us bow before Him in gratitude and worship Him, acknowledging that His purpose in all these things is to enrich us and to lead us to abundance.

A certain brother thought that he was quite strong in faith until he fell ill. Then he began to learn the real meaning of faith. If we have never been poor, we do not know how to look to the Lord. If we have never been ill, we do not know faith. If we have never had problems, we do not know true worship. If we are without experiences and have not learned anything, we are poor. Anyone who tries to avoid difficulties is a poor person. Everyone who asks for easy circumstances is poor. If we want progress, we must ask for some situations to pass through. The more we want to learn, the more we must experience. Our hope, our faith, and our submission all come into these different situations to edify us and bring us through. If we have one more situation added outwardly, we will have one more item of spiritual wealth added inwardly. We must realize that every situation we encounter is for teaching us something, no matter how hard it is for our flesh or how much we dislike it. We must bow our head and say, ‘This is a chance, a once-in-a-lifetime chance, a hard-to-come-by opportunity! Lord, I thank You!’

…When you encounter trials, you should lift up your head and praise the Lord, saying, ‘Lord, You are creating another opportunity within me for me to gain some riches. Everything is working together for good. You are going to produce something in me that others do not have so that I can supply the church.’ Brothers, do not be deceived into thinking that you will be able to preach by dint of much study. A man can deliver a message, but he does not necessarily have a rich spirit. A man can improve his preaching and increase the abundance of his words, but this does not make him wealthy in his spirit.

Being full of meaningful utterance and being full of the Spirit are two entirely different matters. God is not treating us wrongly when He gives us more trials and difficulties; He is actually treating us very well. He has selected us and has granted us favor by providing us this big opportunity. We must look for this. If we have the light, we should always consider one matter: How many experiences have we passed through before the Lord? Do we have any reserves?  …The amount of our spiritual wealth is based on the amount of experiences we have passed through.”

(Special Grace and Reserve Grace)