CHRIST our FRIEND: “No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends” (Jn 15:15). In difficult times, when the days are dark, we know He is with us and we know He has His purposes! Andrew Murray, born in South Africa to a Scottish father and a French Huguenot mother, has been a blessing to many through his more-than 50 books and hundreds of pamphlets. He wrote in a time when passing through deep waters: “First, He brought me here; it is by His will I am in this straight place: in that fact I will rest. Next, he will keep me here in His love, and give me grace to behave as His child. Then, He will make the trial a blessing, teaching me the lessons He intends me to learn, and working in me the grace He means to bestow. Last, in His good time, He can bring me out again—how and when He knows. Let me say I am here 1) by God’s appointment; 2) in His keeping; 3) under His training; and 4) for His time.”