This is longer quote, but worth reading in its entirety. John Newton wrote to a young believer who was questioning whether or not he was saved because of the dark season of struggling he was going through. Newton, with pastoral care and wisdom, told him that a comforting sense of God's presence is not the best measure of assurance; rather, passing through the fire of trials is what teaches us to rely on God and proves the reality of our faith.
"When young Christians are greatly comforted with the Lord’s love and presence, their doubts and fears are for that season at an end. But this is not assurance; as soon as the Lord hides his face, they are troubled, and ready to question the very foundation of hope. Assurance grows by repeated conflict, by our repeated experiential proof of the Lord’s power and goodness to save; when we have been brought very low and helped, sorely wounded and healed, cast down and raised again, have given up all hope and suddenly been snatched from danger and placed in safety; and when these things have been repeated to us and in us a thousand times over, we begin to learn to trust simply the word and power of God."
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