Affliction is...Good?

"It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I may learn Your statutes."

Psalm 119:71

Being afflicted is not fun, but scripture teaches it is beneficial and providential.  To be afflicted is to be abased, humbled, to depress and look down.  Affliction does not feel good but does great good.  The psalmist wrote in a preceding verse in Psalm 119:67, "Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep Your word."  Failure to keep God's word led to affliction that prompted one suffering the consequences of sin to look to God, learn His statutes and walk in them.  Solomon wrote of the benefits of sorrow in Ecclesiastes 7:2-3:  "Better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for that is the end of all men; and the living will take it to heart. ³ Sorrow is better than laughter, for by a sad countenance the heart is made better."

Because we care about others it is natural we are not pleased to see them suffer affliction.  We can be afflicted through their affliction, and thus our motive to bring it to a swift end can be self-serving.  Our desire is for the affliction to end so we pray God would change the circumstances or attempt to intervene.  It is comforting to know behind all affliction people endure is a sovereign God full of love who is able to redeem it for His good purposes while refining our character.  I wonder if sometimes our short-sighted efforts work to undermine what God intends to accomplish through affliction.  We miss the point:  we imagine the appropriate end is for affliction to end, whilst God's end is to change people for good.  No matter how much we attempt to shoulder the load, the one who is afflicted (like a woman carrying a child in her womb) has a load only they can carry.

Our natural tendency is to seek help from people rather than God like the sick seek medicine from a physician.  This is well illustrated in Israel and Judah, and God spoke through the prophet in Hosea 5:13-15:  "When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah saw his wound, then Ephraim went to Assyria and sent to King Jareb; yet he cannot cure you, nor heal you of your wound. ¹⁴ For I will be like a lion to Ephraim, and like a young lion to the house of Judah. I, even I, will tear them and go away; I will take them away, and no one shall rescue. ¹⁵ I will return again to My place till they acknowledge their offense. Then they will seek My face; in their affliction they will earnestly seek Me."  God's people recognised they were suffering but did not seek the LORD:  they sought the help of foreign kings and idolatrous nations.  God would tear His people as a lion yet not to utterly destroy or consume them.  He would afflict them, take them away and return to His place--until they acknowledged their offense before Him.  God is longsuffering and willing to wait.  Though painful for Him, God knew how affliction would positively impact them:  after years of sinful wandering they would finally seek Him earnestly.  Instead of seeking the end of their affliction they would go to the One who graciously chastened them and could cure them.

Is not the wisdom of God past finding out?  How marvelous is the grace of God to deal thus with His erring servants faithfully.  It gives Him no pleasure to see people suffer and even die in their sins so He will redeem affliction for our good.  Out of great affliction the prophet Jeremiah said in Lamentations 3:22-33:  "Through the LORD'S mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. ²³ They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. ²⁴ "The LORD is my portion," says my soul, "therefore I hope in Him!" ²⁵ The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him. ²⁶ It is good that one should hope and wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD. ²⁷ It is good for a man to bear the yoke in his youth. ²⁸ Let him sit alone and keep silent, because God has laid it on him; ²⁹ Let him put his mouth in the dust--there may yet be hope. ³⁰ Let him give his cheek to the one who strikes him, and be full of reproach. ³¹ For the Lord will not cast off forever. ³² Though He causes grief, yet He will show compassion according to the multitude of His mercies. ³³ For He does not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of men."  The LORD alone supplies balm for an afflicted soul.

For the Christian, no affliction is forever.  It is meted out for a season by the grace of God with compassion according to His steadfast mercy and faithfulness.  Our greatest griefs are all swallowed up in the goodness of our God.  James 5:13 bids us in our affliction to shift our focus to God:   "Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms."  God is faithful to comfort those who mourn and turns our sorrow into joy.  Affliction shows us God alone is our only hope and leads us to Him.  No one need wait a moment to receive the salvation Jesus Christ provides today for all who trust in Him, and having received so great a salvation we wait on Him patiently.