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.

Like People, Like Priest

There rests in the hearts of many people a persistent belief that putting the right people in charge will solve problems in society.  The big problem is this is simply untrue.  Many politicians and leaders have been chosen or elected who promised change and have been unable to stop moral decline, poverty and crime.  The unfounded hope in the hearts of people, this longing to enact positive, enduring change through education, programs and politics have often been disappointed.

The hopelessness of good leaders overcoming bad citizens was laid bare in Hosea 4:9-10 in a warning God gave His people concerning future judgment:  "And it shall be: like people, like priest. So I will punish them for their ways, and reward them for their deeds. ¹⁰ For they shall eat, but not have enough; they shall commit harlotry, but not increase; because they have ceased obeying the LORD."  God's people banked their trust on having holy, sanctified priests who served God and ruled over them.  The problem was these priests were chosen from people who had ceased obeying the LORD.  We think the influence of a good priest will have a sanctifying effect on the population, but the opposite would occur.  The people were corrupt so the priest would be corrupt like them.  Gone was any hope of salvation or help from sinful man.  The people were dissatisfied with God's provision and guidance, and even a godly man would not correct their error.  This is telling, for God's people later rejected the Messiah Jesus Christ God sent to save them from sin.

The realms of business, politics and religion have no hope in themselves to guide mankind to truth, redemption, reconciliation or peace:  these are found only through becoming a new creation through faith in Jesus Christ.  In Him we have a sure foundation, hope of heaven and rest for our souls.  It is only God who created man who can save man from hatred, hopelessness and despair.  Without the satisfaction found in God nothing will satisfy; no amount of lovers or idols will suffice.  The greatest men and women among us will someday be gone and their accomplishments swallowed up by negligence, complacency, greed and apathy.  Haven't your hopes been dashed enough to prove beyond a doubt only God as revealed in the Bible has the power to save, the One who rose from the dead and lives?

Glory In the LORD

God's glory is shown in using weak vessels to accomplish His awesome purposes.  He does not need us but chooses to use us and make us fruitful for His glory.  I remember a conversation I had with a pastor who spoke how amazed he was people kept turning up to church week after week:  "They just keep coming back," he said.  There are many conversations I have no memory of, but I recall this one because it struck me as odd.  I could have understood his confusion if he was the only one responsible for people coming to church, but won't God honour His word?  Isn't He at work in the heart and minds of people to remind and compel them to respond in obedience to gather in His name?  Since fellowship is prompted and sustained by the Spirit of the Living God, his surprise (feigned or not I could not tell) to me was surprising.

In his book Lectures to My Students, I came across something C.H. Spurgeon had to say on the matter:

"Oh, brethren, we ought to preach feeling that God means to bless the word, for we have His promise for it; and when we have done preaching we should look out for the people who have received a blessing.  Do you ever say, "I am overwhelmed with astonishment to find that the Lord has converted souls through my poor ministry"?  Mock humility!  Your ministry is poor enough.  Everybody knows that, and you ought to know it most of all:  but, at the same time, is it any wonder that God, who said "My word shall not return unto me void," has kept His promise?  Is the meat to lose its nourishment because the dish is a poor platter?  Is divine grace to be overcome by our infirmity?  No, but we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us." (Spurgeon, C. H. Lectures to My Students: Complete & Unabridged. Ministry Resources Library, Zondervan Publishing House, 1989. page 194)

Knowing preaching and teaching is God's work should not promote slackness in preparation or delivery, but wisdom causes our hearts to glorify and praise God when it is useful.  I tend towards pride like other people, and I have learned by God's word coupled with experience if there is anything good found in me it is solely due to God's grace.  Should there be no visible profit from my efforts I cannot blame God for it, yet fruitlessness ought to prompt thorough self-examination to see if the fault is mine.  I ought to own my failures and folly so I might repent, and all glory goes to God who does all things well.  Clutching even a little glory or credit for ourselves is the subtle start of disastrous straying from God.  Such are like Samson who was lulled to sleep on Delilah's knees, who awoke out of sleep without realising the Holy Spirit had left him.  He said, "I will go out as before and shake myself free" yet was promptly overcome, bound, blinded and imprisoned.  Proud Christians may encounter a worse end without an opportunity for redemption, and God keep me from such insidious folly.

While it is surprising how God employs a poor platter or earthen vessel to communicate His word and wisdom, let us not linger there:  may the weakness of the instrument foster praise for the God who works miraculously and marvelously.  What is the strength of a pillar without a solid foundation?  The use of the weak to reveal God's might is His divine plan as explained by Paul in 1 Corinthians 1:26-31:  "For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. ²⁷ But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; ²⁸ and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, ²⁹ that no flesh should glory in His presence. ³⁰ But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God--and righteousness and sanctification and redemption-- ³¹ that, as it is written, "He who glories, let him glory in the LORD."

Life Without Controversy

One blessing of the internet is the ability to share information and communicate, and this is also one of the greatest curses:  the spread of misinformation.  The internet is a prime breeding ground of rumours and conspiracy which have duped many.  When these thoughts germinate and take root in the minds of people, legitimate reporting and research are condemned as disinformation:  information that is deliberately misleading to promote sinister agendas of shadowy figures behind the scenes.  What is true can become so convoluted those taken in by conspiracies will not part with their views, even when it kills them.

I read an article yesterday of a nurse in South Dakota who allegedly expressed her sadness there are patients infected with COVID she has treated who used their last breaths to deny the existence of COVID.  It may very well be disbelief in COVID that led to careless behaviour which enabled them to initially contract the illness.  I have learned that it is impossible to change the hearts and minds of people no matter how hard I try, whether it involves politics, conspiracy theories, sport or religion.  For every fact, report or statistic shared, everyone seems to have their own preferred sources which confirm their beliefs.  This can be very disheartening when misinformation turns into an obsession nothing has the power to shift--not even the truth which has supporting evidence.  To think a person could be admitted to the hospital with a fever and respiratory issues, be diagnosed with COVID by the experts to whom they entrusted their recovery, and then for them to refuse the diagnosis as propaganda or call their doctor a liar blows my mind.

Great is the blindness of the human heart without the illumination and guidance of the Holy Spirit!  Without a doubt as human beings we all have our blind spots, but if the light that is in you be darkness, how great is that darkness (Matthew 6:23)!  The death of the body is a tragedy, and the eternal death of the soul infinitely more terrible.  Jesus miraculously opened the eyes of a man born blind who later met with Jesus and believed He was the Son of God.  Having his eyes opened the man trusted in Jesus, his soul was saved from hell and was granted eternal life.  The scribes and Pharisees believed Jesus was a sinner and a deceiver and refused to believe on Him though Jesus did many signs that affirmed His claim of being the Messiah.  John 9:39-41 reads, "And Jesus said, "For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind." ⁴⁰ Then some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these words, and said to Him, "Are we blind also?" ⁴¹ Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, 'We see.' Therefore your sin remains."  The Pharisees were self-righteous and thus remained in their sins.  They believed Jesus was wrong and they were right:  this revealed they were more blind than the man born blind.

If the Pharisees had confessed their blindness, through faith in Jesus they would have been able to see He was the Way, the Truth and the Life, the LORD and Saviour sent to save sinners.  When we adopt a humble posture before God, admit we are fallible and easily fooled He guides us into all truth and our souls find rest.  The ones who believe they cannot possibly be wrong in a controversial matter are already wrong whether they realise it or not.  People must place their faith in something, and only faith in God and His word will never lead us astray.  Of course there are people who attempt to twist the scriptures to suit their beliefs but fallacious arguments and distortions of scripture can be exposed by rightly dividing the word of truth.  If a person does not believe they are sick they will not go to a doctor:  if they believe they are sick and the doctor says they have COVID, why wouldn't a person believe it?  This shows faith is powerful.  Faith in self is a snare, and God will be faithful to reward those who trust Him despite our fallibility.

In the world and online there is no shortage of controversy, but 1 Timothy 3:16 has it right:  "And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen by angels, preached among the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up in glory."  As believers let us hold fast and walk according to this doctrine at the cost of our lives and refuse to promote controversial beliefs which cannot profit souls.