Afflicted for the Glory of Christ

I’ve been reading through Psalm 119 over the past few weeks. A couple verses that have been stuck on my mind a lot and have been drawing me back again and again are these:

Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep Your word.

It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I may learn Your statutes.

Psalm 119:67, 71

So often I become complacent. I’ve found that when life is easy and going smoothly, I forget God’s Word so easily. “I don’t need God right now. I’ve got this handled.”

How foolish. It is at that moment that I most need God. It is at that moment that sin is at the door, ready to come in and wreak havoc. I’ve already lost the battle against sin before it even happens. And yet complacency occurs again and again.

So God, in His kindness, afflicts me. It is not an affliction that is fueled by His wrath. I’ve heard it well said before that if you face no temptations and trials in your life, be fearful. It very well may be that you are not Christ’s and you have deceived yourself (so examine yourself like we are commanded in Scripture—2 Cor. 13:5). But if you do face trials, be of good cheer, for God uses them to refine us and make us like His Son.

“Before I was afflicted I went astray…”

Sin came easily and I wandered from my Lord. Life was easy, and this world caught my eye. I left the God I loved, and was captivated by this world’s false promises of happiness. I wandered from the truth. I desired that which would enslave me, and eventually destroy me.

Then in God’s mercy He afflicted me. He put me in my place. I had become my own little God. I had become my own idol. I wanted what I wanted.

I had neglected His Word, and I fell. I no longer sought Him in the day in which He was to be found, I no longer sought Him in the place that He is revealed. I no longer sought His voice. I no longer heard His voice because I had neglected His Word.

But He had mercy on me by afflicting me. By putting me in my place and showing me that the things that I desired would never satisfy me. Only in one Person can I be truly satisfied. And only one place can He be found.

…That I may learn Your statutes

Affliction comes to put me in despair, but not to destroy me. It comes to sanctify me. I may hate it (who loves to be put in their place, especially by God?) and not immediately see the good of it all, but God is refining me for His good pleasure. He is the potter and I am the clay after all. He may make me and fashion me however He pleases. I am finite, and He is infinite.

The purpose of this affliction is that I learn His statutes, precepts, and word (I believe all three of those refer to God’s Word in Psalm 119). This affliction drives me to say with Peter, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life.” This affliction teaches me that all I have is Christ.  I am left with no option but to keep His Word.

I don’t know if you have been afflicted recently. If you have not, let your prayer be that you do not neglect His words. He has spoken clearly in His Word, so run to His Word and study it, learn of Christ. Every believer’s desire is to become more like Christ. So also every believer’s desire is for His Word where all that we need for life and Godliness is found (2 Timothy 3:16-17). Don’t neglect His Word.

If you are being afflicted right now, here is your hope:  “FOR THOSE WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE DISCIPLINES, AND HE SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES” (Heb. 12:6). He is not afflicting you because He hates you or desires that you feel pain. Remember, “For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison” (2 Cor. 4:17). He loves you, and this momentary affliction will not destroy you. It is working for your good.

I know, O LORD, that Your judgments are righteous, and that in faithfulness You have afflicted me. O may Your lovingkindness comfort me, according to Your word to Your servant.

Psalm 119:75-76

See also 2 Corinthians 4.

Don’t lose heart brother or sister. He cares for you. This affliction is driving you to trust Him for all your needs because He knows that what we truly need is Christ and Christ alone.