God “afflicts” us in faithfulness?

​Did you know that when something bad happens in your life, God has not fallen asleep; He isn’t too busy to attend to you; He’s not purposely ignoring you to teach you a lesson; He hasn’t stopped loving you because of your sinful (or not) actions. In fact Jesus said that He wants to not only give us life, but give us abundant life.  (John 10:10)  What we often don’t like to hear, is that as a good, loving Father, God will also allow affliction in our lives.  This is not a great selling point of the Gospel, yet it is a truth just as tangible as God’s promise of abundant life.  They don’t cancel each other out.  They are both equally true. It is vitally important that we understand that God’s love for us will not spare us from all affliction during our time on earth.  If we believe that as a child of God nothing bad will ever touch us we may shipwreck our faith.  I’ve seen it happen in new Christians, who have not been given the whole picture.  They’ve been promised this great life, and then something bad happens, and they turn away from God saying:  “God is supposed to be good.  How could a good God let this happen to me?”  

The answer to that question lies in the question.  God is, good.  Not the mediocre meaning of today’s “good”, as in “He’s good enough”, but good through and through.  Only good.  Not good some of the time, but good all of the time.  Anything and everything he allows in our lives can be used for our good.  We as humans can’t possibly fathom all the reasons why God allows affliction in our lives.  He sees things in light of eternity, not our mere 100 years.  God is a God of generations and legacy.  The example you set in your affliction may affect the destiny of many.  Yes God wants to bless you and give you a great life, no question—Jesus said it himself. But in the actual journey itself, God may afflict us to give us, just that.  He uses affliction to transform us into the image of his Son.  

​Psalm 119:67 says: “Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I obey your word; v71: It was good for me to be afflicted, so that I might learn your decrees; v75:  I know, O Lord, that your laws are righteous, and in faithfulness you have afflicted me.”  Are you seeing what I’m seeing?  The Psalmist is seeing the value that his affliction is obtaining for him; he wasn’t concentrating on the affliction itself, but what that affliction was achieving in his life.  God afflicts or disciplines us in faithfulness.  God’s faithfulness refers to his “absolute reliability, firm constancy, and complete freedom from waffling back and forth, and also to his steadfast love toward his people and his loyalty.  He is faithful in keeping his promises and is therefore worthy of trust and unchangeable in his ethical nature. God himself does not allow pain in our lives without very good reason. That means that even when we are in the midst of pain and suffering and in great distress, God is, and remains, ever faithful.  He hasn’t fallen off the throne; he hasn’t forgotten you; he’s not punishing you with hate, but disciplining or shaping you with love and faithfulness. Sometimes there are things in our lives that need to die in order for us to change into something more beautiful. Sometimes God needs to reshape us into a more useful vessel for his purposes and our benefit.

​Perhaps the choices of a loved one have caused your affliction.  Even in the midst of affliction due to other people’s choices totally beyond our control, God can use this affliction to bring us to a place where we can experience peace and joy while God works in us, and them.  This is life abundant.  When you can be at peace and at rest in the eye of the hurricane, safe in his arms, no matter what is happening around you.  In times of great pain and distress in my life, it is then that I have most tangibly felt the presence of my dear Saviour.  When I have said: “Lord, I just can’t cope anymore,” he’s responded with:  “Let me cope for you.” And I’ve found the gold lining is this:  As I have pressed deeper into his provision when I have been completely broken, that deeper and closer walk with him didn’t leave when the crises passed.  I had gained something extremely valuable—a closer connection with God and a refined area of my life.
 
To close, Psalm 119:92:  “If your law had not been my delight, I would have perished in my affliction.”  David knew full well what it was like to be afflicted.  Although He loved God with all his heart and God loved him, he still experienced extremely trying times.  He leaned heavily on the fact that he obeyed and knew God’s law, and clearly saw God’s love for him through it despite what he was going through.  God’s covenant with Israel was his saving grace so much that he says he would have died in his affliction, had he not delighted in it.  The same is true for us.

God’s words and promises literally sustain us and bring life during times of extreme pressure while we’re being afflicted.  You may not know what is going on or why, but because you know and cherish God’s law, his covenant of love through Jesus, you can be assured you’ll come out alright. You make the choice to believe a promise by faith, and then that promise becomes real in your life as you grow in experiencing that promise. That will only happen if you’re surrendered and hungry for more of Him and you feed off His Word.  Basically if you don’t delight in his word and it has no place of priority in your life and you doubt that word, it won’t bring relief then, will it.  You can’t draw comfort from promises you don’t believe.

​Barnes comments:  “I should have sunk a thousand times,” said a most excellent, but much afflicted man to me, “if it had not been for one declaration in the Word of God, “The Eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms.” 
 
I quite agree.  God will always be there carrying us through.