Affliction Required

Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept thy word.
Psalm 119:67

That sounds a little like a principle a child might learn from its parent, doesn't it? Well, guess what? God is our Father, and we are His children ... pretty much like the parent/child relationship here in these three dimensions of earth (ok, four dimensions).

The point is discipline and teaching - character development.

"It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes." Psalm 119:71

'Good for me' doesn't necessarily mean 'fun.' But it's absolutely necessary in spiritual development and maturation. He wants us to learn obedience and holiness to bring us in line with His Word in order that we may attain the "peaceable fruit of righteousness" (Hebrews 12:11).

How deep is your desire to really know God? I mean, how much do you want to become well acquainted with everything about Him and how He thinks? To become His intimate friend? The psalmist was desperate to know God: "...the law of thy mouth is better unto me than thousands of gold and silver" (Psalm 119:72). Can we say that?

If you set aside (commit) a specific time every day to spend in God's Word - let's say 30 minutes - and let absolutely nothing interfere with that time, I can guarantee that you will have questions ... become interested ... become passionate ... about knowing God.

In response to your passion He will begin to reveal Himself to you. You will experience affliction, and just when you are at the depths of your suffering, that bright light of insight will flash across your soul. You will smile, knowing that you have learned more about God. Your faith will grow, as will your affliction. You will reach the point where you can smile during the affliction, because your trust in Him is total. The process will continue, as He molds and whittles away. Your relationship will be more intimate than any other.

Ah! But Lord! If I could only see you! You will ... and sooner than you may think. Meanwhile, you will be able to say, with the psalmist:

"Thou hast dealt well with thy servant, O Lord,
according unto thy word."
Psalm 119:65

Royal Heir

It Is Good To Be Afflicted

"It is good for me that I have been afflicted: that I might learn thy statutes." Psalm 119:71

The scriptures teach us that we should be thankful in all circumstances, and here is a great example. It is therefore appropriate that the author of Psalm 119 suffered a small affliction by not being acknowledged as the writer of this most elaborate and elegant Psalm, although the rabbis generally credited it to David.
During an affliction, it runs against the grain to admit that it is serving some positive purpose in life. Our first impulse is to complain and ask God to remove it. But as we grow in the Christian walk we come to realize that God allows these afflictions (or brings them) for our growth. The point of life as a Christian is to become more like Christ. We can therefore expect testing.

"... the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control." Since these attributes are the fruit of the Christian life, we have none of these from God's point of view, when we first accept Christ as our Savior. We must be pruned regularly in order to develop into full maturity. Pruning is painful! But it is necessary for growth into maturity.

It's not only for the Christian, but the Lord often draws the unsaved to himself through circumstances of sorrow, pain and affliction. People will examine the more substantial issues of life at a time of trouble rather than at a time of ease.

Our faith becomes very strong as, time after time, we can see in retrospect how hard times yielded amazing spiritual fruit in our lives. This is nothing we can take credit for; even the measure of our faith is a gift from God. "Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now have I kept thy word ... This is my comfort in my affliction: for thy word hath quickened me" (Psalm 119:67).

Particularly in these last days it is critical to understand that our level of responsibility in the next realm is directly impacted by how we handle testing in this realm.

It wouldn't be called testing if it was easy.

Royal Heir