Pain, The Unwanted Gift
Tuesday, September 14
Pain, The Unwanted Gift
It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I may learn Your statutes. Psalm 119:71
Afflicted comes from the noun “affliction,” meaning any difficult or painful circumstance and like a gifts on your birthday, afflictions come in all shapes and sizes. An affliction can be as small as a missed turn on the way home or large as a major illness. Regardless of the affliction no one wants to deal with the ‘fork in the road’. Yet still, it’s in these moments of great tribulation God does His best work. God brings certain things to bear upon us that are not pleasant at the present time but are profitable ultimately for us. There’s a cleaning off if you will of some of the filth. There’s a smoothing if you will of some of the rough edges and each of these are all for the glory and honor of God.
The context of the passage from which our text is drawn, Psalm 119 demonstrates that sometimes, things will happen as a result of our own disobedience or a teaching from God which will injure us, but we won’t stay bruised forever because the same God is able to heal us.
In Job 16:9 it says, ‘God tears me’. This is, of course, spoken by Job of the Lord and his experience of God allowing Satan to test him. So being afflicted, although it sounds painful and not something anyone would want to experience, apparently has a beneficial purpose with a goal of healing.
Today find strength in God’s word. The unwanted gift is affliction, pain, distress and that is sickening. However, on the opposite end is healing, deliverance, and recovery. May you one day be able to look back and like the Psalmist say I know this was good for me.