Psalm 119:65-72

Affliction is one of those tools of God in our lives that we are never very excited about when we face it.  However, it is a very common tool that God uses in our lives in order to build the character that He wants to see in our lives.  God is faithful to give us what we need in order to become like Christ not necessarily what we want.  As a rule, we are always attracted to comfort and ease, but God is interested in holiness.  We must learn to trust God and to see that what He wants is always best even if it is not the most comfortable for us.  God’s Word is true and will help us become like the Lord Jesus if we will follow and obey it.

GOD USES AFFLICTION TO REBUKE US: It would be wrong for us to say that all affliction is due to our sin, but it would also be wrong for us to say that it is never due to our sin.  The Psalmist tells us that before he was afflicted he had gone astray.  The implication is that God used the affliction in his life to bring him back from having gone astray and taught him to value and obey the Word of God.  When we face affliction we must stop and take stock of our lives and try to determine if we are in some way living in disobedience to the Word of God.  We all need to be rebuked at times so that we can grow and learn from our mistakes.  God can use affliction to take us from rebellion to obedience and love for the Word of God.


GOD USES AFFLICTION TO RESTORE US: Part of the problem of walking in rebellion against God is that there are many people in this sin cursed world that will just jump on us while we are down and go so far as to tell lies about us and make things worse than they already are.  These evil men have no feelings or conscience, but God is faithful in these times of affliction to bring us to the point of restoration.  He teaches us the Word of God and brings us to the point of valuing God’s Word over and above any wealth of pleasure that this sinful world has to offer.  Affliction can be used of God to restore us to a point where we are once again living according to the principles of God’s Word and loving the Lord with all of our hearts.

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