God promises to faithfully grow us by our afflictions. One of the most beloved verses in all of Scripture is Romans 8:28, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” What this means for us in our afflictions is this: God promises that our afflictions are remedial and sanctifying. They are sent by Him to bring blessing to us, to try and reveal what is in us in order to purge us of sin and to quicken our graces.
First, God promises to bless us by our afflictions. Romans 8:28-29 says our present sufferings are working to conform us to the image of Christ. James 1:2-4 calls upon us to rejoice when we meet trials of various kinds since the testing of our faith produces endurance which itself leads on to maturity. First Peter 3:14 says we’ll be blessed when we suffer for righteousness’ sake (cf. Mt 5:10-12). And Romans 5:3-5 removes all doubt as to whether our afflictions are designed by God to bless us. Paul says, “we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” To that we can add his encouraging reminder in 2 Corinthians 4:16-17, “So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.” Edward Leigh commented upon this marvelous trade, imbalanced in our eternal favor, “We shall have for affliction, glory; for light affliction, heavy, massy substantial glory, a weight of glory; for momentary affliction, eternal glory.”
Second, God promises that our afflictions will try us and reveal what is in us. The Lord does this, not so that He may learn something He doesn’t know about us, but rather so that we might be confronted with either a strength in us of which we were unaware (which of course He placed in us) or with a weakness in us of which we were either unaware or unwilling to address (so that we might be brought to repentance). Like the stick Elisha threw into the water to make the axe head float (2 Kings 6:5-7), the trial has a way of causing what is in us to surface.
In Genesis 22 the Lord brings an affliction upon Abraham of unimaginable weight (v.1 calls it a test) when He commands him to sacrifice his only son, the son through whom God had promised the blessed Seed would come who would be a blessing to the nations (Gen. 21:12). Such a trial would certainly reveal what was in Abraham––whether Abraham loved his son more than God, whether he believed God would keep His promise concerning His son even when this present summons appeared to contradict it, and whether he trusted God’s ways even though he didn’t understand them. Well, Abraham did love God more than Isaac, he did believe God, and he did trust God’s reasoning above his own. Hebrews 11 says, “By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac… [for] he considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead” (vv.17, 19). The trial revealed the strength of Abraham’s faith in God. That is to say, it revealed the kind of faith God gives His people as well as the unreserved obedience to God which that faith produces in His people. God didn’t need to know this; Abraham did; and we did, Rom 4.11; Js 2.23.
When Moses led the people of Israel out of Egypt, no sooner did they leave than they came to a dead end: the Red Sea (Ex. 14). The Lord directed them to set up camp facing the sea. In the meantime, Pharaoh had second thoughts about letting them go and set off in feverish pursuit of them. His pursuit of them left them hemmed in between his army and the Red Sea. The Israelites saw the danger and “feared greatly,” saying to Moses, “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? Is not this what we said to you in Egypt: ‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’?” (vv.10-12).
When the twelve spies were sent into Canaan in Numbers 13 to spy out the land which God had promised to give to Israel and into which God was now ready to bring them, only two spies believed that God was able to lead them in victory against the inhabitants and put them in possession of the land, thus fulfilling His promise. Caleb said, “Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it” (v.30). The other ten were afraid of the people they had seen and brought back a bad report, saying, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are” (v.31). When Israel heard these two conflicting reports, 14:2-3 says, “The whole congregation said to them, “Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness! Why is the LORD bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword?”
Both the confrontation at the Red Sea and the confrontation at the border of Canaan were afflictions, tests sent by God to try the people’s hearts. Would they trust Him, would they follow Him into battle, would they obey Him against all odds––did they believe Him? Well, what surfaced on both occasions? Unbelief. His people didn’t believe Him. His people wouldn’t obey Him. His people didn’t trust Him when sense spoke to the contrary. What did it take to reveal this deep-seated unbelief? A trial. And now we have their example, of which the apostle says, “Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did” (1 Cor. 10:6). But the apostle goes on, “Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction… Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall” (vv.11-12).
The point of it all is this: though affliction and suffering is the human lot, we as Christians don’t suffer them as unbelievers do because we have a promise from God, that all things work together for our good. And they do so, because God, in His goodness and love to us for Christ’s sake, causes them to be remedial and sanctifying unto us on our journey heavenward. More specifically, God uses our afflictions to correct and discipline us, though with much compassion and tenderness, and God uses our afflictions to test us in order that our weaknesses and graces will surface. Once our graces are quickened by trial, we move forward with greater confidence in our labors and stand as an encouragement to others of God’s faithfulness to grow His people in holiness. Likewise, once a weakness is quickened by trial, we repent of it for the sin that it is, stay closer to Christ in our walk, better guard our hearts, and press on in our labors with greater caution and humility, more watchful and prayerful.
May God help us see the great comfort which His promises hold out to us in our afflictions until we can rejoice in our sufferings and face our trials with holy patience. For He has promised us that, “after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you” (1 Peter 5:10).
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God bless you,
Dr. J
Thank you brother! Very encouraging!! Always look towards our goal to remain hopeful and to rest in our faith!! Needed to be reminded of this today brother!!
You’re welcome brother. May the Lord use all your trials to conform you to the image of His blessed Son.
Great post! As a side note to Numbers 13, it shows the limitations of majority rule as a governing principle. God’s Word and God’s promises should always the standard for Church government and self discipline.
Thanks Arnie. You’re right about the Word of God being the only rule and standard for both personal and church life. Israel learned a hard lesson–the hard way. Better to heed what Paul says in 1Cor 10, “these things were written for our instruction.”