It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I may learn Thy statutes.–Psalm 119:71
Judging by the commercials on television, modern man doesn’t like pain. Whether it’s physical pain, the pain of a broken appliance, the pain of the Internal Revenue Service, the pain of recovering from an accident or natural disaster — regardless of the kind of pain, if there’s not a pill, there is a plan or program for relief.
But there may also be a purpose. The Bible suggests that adversity is a frequent visitor in our fallen world. Since God is sovereign, our first question is not how to be free of trouble but how to discover God’s purpose in it. The apostle Paul was like us. When he suffered, he prayed that God would take it away. Instead, God gave him grace to live with the adversity. Immediately, Paul recognized a positive outcome: When he was weak in himself, he was strong in Christ (2 Corinthians 12:10).
It’s fine to ask God to solve the adversities in life. But while pursuing resolution, ask God to show you if there is something for which you can thank Him. Something you wouldn’t have experienced without the pain.–David Jeremiah
God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks to us in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: It is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.
C. S. Lewis
