Let’s be honest: you’re in pain or going to be in pain. It could be physical, relational, emotional, or spiritual. Pain in this world is a given. But rather than resent this, pain is something a wise Christian can use to his or her benefit, and two classical writers tell us how. This is a follow-up to last week’s post, which you can read here first: Dismantle the Need for Comfort: Learn the Value of Adversity
Once I unlearn my demand for unbroken comfort and ease, I need to learn the value of afflictions. This begins with believing that they work for our good, as Scripture tells us (Romans 8:28-29).
Brooks helpfully lists many of affliction’s benefits:
· Being afflicted opens our eyes “so that I shall come to have a clearer sight of my sins and of myself, and a fuller sight of my God, Job 33:27, 28; 40:4, 5; 13:1-7.” Gregory wrote that “The eye that sin shuts, afflictions open.”[i]
· Afflictions can help “kill my sins, and soften my heart.”
· Through afflictions, “the Lord will crucify my heart more and more to the world, and the world to my heart, Galatians 6:14; Psalm 131:1-3.”
· Afflictions will foster humility and “keep pride from my soul, Job 33:14-21. Surely these afflictions are but the Lord’s pruning-knives, by which he will bleed my sins, and prune my heart, and make it more fertile and fruitful; they are but the Lord’s portion, by which he will clear me, and rid me of those spiritual diseases and maladies, which are most deadly and dangerous to my soul! Affliction is such a potion, as will carry away all soul-diseases, better than all other remedies, Zechariah 13:8, 9.”
· Painful afflictions can increase pleasurable “spiritual experiences” as well as help us become a “partaker of God’s holiness, Hebrews 12:10. As black soap makes white clothes, so does sharp afflictions make holy hearts.”
· God reveals himself to us in our afflictions and “will fix my soul more than ever upon the great [importance] of the eternal world, John 14:1-3; Romans 8:17, 18; 2 Corinthians 4:16-18.”
· Afflictions train us to become more effective ministers. “By these afflictions the Lord will work in me more tenderness and compassion towards those who are afflicted, Hebrews 10:34, 13:3.”
An example of this: I discovered I had keratoconus, a degenerative eye disease, in my late twenties. It’s never been treated as the treatment back then was basically a cornea transplant. According to my eye doctor, my brain has learned to operate using just one eye, which is fine (though a bit of a hassle when I’m biking and have a difficult time looking over my shoulder). One of my daughters began experiencing the same symptoms in her twenties and got right on it. Not only did the new treatment stop the progression, but she was also among the blessed twenty percent that actually saw improvement in her eyesight. With glasses, she may even get back to 20-20.
Continue reading this free blog on Substack HERE.