Blessed is the man whom You instruct, O Lord, and teach out of Your law, that You may give him rest from the days of adversity. (Psalm 94:7, 12-13)
Among those who do not serve God is the argument that His instructions don’t allow for any pleasures. In their eyes serving God renders the exact opposite — suffering. Why, they argue, does God permit so much suffering to touch the lives of those who strive to walk upright if righteousness is so valuable in the eyes of God? They don’t understand that affliction is a sign of God’s correction for those He loves, as it is written: “As a man chastens his son, so the Lord your God chastens you … that He might humble you and that He might test you, to do you good in the end” (Deuteronomy 8:5, 16). In other words, He allows us to suffer that our carnal inclinations might be arrested and that we will be provoked to draw closer to Him.
As hard as it might be to admit this, even for those who love Him, we should appreciate the suffering that God allows in our life. Why? Going through difficulty and affliction reveals the weakness of the flesh and the fleeting nature of the world’s pleasures — i.e. those things the wicked seek after. The only thing that is permanent and worthwhile is to be in close fellowship with the Most High and for that to be so, we must pay a price. If we are to attain this intimacy and draw close to a Holy God, we must be willing to die to our flesh and pursue holiness. The wicked may never understand this but the greatest pleasure we could ever attain is for our carnality to be consumed that we might be one with the Creator.
In the end, suffering that suppresses our carnal tendencies and liberates the spirit man is in our best interests. Therefore, even in the midst of suffering, take comfort in knowing that, “Whom the Lord loves He corrects, just as a father the son in whom he delights” (Proverbs 3:12). His correction, and the suffering that comes with it, is for our benefit. As the psalmist hints, if we embrace His correction now, we will be spared the justice served upon those who have rejected His law. In a manner of speaking, if we pass the tests we are currently facing, the Lord will exempt us from the final exam in the day of adversity. As was said to the congregation of Philadelphia: “Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth” (Revelation 3:10). Amen to that.
Blessings and Shalom,
Bill
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