Why are we caught off guard by a toilet that overflows, a misplaced—and unpaid—bill, an alarm that doesn’t go off (or a fire alarm that does)? The pile of laundry. The looming work project. The 5PM-no-clue-what’s-for-dinner stress. Or perhaps our affliction rises to a higher level: the positive biopsy, the certified letter from the IRS, or the child who seems to have walked away from God.
Life brings hard things, and they often catch us off guard. Jesus gave us a heads-up: …In this world you will have trouble… (John 16:33) Yet we are often derailed by irritation, hardship, and suffering.
Living through them brings a heightened understanding that not only does suffering come, but it may have a redemptive purpose.
Psalm 119 includes (at least) three powerful verses that bring a biblical, eternal perspective on suffering.
It was good for me to be afflicted so that
I might learn your decrees.
Psalm 119:71
There are some lessons that can only be learned through suffering. We can read or hear about someone else’s experience, but until we walk through that valley ourselves, we just don’t get it.
I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 1997. Through that season, I realized I truly do believe what I say I believe. I learned that what I thought in my head was also true in my heart: God is real, and my confident hope for eternity is secure because of my identity in Christ.
Never again do I want to hear the word malignant from a doctor, but I would not trade for anything the many truths I learned through that season.
Suffering has rewards and blessings; through it, His truth transforms from mere thoughts in our head to deep-rooted knowing in the very foundation of our soul.
If your law had not been my delight,
I would have perished in my affliction.
Psalm 119:92
The more candles on the birthday cake, the greater the perspective on life. Age brings the awareness that life includes hard things, but our great God is in the business of redeeming hard things – for our good and, more importantly, for HIS glory.
Age also allows us to look back over the timeline of life and see a series of mountains and valleys. In the seemingly upside-down logic of Scripture (the first shall be last, you have to lose your life to gain it), the physical valleys are often spiritual mountaintops.
If you’ve lived more than a couple of decades, you begin to realize that we are either living in a challenge, just coming out of a challenge, or maybe heading into a new challenge.
That view is not so much pessimistic, as realistic.
The constant through it all is our great God, who promised: Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you. (Hebrews 13:5 NIV).
Choosing to abide in His Word on the ordinary, no-struggle days cements a settled assurance, a delight in Him that prepares us to walk through the extraordinary, struggle-filled days when they come.
God’s Word becomes our protection during the affliction.
Trouble and distress have come upon me,
but your commands give me delight.
Psalm 119:143
The delight of God’s Word trumps any distress this world can bring. We’re spiritual Teflon! Nothing the enemy hurls our way can stick. We harmonize with the Apostle Paul, For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. (II Corinthians 4:17)
To delight in God in the midst of trouble is the blessing that comes from abiding in the Word.
If today finds you struggle-free, abide in His Word so you will be ready when the struggle comes.
If today finds you in the midst of a struggle, abide in His Word so you can persevere through the affliction.
If today finds you coming out of a struggle, abide in His Word so you can delight in Him and praise Him for His faithfulness.
In this week’s Friday devotional video, Laura is joined by her friend, Jenifer Siemens. We invite you to watch as they discuss what it looks like to yearn for spending time with God. The result during times of our lives when we don’t spend time at His feet, versus times when we do, might surprise you.
