Psalm 119:67: “Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word.”
Ladies – the older we get, the more familiar we become with pain. This includes physical pain, for sure – achy backs and creaky knees are no joke! But it also includes the pain of dashed hopes and broken relationships. I have experienced both natural childbirth and deep heartbreak, and I can tell you the former is easier to bear.
During these seasons of affliction, we often ask, “Why, Lord?”
God has many reasons for sending trouble our way. Some of his reasons are revealed in scripture, while others remain a mystery. We know one of God’s reasons, is to keep our hearts and minds turned toward obedience. When things are good, it is easy to become prideful or complacent, and to go our own way (Deuteronomy 6:12). When things are hard, we remember that God is sovereign, and he is our only hope.
Despite what the parenting blogs say, good parents discipline their children regularly, out of love. God, our Heavenly Father, treats us the same way. We are his beloved children, therefore he disciplines us (Hebrews 12:6). And this discipline leads to our good. Hebrews reminds us, “For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” (Hebrews 12:11).
We love God’s promise that “For those who love God all things work together for good” (Romans 8:28). We have an idea of what we think is “good.” But one of the best “goods” that affliction brings, is a renewed relationship with Jesus. Let us respond to trials with soft hearts, like the psalmist, in saying “now I obey your word.”
stirfrylaura 