“It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes.” (Ps. 119:71)
It is hard to believe, but sometimes something bad can become something good in our lives. When David sinned against God, God brought affliction into his life…something bad. But David, realizing that his affliction was God’s way of getting his attention, said, “It is good for me that I have been afflicted;” In fact, just a few verses earlier, David said, “Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept thy word.”
No one likes affliction, but God often uses it to bring us back to where we should be. Affliction tries us; it can also be used to purify us and strengthen our faith in God.
Often, it is only after trouble has come into our lives that God gets the most glory. As Spurgeon once said, “We should never know the music of the harp if the strings were left untouched; nor enjoy the juice of the grape if it were not trodden in the winepress; nor discover the sweet perfume of cinnamon if it were not pressed and beaten; nor feel the warmth of fire if the coals were not utterly consumed.”
Any painter will tell you that there must be shadows in a picture in order to bring out the light. Likewise, it is often the dark times and difficult trials that highlight the good grace and mercy of our Lord. Maybe you are experiencing a dark time in your life right now. Here are two things you can do:
FIRST—Make sure the affliction is not God’s way of dealing with sin in your life. If there is sin in your life, confess it and repent.
SECOND—If there is no unconfessed sin in your life, then ask God to help you trust Him in this trial so that He will be glorified. When God gets the glory from our trials, then something bad has become something good!