"...in faithfulness you have afflicted me." Ps 119.75 ESV
Appropriate that I should be lead to these words this morning. I am presently down in my back and somewhat afflicted. Now am I saying that God has afflicted me? Well, He certainly allowed my injury, watched it happen, could have prevented it, and did not. When we credit God with an injury even if it is through non-interference, we hope not so much to blame Him with some ill will towards us, rather, we trust that by allowing this affliction He is working some greater good in us. In His faithfulness He has afflicted me. We are told to endure hardship as loving discipline and by doing so not only trust that God is sovereign over all things but to be trained by all things. It is not so much, "Why have You allowed this," as it is, "How may I glorify You in this?
A good friend of mine, who happens to be a doctor, loves telling me, that pain is good. What he means of course is that pain tells us when something is wrong, and without it we might burn off our hand. Pain teaches us. In God’s loving hand, and in the humble receptive heart, it certainly can be most instructive. It certainly has my attention.
Just me trying to be honest with God.
