Five Reasons to not Begrudge Affliction
In his blog, John Piper shares five specific benefits from Psalm 119: 67 and 71 that God gives in sending us affliction. He notes that, principally, affliction comes to help us learn God’s word, to understand God’s word and keep it. There are innumerable ways affliction can benefit us, as there are innumerable experiences. But here are five that Piper mentions:
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Affliction takes the glibness of life away and makes us more serious so that our mindset is more in tune with the seriousness of God’s word.
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Affliction knocks worldly props from under us and forces us to rely more on God which brings us more in tune with the aim of the word.
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Affliction makes us search the scriptures with greater desperation for help rather than treating it as marginal to life.
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Affliction brings us into the fellowship of Christ’s sufferings so that we fellowship more closely with him and see the world more readily through his eyes.
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Affliction mortifies deceitful and distracting fleshly desires, and so brings us into a more spiritual frame which fits God’s word more.
I pray that we will not begrudge the pedagogy of God.