Profiting from Affliction
Before I was afflicted, I went astray; it is good for me that I have been afflicted; thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me. Here is the far-off interest of our tears. God measures out our sorrows and the trials which cause them. But our condition requires the stern and bitter regimen. The stone must be cut by the lapidary. The heavy clouds, with their drenching showers, must hang over the landscape. The fire must cleanse the metal. If need be, ye suffer heaviness through many temptations. Yes, there is a need-be, and only if need be, for He doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men. It is His strange work, Isaiah 28:21. The very least and the very greatest sorrows that befall us are provided, or permitted, by his unspeakable love. If we be without chastisement, whereof all children are partakers, then are we bastard and not sons, Hebrews 12:8. But amid the affliction, his loving-kindness always waits upon our comfort, Psalms 119:76. “God, that comforteth those that are cast down,” says the Apostle, “comforted us by the coming of Titus,” 2 Corinthians 7:6.