Every Affliction We Suffer Is an Investment God Is Making in Us!
When a parent sends a child to college, it requires a great investment. And that parent hopes his child will apply herself to the rigors of her training. Why? Does he hope she will graduate, come home, hang her diploma on the wall, then sit around the house watching television? No! That parent hopes his child will make his investment pay off by starting a good career.
Likewise, when the U.S. military offers a free education to an enlisted soldier, those years of education are considered an investment. The soldier is told, "After you're educated, your nation and government want a certain amount of your time." That trained soldier is expected to serve in the armed forces for a number of years, to justify the investment.
So it is with the Lord and our afflictions! Everything you go through as a Christian is a training exercise, behind which God has a divine purpose. He did not save you to allow you to cruise into paradise on a luxury liner; he saved you to prepare you to be of use in his kingdom. The moment you were born again, he enrolled you in his school of suffering. And every affliction, every trial, is another lesson in the curriculum!
Some Christians are in kindergarten. Their afflictions are not difficult to understand, and their tests are much easier to endure. Others are in grade school, and they quickly learn that their tests have become a little tougher to face and harder to understand. Others are in college, and their afflictions are much more severe and more difficult to figure out. Still others are in postgraduate school, with years of hard affliction behind them and many difficult tests looming before them. Their afflictions are the toughest of their lives, and they realize they need Holy-Ghost strength to deal with them all.
My point is, God wants veterans of spiritual warfare -- people who have been through many afflictions -- to prove to the next generation his faithfulness. And our every affliction is an investment he is making in us as his veterans!
So, you ask, does that mean God afflicts his own children? Listen to the psalmist's answer: "For thou, O God, hast proved us: thou hast tried us, as silver is tried. Thou broughtest us into the net; thou laidst affliction upon our loins. Thou hast caused men to ride over our heads; we went through fire and through water: but thou broughtest us out into a wealthy place" (Psalm 66:10-12).
Where does the psalmist say his affliction came from? It came directly from the hand of God! He's saying, "Lord, you put me in waters that rushed over my head, so I thought I would drown. You put me into the fire, to try me as silver is tried. You brought me into a net, laid affliction on my loins, caused men to trounce on me!"
Why did God allow such afflictions? It was because he was bringing his beloved child into a "wealthy place." In the original Hebrew this phrase means, "a place of abundant fruitfulness." God is saying, "I'm taking you through all these hard places to make you fruitful for my kingdom!"
Yet not all afflictions are from the hand of God. Many troubles come from the devil himself, straight from the pits of hell. "For he [God] doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men" (Lamentations 3:33). God says, "I get no joy out of afflicting my children. That is not my purpose in allowing troubles." No -- the Lord allows our afflictions only for his holy, eternal purposes. It is to bring us into a "wealthy place"!
Now, I am no apostle; I'm only a novice compared to Paul. But I'm old enough in the Lord to consider myself a veteran in the faith. And as I look back over the years, I can tell you it has been a lifetime of trouble, affliction, hardship and disappointment. I've written some books about it, but those books only touch on the highlights.
I cringe with amazement as I remember all the sorrows, trials, deep waters, flaming fires and powerful afflictions. And usually when afflictions came, they came not just one at a time, but in bundles. Many times I thought, "There's no way I can make it through this." Even the memories of afflictions are painful -- memories of slander, chastenings of the Lord, ministry trials, personal buffetings, family problems, bodily pains and aches. Yet, as I recall those years of suffering, I can say with assurance, "God's word is true! He brought me out of every affliction that came upon me. I praise him!"
Almost any Christian reading this message could write a book about all the troubles and afflictions he or she has experienced. If you have served the Lord for any amount of time, I know you have a story to tell. Yet, what would that story sound like? Maybe it would go something like this: "I always have the peace and rest of the Holy Ghost. And I have wonderful fellowship with Jesus. But in this daily walk -- in this flesh I wear -- there has been such incredible pain, rejection, suffering, tears. It has been a lifetime of affliction!"
If you love Jesus with all your heart, your testimony will be, "God has always brought me out. I never went under. I'm still here, and I'm praising the Lord. Those afflictions are behind me now. I may be in the midst of another one, but all the others are under the blood. I am victorious, because Jesus brought me through!"
Perhaps there were times you almost fainted. You may have been so weak and weary you thought you couldn't go another step. But now, from where you stand, you can say, "No, I never want to go through that again -- but God brought me out of it. He has been faithful. Praise the Lord!"
Yet God is not satisfied with a heartfelt "thank you" from us. Rather, he says, "Wait just a moment, my child. I did not bring you through all these troubles and afflictions just to make you a grateful overcomer. No -- I have a big investment in you. I've spent years training you, putting you through all these things for a purpose. And I'm not going to let you waste them now. I fully intend that my investment pay off. I tell you, your best work is ahead of you!"
Now, as you emerge from your college-level afflictions, God opens your eyes to your struggling friends in kindergarten. These beloved ones don't think they can make it. So, what do you do with your affliction experiences? God whispers to you, "I need seasoned, tested veterans -- people who have survived deep waters and awful fires, who have been refined through suffering. I want people who will prove my faithfulness to this generation!"
The psalmist writes: "...that ye may tell it to the generation following" (Psalm 48:13). "Now also when I am old and greyheaded, O God, forsake me not; until I have shewed thy strength unto this generation, and thy power to everyone that is to come..." (71:18).
Paul sums it all up beautifully: "But I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel..." (Philippians 1:12). That is saying something! When Paul wrote this, he was an older man with years of experience -- and he was in the midst of one of the worst trials of his life. He spoke to his friends from his heart:
"It would be the most wonderful thing right now if I could go home and be with my Lord. That is my greatest desire. But I'm a veteran -- I've been through afflictions and trials -- and I know I'm needed here. This generation needs to see a sufferer who survives and rejoices in any affliction. My son Timothy is going to face all that I've faced, and he needs to know that God will bring him through. So, it is best that I stay and endure these deep afflictions. Look at me -- not only have I survived, but I have true hope. I'm not down or depressed. I rejoice in the Lord for all he has brought me through!"
"...I shall abide and continue with you all for your furtherance and joy of faith" (verse 25). Paul is saying, "You know I've been through fires, infirmities, robberies, shipwrecks. At times I've even despaired of life. But God has delivered me from it all. And now I'm going to abide and continue with you for the furtherance and joy of your faith. I want to teach you that you don't have to be terrified of any adversary!"
Beloved, I have a question for you: No matter how long you've been walking with Jesus, you surely have known pains, trials, afflictions. So, how have you behaved in them? What has been the outcome, the result of your experiences? Have your afflictions all been in vain? Or have you learned of God's love and faithfulness in the midst of them?
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