Affliction
Scriptures relating to
affliction
Affliction Collection
The best book in the
minister's library
It aids in
understanding God's Word
Doctor Affliction
Afflictions are
good for us
God will give grace and strength to bear our trials and afflictions
Seeing God in the affliction
No secular and sacred distinctions
Labor to grow
better
How much some of us owe to a bed of
sickness!
He takes away all the props
Affliction is the lot of
saints below - article by
James Meikle
That
hand can never smite you - J. C. Ryle
There is nothing like a
little gracious starvation - C. H. Spurgeon
God has chosen
me - C. H. Spurgeon
De 8:5 Thou shalt also consider in thine heart, that, as a man chasteneth
his son, so the LORD thy God chasteneth thee.
Job 5:7 Yet man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward.
Job 14:1 Man that is born of a woman is of few days,
and full of trouble.
Job 5:17 Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth:
therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty:
Job 5:17 Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth:
therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty:
Ps 119:67 Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept
thy word.
Ps 119:75 I know, O LORD, that thy judgments are right, and
that thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me.
Pr 3:11 My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD; neither be weary
of his correction:
Pr 3:12 For whom the LORD loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son
in whom he delighteth.
2Co 4:17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for
us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;
Heb 12:6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son
whom he receiveth.
Heb 12:7 If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for
what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?
Jas 1:2 My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers
temptations;
Re 3:19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore,
and repent.
The Best Book in
the Minister's Library
"I do not know whether my experience is that of
all God’s people; but I am afraid that all the grace that I have got
out of my comfortable and easy times and happy hours, might almost
lie on a penny. But the good that I have received from my sorrows,
and pains, and griefs, is altogether incalculable. What do I not owe
to the hammer and the anvil, the fire and the file? What do I not
owe to the crucible and the furnace, the bellows that have blown up
the coals, and the hand which has thrust me into the heat?
Affliction is the best bit of furniture in my house. It is the best
book in a minister’s library. We may wisely rejoice in tribulation,
because it worketh patience, and patience experience, and experience
hope; and by that way we are exceedingly enriched, and our faith
grows strong."
- C. H. Spurgeon, The Trial of Your Faith
Affliction aids
the understanding of God's Word
It is good
for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes.
- Ps 119:71
Martin Luther said that he could never understand
some of the Psalms until he was afflicted.
- Thomas Watson, All
Things for Good
Doctor
Affliction
Doctor Affliction is the best expositor of
Scripture. I can recommend you Dr. Gill and Dr. Adam Clarke and many
others, but if you want to understand the
Word of God you must go to the school of trial.
- C. H. Spurgeon
Afflictions are good for
us"It was good for me to
be afflicted!" Psalm 119:71
I find afflictions to be good for me. I have always
found them so. Afflictions are happy means in the
hands of the Holy Spirit to subdue . . .
my corruptions,
my pride,
my evil passions,
my inordinate love to the creature.
Afflictions . . .
soften my hard heart,
bring me to my knees,
increase faith,
increase love,
increase humility,
increase self-denial.
Afflictions make me poor in spirit,
and nothing in my own eyes.
Welcome the cross!
Welcome deep adversity!
Welcome stripping Providences!
"Before I was afflicted I went astray, but
now I obey Your word." Psalm 119:67
- Joseph Williams
Strength for every trial
will be given
"As your days, so shall your
strength be." Deut. 33:25
The Christian is frequently compared to a pilgrim,
traveling onwards through a dreary wilderness, to
the promised land of Canaan.
His experience is varied and chequered. The
path before him may be steep and arduous.
He may have to pass through . . .
rough and stony places;
dark, thick forests;
rapid streams;
raging hurricanes.
His days may be such, as to require great . . .
strength,
and energy,
and perseverance.
Oftentimes, when he strives to anticipate the future,
his heart sinks within him, his courage fails, and he is
apt to give way to despondency and doubt. But, such
a promise, "As your days, so shall your strength be,"
may well suffice to calm the believer's fears, and
reanimate his fainting spirit.
It is true, that changes and vicissitudes will come;
true, that the heart, which today is cheerful and happy,
may tomorrow be wounded and bleeding; true, that the
full cup, now held with gladness, may be dashed in pieces,
before the lips have tasted the refreshing draught; true,
that the bright hope, which, like a guiding star, allures
the traveler onwards, may speedily be enwrapped in
pitchy gloom.
But to the child of God, there is a
supply of strength
to meet the hour of trial. He is not permitted to
escape
from the burden, the cross, the difficulty. But he is
enabled to make his way through them all; to struggle
with, and finally to overcome them.
Many a time, when the believer has been well near
crushed under the oppressive weight; when, conscious
that ordinary strength would not avail, he has cried
unto the Lord, and a fresh supply of grace has been
given to meet the emergency; so that he could say
with David, "I waited patiently for the Lord to help
me, and He turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted
me out of the pit of despair, out of the mud and the
mire. He set my feet on solid ground and steadied
me as I walked along." Psalm 40:1-2
It would be easy for God, to make the path heavenward,
plain and unobstructed to His children; easy, to remove
all care, anxiety, and sorrow. But such is not His purpose.
Earth is the training school for Heaven. God wills that
His children should be tried; that their spiritual natures
should be refined and purified in the furnace of affliction.
And that thus, by the very struggles and pains of their
earthly pilgrimage, they should become more and more
fit for serving Him in this world; and more and more fit
for the inheritance of the saints in light.
The Christian, by each difficulty he is called on to
encounter; by each trial he is summoned to bear;
by each virtue he is required to call into exercise;
becomes more vigorous, earnest, faithful, and
Christlike. His soul is gradually training and
strengthening by duty, trial, and endurance here;
for glory, honor, and immortality hereafter.
Every fresh victory . . .
over pride,
over vanity,
over avarice,
over selfishness,
over fretfulness,
makes us stronger for the time to come, and
insures the fulfillment of the promise, "As your
days, so shall your strength be."
Christian! mark again these words. They do not
give the pledge, that we shall not feel the burden
and heat of the day. All they promise is, that we
shall get safely through. They do not say that we
shall not feel the weight of our duties, trials,
temptations, conflicts. All they say is, that we
shall have strength to bear their weight, and
journey on with our load.
The grace imparted, will then be "sufficient" for
us; sufficient for our actual necessities; sufficient
strength equal to our day.
Strength to encounter the tempest will
be given when the tempest rages.
Strength to breast the foaming surges will be
given when the hurricane has actually come.
Strength to grapple with the last enemy will
be given when he comes forth to meet you.
Yes, Christian! be assured, grace and strength
will be imparted when you need them, as certainly
as they will be withheld before you need them.
He who guides you, knows your necessities, and,
in the day of trouble, will not leave you comfortless.
Journey on, then, with firmness, relying on His
promise. Your day is coming. You will, before long,
enter into your final rest, and repose from all your
labors. You will take possession of the promised
inheritance, and will then acknowledge with a grateful
heart, "As my days, so my strength has been."
John MacDuff, Words of Comfort to the Christian Pilgrim
Helps the Christian to
endure the trials of his path
Nothing so much helps
the Christian to endure the trials of his path as the
habit of seeing God in everything. There is no circumstance,
be it ever so trivial or ever so commonplace, which may not
be regarded as a messenger from God, if only the ear be
circumcised to hear, and the mind spiritual to understand
the message. If we lose sight of this valuable truth, life,
in many instances at least, will be but a dull monotony,
presenting nothing beyond the most ordinary circumstances.
On the other hand, if we could but remember, as we start
each day on our course, that the hand of our Father can be
traced in every scene—if we could see in the smallest, as
well as in the most weighty circumstances, traces of the
divine presence—how full of deep interest would each day's
history be found!
- C. H. Mackintosh, God in Everything
No secular and Sacred
A spiritually vigorous saint never believes
that his circumstances simply happen at random, nor does he
ever think of his life as being
divided into the secular and the sacred. He sees
every situation in which he finds himself as the means of
obtaining a greater knowledge of Jesus Christ, and he has an
attitude of unrestrained abandon and total surrender about
him.
- Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His
Highest (from July 11th reading)
Labor to grow better
Labor to grow better
under all your afflictions, lest your afflictions grow worse,
lest
God mingle them with more darkness, bitterness and terror.
John Owen
How much some of us
owe to a bed of sickness!
How much some of us owe
to a bed of sickness! I do not
desire for any unconverted person here that he should be
ill, but if that would be the way to make him think,
repent, and believe, I could earnestly pray for it. I
believe the Lord has often preached to men in hospitals
who never heard him in churches or chapels; fever and
cholera have been heard by those whom ministers could
not reach. If we could banish pain
and sickness from the world, it may be we should be
robbing righteousness of two of her most impressive
evangelists. What Jonah was to Nineveh, sickness
has been to many a man. Like Elijah also, it has cried
in the soul, “Choose ye this day whom ye will serve.”
Disease has been a grim orator for
God, and with an eloquence not to be resisted, it has
made the hearts of men to bow before its message.
If there are any here who have lately been thus
afflicted, I would ask them whether God has blessed it
to their souls. I earnestly pray that they may not be
hardened by it, for in that case there is fear that God
will say, “Why should ye be smitten any more, ye will
revolt more and more!” and he may add, “I will let them
alone, they are given unto idols. I have smitten them
till their whole head is sick, and their whole heart is
faint. I have made them to be so near death’s door, that
from the crown of the head even to the foot they are all
wounds and bruises through the chastenings of my rod. I
will give them up, and no more will I deal with them in
a way of grace.” Great God have pity still, and make thy
chastisements effectual to their souls.
Now, note well that we do not
assert that all persons who are saved are awakened by
sickness; far from it, all that we are now taught is
that many are so aroused, and that such was the
case in the instance described by Elihu.
- C. H. Spurgeon, Old Fashioned
Conversion
He takes away all the
props
God wants to teach us
to look to Jesus alone. That is why he
takes away all the props in our life; only then will we
learn to fetch all we need from Jesus Christ alone.
- Joel Beeke,
Walking as He Walked
That hand can never smite you
"God so loved the world, that He
gave His only begotten Son." John 3:16
Reader, if God has given you His only begotten
Son, beware of doubting His kindness and love, in any painful
providence of your daily life! Never allow yourself to think
hard thoughts of God. Never suppose that He can give you
anything which is not really for your good. Remember the words
of Paul: "He who spared not His own Son—but delivered Him up for
us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all
things" (Romans 8:32)
See in every sorrow and trouble of your earthly pilgrimage—the
hand of Him who gave Christ to die for your sins!
That hand can never smite you—except
in love! He who gave His only begotten Son for you, will never
withhold anything from you which is really for your good. Lean
back on this thought and be content. Say to yourself in the
darkest hour of trial, "This also is ordered by Him who gave
Christ to die for my sins. It cannot be wrong. It is done in
love. It must be well."
J. C. Ryle, Do You Believe?
A Little Gracious
Starvation
"And he would fain have filled his belly
with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto
him." Luke 15:16
He (the prodigal son) gave to them: he spent all
his money with them. He was a fine fellow then, so they said.
But now, no man gave to him. And what a mercy it was, for if
they had given him all he wanted, he would not have gone back to
his father. There is nothing like a little
gracious starvation to fetch a man home to Christ. And it
is a blessed providence, and a blessed work of the Spirit of God
when a man, at last, is starved till he must go home to God.
- Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Exposition on the
Prodigal Son
God has chosen me
"I have chosen thee in the
furnace of affliction" (Isa. 48:10)
Does not the Word come like a soft shower,
assuaging the fury of the flame? Yes, is it not an asbestos
armor, against which the heat has no power? Let the affliction
come--God has chosen me. Poverty, thou mayest stride in
at my door; but God is in the house already, and He has
chosen me. Sickness, thou mayest intrude; but I have a
balsam ready--God has chosen me. Whatever befall me in
this vale of tears, I know that He has chosen me.
Fear not, Christian; Jesus is with thee. In all thy fiery
trials, His presence is both thy comfort and safety. He will
never leave one whom He has chosen for His own. "Fear not,
for I am with thee," is His sure word of promise to His
chosen ones in "the furnace of affliction."
- C. H. Spurgeon,
Streams in the Desert,
July 9
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