What Is Affliction?
by Dr. John Barnett

Today we all share something in common - the painful problem of afflictions.

Affliction - Job said it was unavoidable, Paul said expect it as part of God's plan, and Jesus said don't fear I won't take it away just go with you through it!

The Christian life will sometimes be painful and full of problems. To get an idea of the scope of affliction just interview a few characters of the Bible. Does following the Lord have a price attached?

Ask Abel, his blood still cries from the earth where it splashed as a wicked brother murdered him in the first religious war. Abel was a man of simple faith and Cain the murderer was a man of human achievement.

Or you may wish to listen to Enoch about how painfully hard it was to walk all alone with God when the whole world wasn't. Again you might hear the voice of Noah rising above the hostile crowd who pressured and pestered him for 120 years as he obeyed God even when no one else in the world listened, believed or even cared. The Christian life will sometimes be painful and full of problems.

Scriptures are filled with the painful troubles that follow God's saints. Abraham had to leave all his loved ones and culture behind, to follow God. He wandered in the desert and lived in a tent awaiting a son whom it never seemed was going to come. And then he nearly had to kill that son of promise as an offering to God. Jacob wrestled and was crippled, Joseph fled sin and yet God let him get falsely accused, chained and injured. Dinah was a modest young woman yet was kidnapped and raped while in the family tree of the Messiah. Being in God's family doesn't mean a life of leisure. The Christian life will sometimes be painful and full of problems.

The New Testament follows the same pattern. The greatest man ever born until Jesus is mocked, imprisoned, forgotten and then silenced by beheading in a dark dungeon as a party favor for a drunken, iniquitous go-go dancer's mother. The Owner of the Universe visits His own and they receive Him not. Instead they revile and mock Him, call Him a drunken, illegitimate, demonized fake. They try to stone Him, push Him off steep hills and interrupt His ministry. Finally after infiltrating the very inner circle of His earthly family His enemies set up a kidnapping murder plan that works and the Lamb of God is slain for the very sinful ones that killed Him. The Christian life will sometimes be painful and full of problems.

Remember that affliction in our lives is much like the fires of Daniel 3 that the three Hebrew boys were made to enter. That fiery furnace has a powerful lesson. We remember if we read carefully the account, that the fire only burned away that which hindered them from walking with the Lord, as they were in the fiery furnace! So in our lives affliction burns away what hinders our walk!

What is Affliction? It is mentioned 37 times in the Old Testament and takes at least 7 forms noted below:

1. Affliction is the ill treatment Hagar got from her jealous and vengeful boss Sarai. Genesis 16:11
2. Affliction is the lack of love that Leah got from her husband Jacob. Genesis 29:32
3. Affliction is the lost wages and broken promises Jacob got from his employer and father-in-law Laban. Genesis 31:36
4. Affliction is the hatred, jealousy, and betrayal that Joseph experienced from his family, and his employers - as well as the neglect and broken promises of his friends. Genesis 41:52
5. Affliction is the underpayment and overwork of the Hebrews by unkind and evil masters. Exodus 3:7
6. Affliction is the pain Hannah endured because of her inability to have children, and the added insensitivity and cruelty of her family members to her pain. 1 Samuel 1:10
7. Affliction is the unkind words, slander, accusations, and insults thrown upon David by his adversary Shimei. 2 Samuel 16:12

When God's Word is filling our lives, we are using the Divine Plans to build the Ultimate Life. God's word describes the line of conduct we are to pursue. God wants to chisel His words upon our minds. They are thus the unchangeable words of the eternal God.

Psalm 119:71 "It is good for me that I have been afflicted, That I may learn Your statutes."

This article was excerpted from Dr. John Barnett's book, Discipline Yourself For Godliness. For more resources, visit our website at www.DiscoverTheBook.org. Or to read the rest of this article, insert the following URL into your browser bar: http://www.dtbm.org/sermon/discipline-seven-suffering-affliction-building-the-best-life-possible/

Tuesday, September 01, 2009