Blessed is the man whom you discipline, O LORD, and whom you teach out of your law,
Consider:
"A man by trouble comes to know his own heart, which in prosperity he is a stranger to. He sees the weakness of his grace and the strength on his corruption; how nothing is weak but grace, nothing strong but sin; and this lays him in the dust"
Thomas Case, A Treatise on Afflictions
Do we really look deeply at His purposes in our afflictions or do we merely look at the affliction and seek its relief? Do we allow the heat of the furnace to burn away all the fleshy concerns and fears that we might see the root, our sinfulness and its true power and place in our hearts?
Heart-breaking-ly it seems most common for us to seek relief without examination much like going to a doctor seeking some easy diagnosis and quick cure when we, in reality, suffer a terrible malady. Would we really want to be told we have the flu when a cancer was eating away at us? It seem, when it comes to our life in Him, we would.
God's hand can lay heavy upon the shoulders of His children. But like a father who firmly grips his child as the come to a street crossing, He does it for our good and betterment. It is not pleasant but when we do not allow the Master Physician the Great Father to show us the truth we merely delay the cure having to suffer the dis-ease again.
What affliction has God laid on you? Be mindful that the affliction is secondary to what God desires to do in your life and heart. Perhaps He desires a change of habit or behavior but I encourage you to look deeper, to your heart, and seek the root sin that gives bloom to the obvious one.
There is lies the lesson.
M
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