Uses of Affliction 07
6. Discovery of latent corruption whether in saints of sinners.
Oh yes! Murmur - murmur - murmur - - -
Peek-a-boo sins are tough ones. They lie quietly in the shadows just waiting for their trigger.
Take our afflcition. We never susupected we were lukewarn and lazy - but we were. We never thought of ourselves as materialistic - but we were. We would have been aghast had anyone told us we were prideful - until pride raised its ugly head. We would never have thught our trust in God was alloyed with a trust in stuff and people - but it was. We never would have seen how our wills were still competing with His - but they were. (OK -you can change and the "weres to "ares" for the sake of full disclosure).
Our latent sin is exposed by our affliction. We are convicted of that sin. We repent. We are restored and continue in our growth.
We struggle and will struggle with latent sin until He comes. And strugggle we must if indeed our goal is to be conformed as God wishes us to be conformed to His likeness, to be holy as He is holy.
Afflistions will turn up the heat to bring those latent sins to the surface and this is a great mercy. God could leave us to hopelessly struggle but His grace and mercy provide for our need in this and His Holy Spirit will battle for, with and even agwinst us (our flesh) to root out such sinfulness and cleanse our hearts.
Please, please consider the wonder of a sin hating God who will do all in His great power to relieve us of this toxic remainder. He is willing to do whatever He must to expose and then address that sin that lurks beneath our awareness. Though sometimes hard and unpleasant the result is merciful and magnificent.
I will tell you that most likely what the affliction will expose is the depth of our self-love. It is not behaviors that afflcitions expose here but those deep and abiding roots of pride and self-ness that result in the sinful behaviors and attitiudes. It is the ehart that God wishes to heal and relieve.
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