Psalm 119:71–72 71 It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes. 72 The law of your mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver pieces.
When the Spirit of God gives us life, our spiritual eyes are opened. We are enabled to see God’s righteousness, our sin and selfishness that violate God’s standards of righteousness, and our desperate need to depend on Jesus Christ to be our sin-bearer and the provision of His righteousness as our standing before our Holy God. This is our gospel hope and joy.
Being brought from death to life by gospel grace sets us apart from unbelievers and the systems in which they operate. We can also find ourselves set apart from those who profess faith in Jesus, but have strayed from the path of truth and righteousness. Commonly, being set apart from worldly people and systems does not go unnoticed, nor is it considered acceptable. The disapproval of Christ-rejecting people and systems and disapproving “Christians” frequently stirs up their disapproval. Such disapproval can range from verbal opposition to hate and hostility.
Our initial responses may be stable and resilient when we encounter opposition and affliction in its various manifestations. But time and intensity can eventually wear us down. We begin to question if what we are doing is best. We may even waver in our devotion to the paths of truth and righteousness. God uses our unsettledness from these confrontations to cause us to look intently into the teaching and truths of God’s word. Hardship and affliction create the need to know and set us in the classroom of Biblical truth with a renewed desire to learn and apply the promises of Scripture.
What we learn from the verses of the Psalm above substantiates the point that we are more inclined to seek God’s instruction when the heat is on. Realizing this gives us a different perspective on suffering and turmoil. Hard times can be beneficial when they drive us to look more deeply into God’s word for examples and teachings that God will use to strengthen our faith and empower our perseverance. As we process and apply truth because we must, we realize that the lessons we learn from Scripture are better than enriching financial investments – i.e. “thousands of gold and silver pieces.”
God does not expect us to pretend that pain and suffering are fun. But he does want us to trust Him by faith, believing that the challenges we encounter in light of God’s truth provide wonderful opportunities to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord.
Let’s rejoice when our hardships press us into God’s truth!
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