Affliction

Psalm 119:71
It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees.
 
Affliction is simply defined as: pain or suffering (or for some of you, it's also a t-shirt you thought was cool in 2006). No one likes to experience affliction. However, if we allow affliction to run its course, we can learn to experience God in a deeper way. Some lessons are impossible to learn on the mountaintop; they can only be learned in the valley. I’ve also realized that people call out to God way more often in the valley than on the mountaintop. In the above verse, the author even says it was good for him to be afflicted, because he learned the decrees of God. What affliction are you experiencing today that you want to get past? Is it temporary? Is it a situation that may never be alleviated? I don’t know what it is, but I know how it feels. And I know God is in it with us. He tells us we will have pain and suffering on this earth. 
 
During times of affliction, we are often tempted to drift from our calling, drift from our focus, let our guard down, and numb the pain. Don’t cave in. Stand strong. I’ve found the following to be true in my life: pain and affliction will pass, but the consequences of the decisions I make to numb the pain may not pass so quickly. During many times of my own affliction, I’ve made decisions that caused further pain. The initial affliction came to an end, but I had a bigger mess to clean up due to decisions I made. Remember this: short-term pain often leads to long-term peace but short-term pleasure often leads to long-term pain. Stay strong in your seasons of affliction, they will always come and go. Let the affliction run its course. Let God mold you through it. What can you learn in today’s valley that you couldn’t grasp on yesterday’s mountaintop? After all, the outcome of perseverance through affliction is maturity.
 
James 1:4
Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.