Affliction
Good Morning,
Every Christian faces tragedies, trials, and severe times of testing in life.
Consider the great people in the Bible like Joseph, Daniel, Abraham, and others who went through deep valleys. It would be wise to bring Jesus into the equation. Consider the great suffering of our Lord; He certainly did nothing to deserve the kind of treatment he received. He offended neither God nor man, and yet, He suffered as no other man has suffered.
The tragedy worse than the suffering we experience is the wrong response and blame we attach to that suffering.
When we fail to understand the biblical principles, we handle our suffering in the flesh; and as such, we develop endless forms of corruption inside ourselves. Bitterness is born, wrath and vengeance begin to take root, and self-righteousness grows like crabgrass; all this and more develops when we point our fingers at others. The book of James says that when we judge others, we are judges of the law and not doers of the law. Without faithfully committing our suffering to the hand of a loving God, we fill ourselves with every form of malice and evil.
When we blame others for our suffering, we throw railing accusations against the character of God. We accuse God of being too weak to deliver us from the trouble, and not love us enough to keep us from facing the pain. The foolish slander we can throw at God is endless: “I’m not important to God,” or “God loves other people more than me,” and on and on the vain and self-centered accusations continue.
A self-righteous spirit takes root in blame as well. We begin to claim that we know the way a situation ought to have been handled, and our self-righteous spirit convinces us that we know more than God Himself.
Next, we commit scriptural folly.
When we blame others and pour out angry, slanderous attacks on those around us for our suffering, we find ourselves forced to deny Romans 8:28: “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”
When we blame others, we fail to understand that God is “perfecting” us as James states in chapter 1.
James 1:2 “My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;”
vs. 3 “Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.”
vs. 4 “But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.”
If we fail to LET PATIENCE have her perfect work, we will also fail to be “perfect and entire, wanting nothing.” The Scriptural price tag associated with blame and accusations is very high.
Consider Romans chapter 5:
vs. 3 “And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;”
vs. 4 "And patience, experience; and experience, hope:"
vs. 5 “And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.”
Look at the list of benefits associated with tribulation (when received by faith).
• patience
• experience
• hope… and the end result is the love of God in our hearts.
As long as we are living a life of blame, we will fail to grasp the deep love of God shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit.
All these evils are born in a heart that blames others for the difficulties that we face.
No doubt, it was enemy soldiers that came and robbed Job of his flocks and murdered his servants, but we never see Job pointing fingers of blame. Jesus was unjustly treated, but He did not rail accusations against anyone; He only spoke the gracious words, “into thine hands I commit my spirit.” Peter writes about our Lord’s heart in suffering, “Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously:” (1 Peter 2:23)
This world of blame we live in is rooted, as all sin, in satanic motives to keep the people of God from living as children of the King. Satan’s goal is that we would respond just as any unsaved person who knows nothing of the love of a Sovereign God and to act as though we have no loving Father Whose kindness and care is all sufficient.
Consider David’s response to his trials:
Ps. 119:67 “Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept thy word.”
vs. 71 “It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes.”
vs. 75 “I know, O LORD, that thy judgments are right, and that thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me.”
Pastor