Divine Purpose of Affliction

Affliction, in some of its many and varied forms, is the lot of all the Lord's people. Indeed, if we do not have it, then we lack evidence of our true sonship, for the Father chastens every son whom He receives. Every believer is refined in the furnace of affliction.

To every follower of Jesus, how strong is the consolation flowing from this truth. God's afflictions are loving and parental towards His redeemed people; whereas towards His enemies, they are judicial and punitive. God refines His saints in the furnace of affliction, for their purification; but He places the ungodly in the furnace, for their destruction. The believer can welcome and patiently bear sickness, bereavement, and poverty; knowing that God's fatherly chastisements are not judgments, and His afflictions are not condemnations.

The furnace of affliction is needed in the process of sanctification:  to consume the dross which adheres so closely to the precious ore, to purify the heart, to center the affections on Jesus, and to wean the soul from enticements of this vain world.

The hour of affliction is the hour of softening, where: the hardness of the heart yields, the callousness of the spirit gives way, the affections become heavenly, and the conscience is made more tender. It is a season of holy meditation, of prayer, and of withdrawal from the world and from creature delights; while the soul is more closely shut in with Jesus.

Through these trials, the Holy Spirit comforts the afflicted soul by unfolding the deep and unchangeable love of Jesus, showing the believer that his sorrow is the fruit of Divine love, sent to draw the soul nearer to Himself. The Comforter opens the believer's ears to hear the voice of God's chastening rod, causing the disciplined heart to return from its wanderings and seek the wounded, bleeding, suffering Savior more eagerly than ever. In the furnace of affliction, the believer attains a deeper knowledge of God's all-sufficiency, and a truer knowledge of his own spiritual poverty and unworthiness.

In each season of affliction, the believer must turn from all creature sympathy, and look to Jesus, who was preeminently the man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief and suffering; making Him able to sustain and sympathize with His afflicted people.

In every stormy wind, in every darksome night, and in every rising fear, the voice of Jesus is heard saying, "Take courage, it is I! Do not be afraid. Your affliction did not spring out of the ground but came down from above; a heaven-sent blessing clad in a robe of ebony, sent entirely in love."

As you grow deeper into the loving heart of Jesus: sorrow shall wound you less deeply, affliction shall press you less heavily, and tribulation shall affect you less keenly.

[Octavius Winslow]

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Isaiah 48:10 ...  Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.

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.

2 Corinthians 4:17 ... For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; ❤