It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees. (Ps. 119:71) For it has been granted (grace-gifted) to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him. (Phil. 1:29)
Dear heavenly Father, only a firm standing in grace, and a humble certainty about your love, could’ve moved King David to praise you for the “gift of affliction”. The same was true of the Apostle Paul, who affirmed that believing in Jesus and suffering for Jesus were, equally, grace-gifts from you. And only your Spirit and Word can convince us of the same.
As a young believer, I spent years trying to “spiritually finagle” my way out of “harm’s way”—believing that if I claimed the right verses, prayed the right prayers, did the right things, then I could expect an “abundant life” filled with “blessings,” marked by a scarcity of difficulties.I wanted you to be a “sugar daddy,” more so than, “Abba, Father.” I wasn’t thinking about learning your decrees but about escaping my discomfort. I wanted relief and ease, a lot more than I wanted a changed heart.
But because Jesus took the judgment we deserve as sinful rebels, you only discipline us as your beloved children. Affliction is a blessing because you’re committed to our liberation. Because of Jesus’ finished work, we’re not afraid of you as our Judge; we revere you as our Father.
Because you’ve robed us in the perfect righteousness of Jesus, we no longer dread your decrees; we delight in them. For your decrees aren’t rules by which we earn anything; they’re wisdom by which we learn about everything—everything that pertains to life and godliness.
Father, may the gospel so liberate our hearts, we’ll welcome whatever you send us and “give” us—whatever you’re pleased to use to make us more and more like Jesus—the fairest of 10,000, the rose of Sharon, the Bright and Morning Star—quintessential Beauty, the One for Whom we long and in whom we delight. So very Amen we pray, in Jesus’ merciful and mighty name.
