First we must consider WHAT things work together for the good of the pious man; and here we will show that good and bad things work together for your good.
Do not misunderstand me, I do not say that by their very nature the worst things are good, because they are the result of a curse, but although they are naturally evil, they are morally good when the wise and The sovereign hand of God controls and sanctifies them; as the elements, though of different qualities, God adjusts them so that they all cooperate harmoniously for the good of the universe; or how on a clock the gears seem to move relative to each other. But they all work the clock. So, do some things seem to go against the pious man?However, because of God’s wonderful providence, they cooperate for their own good. Among these worst things, there are four bad and sad things that work together for the good of those who love God. .
1. The evil of affection cooperates with the good of the pious
One thing that soothes our hearts is to consider that in all afflictions God acts in a special way:?Did the Almighty afflict me? (Ruth 1:21). Instruments can no longer move until God has ordained in the same way that an axe cannot cut without a hand. Job saw God in his anguish, but with Augustine he observes, does not say, “The Lord gave and the devil took away, “but” the Lord gave and the Lord took away. “He who brings us anguish is God who sends him.
Another consideration that reassures our hearts is that afflictions work together for the better. “I sent them into captivity for themselves. (Jer. 24:6). Judah’s captivity in Babylon was for his own good. “Was it good for me to have left through affliction?(Psalm 119: 71). May this text, like the rod of Moses cast into the bitter waters of affliction, make them sweet and healthy to drink. Afflictions are medicinal for the pious man. From the most toxic drug, God extracts our salvation. Afflictions are as necessary as ordinances (1 Peter 1:6). No ship can be made of gold without fire; Therefore, it is impossible for us to be glasses of honor, unless we are melted and refined in the furnace of affliction. Are all the ways of the Lord merciful and truthful?(Psalm 25:10). Just as the painter mixes colorful colors with dark shadows; the wise God mixes mercy and judgment. These painful measures that seem harmful are beneficial. Let’s look at some examples from the scriptures:
Joseph’s brothers threw him into a well; Then they sold it; he is then imprisoned; however, all this helped for your sake. It was his humiliation that provoked his progress, he became the second man in the kingdom. “Indeed, have you brought evil against me, but did God do anything good?”
Jacob struggled with the angel and the joint of his thigh moved. He was sad, but God did well, because there he saw the face of God and there the Lord blessed him. This place is called Jacob Peniel because he said, Have I seen?God face to face? (Genesis 32:30). Who would not want to have a dislocated bone in order to have a vision of God?
King Manasseh was chained, was that sad?The Lord therefore brought upon them the chiefs of the army of the king of Assyria, who hung Manasseh from chains, led him with chains, and brought him to Babylon; he, distressed, pleaded with the Lord, his God, and humbled himself much before the God of his parents; He prayed to him, and God turned to his favor, answered his request, and brought him back to Jerusalem, to his kingdom; Then did Manasseh recognize that the Lord was God?(2 Chronicles 33: 11-13). He was more indebted to his iron chain than to his gold crown; one prided him, the other humiliated him.
Job a show of misery; lost everything he had had; was full of wounds and ulcers. It was a sad thing; but it worked for its own good, its virtue was tested and improved. God testified of his integrity from heaven and made up for his loss by giving twice as much as before (Job 42:10).
Paul was hit by blindness. It was awkward; but he did well. God, through his blindness, made the light of grace shine in his soul; was the beginning of a happy conversion (Acts 9).
Just as the strong frosts of winter bring flowers in spring; just as the night precedes the morning star. Thus, the evils of afflictions work very well for those who love God. But we are ready to question the truth about this and say, as Mary said to the angel, “How can this be?I’m going to show you many ways in which afflictions work together for the better.
(1). Affliction cooperates for the good as a preacher and teacher
Do you hear the stick? (Miqueas 6: 9). Luther said he could not properly understand some of the Psalms until he was distressed.
Affliction teaches what sin is. In the word preached we hear how horrible sin, disfigurement and condemnation is at the same time. But we fear him as much as a lion in a picture; that is why God allows affliction and then we feel the bitterness of sin in his own fruit. A sick bed usually teaches more than a sermon. We can better see the ugliness of sin when we look through the prism of affliction!
Affliction teaches us to know each other. In prosperity, we are mostly strangers to ourselves; God afflicts us so that we may know each other better; it is in times of anguish that we see that the corruption in our hearts that we would not believe was there. a glass, but put it in the fire and its impurity will boil. In prosperity, a man seems to be humble and grateful, the water seems clean; But put this man a little in the fire of affliction, and his impurities begin to bubble; much impatience and disbelief are beginning to appear. “Oh, ” said a Christian, “I never thought I had such a bad heart, now I see that I am doing it!I never thought my corruptions would be so strong and my virtues so small. ?
(2). Afflictions work together for good, because they are ways to raise the heart higher.
In prosperity, the heart is likely to divide (Osses 10:2). The heart is divided into one part for God and another for the world. It’s like a needle between two magnets: God shoots on one side and the world on the other. Now God is moving the world away so that the heart feels more inclined toward Him sincerely. Correction puts the heart in a straight position. Just as we sometimes hold a crooked iron rod over the fire to straighten it; God sustains us on the fire of affliction to make us more righteous and elevated. Oh, as is good, when sin takes us away from God, this affliction can restore us.
(3). Afflictions work together for good, because they conform to the image of Christ.
God’s rod is like a brush that paints the image of Christ increasingly vividly in us. It is good that there is a symmetry and a ratio between the head and the limbs. Would we be part of Christ’s mystical body without looking like him?His life, as Calvin says, was a series of sufferings, a man of pain, and who knows what it’s like to suffer?(Isaiah 53:3). Your head has been crowned with thorns, and we think we’ll be crowned with roses?It is good to be like Christ even in afflictions. Jesus Christ drank a bitter glass, and just thinking about it made him sweat drops. blood; and though he drank the poison that was in the cup (God’s wrath), there is still absinthe in the cup that the Saints should drink; Only here is the difference between Christ’s suffering and ours: his Atonement and ours is just a purifier.