MAY 6, 2015
The School Of
Pain
Read:
Psalm
119:65-80
I
know, O Lord, that Your judgments are right, and that in faithfulness You have
afflicted me. —Psalm 119:75
In his book The Problem
of Pain, C. S. Lewis
observes that “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience,
but shouts in our pains: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” Suffering
often helps us to redirect our focus. It shifts our thinking from immediate
circumstances so we can listen to God concerning His work in our lives. Life as
usual is replaced by a spiritual schoolroom.
In the Old Testament,
we read how the psalmist maintained a teachable heart even during painful
circumstances. He accepted them as orchestrated by God, and in submission he
prayed, “In faithfulness You have afflicted me” (Ps. 119:75). Isaiah the
prophet viewed suffering as a refining process: “Behold, I have refined you,
but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction” (Isa.
48:10). And Job, despite his laments, learned about the sovereignty and
greatness of God through his troubles (Job 40–42).
We are not alone in
our experience of pain. God Himself took on human form and suffered greatly:
“For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us
an example, that you should follow His steps” (1 Peter 2:21). The One with
nail-scarred hands is near. He will comfort us and teach us in our suffering.
Dear Lord, life is so
hard sometimes. I confess that I don’t always see Your purpose in my trials.
Help me to trust You, and teach me to become the person that You desire me to
be.
We learn the lesson of
trust in the school of trial.
INSIGHT:
Psalm 119 speaks of the priority and sufficiency of God’s Word in the daily
life of the believer. Here the psalmist admitted that he had strayed, but
having been disciplined by God, he now resolved to “keep [His] Word” (v. 67).
Source: Our Daily Bread 2012