I have refined you, though not as silver;
    I have tested you in the furnace of affliction. Isaiah 48:10

Raise your hand if you like afflictions

Nobody. Right? Well guess what? Afflictions are good for us. So are trials and tribulations and struggles. Before you click off my blog and tell me I’m crazy. . .

. . . God can use everything that happens to us, and everything we experience, for our good.

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28

How many things? For whose good?

God doesn’t allow anything in our lives to go for naught. God uses afflictions, however painful, however much we suffer in the midst of them for our good.

Here’s how young David regarded his own afflictions in Psalm 119.

“Before I was afflicted I went astray,
    but now I obey your word.
⁶⁸ You are good, and what you do is good;
    teach me your decrees.” Again in verses

It was good for me to be afflicted
    so that I might learn your decrees.
⁷² The law from your mouth is more precious to me
    than thousands of pieces of silver and gold.

God used afflictions in David’s life to teach David God’s laws and precepts and His word.

It’s never pleasant to walk through affliction or suffering in our lives. Some trials are so painful we think they’ll never end.

But we know this for sure because the bible tells us so. Whatever we go through, no matter how devastating it might be, God is right there with us every step of the way. He will never let us be consumed, or destroyed and in the storm, or when the storm is passed, God will teach us more about His ways and about himself.