The Necessity of Affliction by
John McDuff Though now for a little while,
if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials. 1 Peter 1.6 What a blessed motto and superscription
over the dark lintels of sorrow! There is a necessity for this.
Every arrow from the quiver of God is feathered with it. Write
it, child of affliction, over every trial that your God sees
fit to send. If He calls you down from the
sunny mountain heights to the darksome valleys, hear Him saying,
There is a necessity for this. If he has dashed the cup of earthly
prosperity from your lips, curtailed your creature comforts, diminished
your basket and store, hear him saying, there is a necessity
for this. If he has ploughed and furrowed
your soul with severe bereavement, extinguished light after light
in your dwelling, hear him thus stilling the tumult of your grief,
there is a necessity for this. Yes, believe it. There is some
profound reason for your trial, which at present may be indiscernible
to you. No furnace will be hotter than
he sees to be needed. be still, and know that He is
God. That necessity, remember, is
in the hands of infinite love, infinite wisdom, and infinite
power. Trust Him in little things as
well as in great things, in trifles as well as in disasters. Seek
to have an unquestioning faith. Though other paths, doubtless,
would have been selected by you had the choice been in your hands,
be it yours to listen to His voice at every turn of the road,
saying, This is the way, walk in it. We may not be able to
understand it now, but one day we shall find that affliction
is one of God's most blessed ministers, sent forth to minister
to those who are heirs of salvation. Sorrowful one, there is a reason
for your chastisement. for the Lord disciplines those
whom He loves, and chastens every child whom He accepts. Hebrews
12.6 What? God loves me when He is discharging
His quiver upon me, emptying me from vessel to vessel, causing
the sun of my earthly joys to set in clouds. Yes, afflicted,
tempest-tossed one, he chastens you because he loves you. This
trial comes from his own tender loving hand, from his own tender
unchanging heart. Are you laid on a sick bed? Are
sorrowful months and wearisome nights appointed unto you? Let
this be the pillow on which your aching head reclines. It is because
God loves me. Is it bereavement which has swept
your heart and desolated your dwelling? God appointed that
chamber of death, He opened that tomb, because He loves you. Believer,
rejoice in the thought that the chastening rod is in the hands
of the living, loving Savior who died for you. Tribulation
is the king's highway, and yet that highway is paved with love.
As some flowers require to be pressed before shedding their
fragrance, so does your God see fit to bruise you to bring out
your graces. If your heavenly Father's smile
has for the moment been exchanged for the chastening rod, be assured
there is some deep necessity for the discipline. There is
nothing capricious in His dealings. Love is the reason of all that
He does. There is no drop of wrath in
that bitter cup you are called upon to drink. Erring human wisdom
has no place in God's allotments. An earthly father may err, yes,
he is ever erring, but, as for God, his way is perfect. This
is the explanation of his every dealing. Your heavenly Father
knows that you have need of all these things. In our seasons
of trial, when under some inscrutable, painful dispensation, how apt
is the murmuring thought to rise in our hearts! All these things
are against me. Might not this overwhelming blow
have been spared? Might not this dark cloud, which
has shadowed my heart and my home with sadness, have been
averted? Might not my trial have been
less severe? Surely the Lord has forgotten
to be gracious. No, these afflictions are errands
of mercy in disguise. He does not afflict willingly.
There is nothing capricious or arbitrary about your God's dealings.
Unutterable tenderness is the character of all His allotments.
He appoints no needless pang. He has precious lessons that
could not otherwise have been taught. Afflicted One Be assured
that there is some deep necessity in all that He does. In our calendars
of sorrow we may put this luminous mark against every trying hour. It was needed. Some excess branch
in the tree required pruning to increase its fruitfulness.
Mourning won. He might have dealt far otherwise
with you. He might have cut you down as a fruitless, worthless
cumberer. He might have abandoned you to
drift, disowned and unpiloted on the rocks of destruction,
joined to your idols. He might have left you alone
to settle on your lees and forfeit your eternal bliss. But he loved
you better. It was kindness, infinite kindness,
which blighted your fairest blossoms and hedged up your way with thorns.
Trust his heart when you cannot trace his hand. As many as I
love, I rebuke and chasten.