Christians Meet God In Their Afflictions

These thoughts on afflictions comes from the Puritan William Bridge of Essex, England in his sermons on Psalm 42:11.  He lists five good things that flow from our afflictions. I here list each one and provide a short excerpt which explains the particular blessing.  Some tricky reading here, but I believe it is very profitable.

1. Supporting Grace

” ‘Thy rod and thy staff comfort me’. God never lays a rod upon His children’s back, but He first puts a staff into their hand to bear it; and the staff is as big as the rod. It matters not what your affliction be, great or small, it is all one, you shall be upheld; and upholding mercy is sometimes better that you are afflicted for the want of.”

2. Much Light

“The school of the cross is the school of light. Affliction is our free-school where God teaches His children, and teaches them how to write, that is how to view both their sins and their graces. Their sins: so long as leaves are on the trees and bushes, you cannot see the birds’ nests: but in the winter when the leaves are off, then you see them plainly. And so long as men are in prosperity, and have their leaves on, they do not see what nests of sins and lusts are in their hearts and lives…Yea, affliction not only reveals their sins unto them; but it is God’s plaster; thereby he heals the same…these afflictions and sufferings of the saints not only reveal and heal their sins, but also put them upon the exercise of grace…they not only draw out their graces but reveal their graces too, which they possibly never took notice of before…And so it is many times with God’s people…do not know their own graces…but then God smites them with some affliction, and so they feel, and see, and know their own graces.”

3. God’s Presence

“God is always at the back of affliction. There heaven opened to Stephen. Afflictions are the rust lock oftentimes which opens the door into the presence chamber…[God's people] have the most of God when they are most afflicted”

4. Fellowship and Communion with Christ

“So in time of their suffering [God's people] have most communion and fellowship with Jesus Christ in His sufferings. Therefore says the apostle Peter…’But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings’…the greater your sufferings the more fellowship and communion you have with Christ in His sufferings”

A CONCLUSION

“Now then, if all this be true…what reason has he to be discouraged, though he be much afflicted? But so it is that a Christian never has more experience of God’s upholding sustaining grace, his sin is never more revealed and healed, his grace is never more exercised and manifested, and God is never more present with him, than when he is most afflicted: and he is never more partaker of Christ’s sufferings than in and by his own sufferings. Surely therefore, he has no reason for his discouragements, whatever his afflictions”