(Matthew 5:11) says: “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake.” In my book another name for being reviled, persecuted, and said evil about, is to be afflicted. On the surface how can you be blessed when you are afflicted? And what would possess the psalmist to say: “It is good for me that I have been afflicted…” (Psalm 119:71). Well, if we read (Matthew 5:12) we see that being afflicted for Christ’s sake brings great joy and a great reward, for verse 12 says: “Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” And if we read the second part of (Psalm 119:71) it says: “…that I may learn Your statutes.”
Affliction – no one wants it but as Christians we will often have to face it as we walk in Christ’s footsteps. As with all trials and afflictions how we view them is critical to understanding their purpose. We read in (James 1:2): “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials.” Afflictions and trials are often the tools that God uses to test our faith, produce patience and endurance, and to allow us to draw nearer to God. Notice (Psalm 119:71), which we shared before, allows afflictions to help us learn God’s word and thus accrue wisdom, peace, and the ability to bring Glory to Jesus, in the process. Another way of looking at this is that afflictions and trials allow us to build our Christian character and flex our spiritual muscles and thus become more like Christ. Remember that life is our training grounds for eternity.
While we live here on earth our focus should be on eternal things. (Colossians 3:2) tells us: “Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.” As Christians we should always live to bring glory to Jesus no matter what circumstances we may find ourselves in. And that’s why I believe James tells us that we can have joy in our afflictions because trials are great opportunities to show the world that Jesus is real. When we understand the word of God we realize that God works all thing together for good – even afflictions – when we know Jesus. (Romans 8:28). Even when Joseph was sold into slavery and then sent to prison on false rape charges he never wavered in his trust in God. And as a result, we read perhaps the greatest verse in the Bible, on how God turns afflictions into blessings – (Genesis 50:20): “But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.” Joseph’s brothers had evil intentions, but God used it for good.
Not only can God turn your afflictions into blessings now but the eternal blessings are even more amazing. As we saw from (Matthew 5:12) when we are willing to endure afflictions for the sake of the Gospel we will accrue a great reward in heaven. The Apostle Paul says this so well in (Romans 8:18): “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” And if to add emphasis to our eternal rewards he adds the following: “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.” (2 Corinthians 4:17).
I love (Romans 8:18) and (2 Corinthians 4:17) for two reasons. First, both verses share that as Christians we will go through afflictions and sufferings. They are just part of the package of being followers of Christ. And rather than view them negatively I choose to do what James tells me to do – count it all joy – because afflictions are opportunities to bring glory to the Father – even though we might not see how during the trial. And to me there is no greater privilege than to being glory to Jesus. And second, the Apostle Paul understood that in the scheme of eternity our afflictions are but for a moment and then accrue to our heavenly bank account an eternal weight of glory. I challenge you to meditate on just how much an eternal weight of glory is. I believe that, other than knowing Jesus, there is no greater blessing in the universe!