The late theologian J. I. Packer, when talking about how God is constantly using afflictions and pain to mold us, said it so well: “God uses chronic pain and weakness, along with other afflictions, as his chisel for sculpting our lives. Felt weakness deepens dependence on Christ for strength each day. The weaker we feel, the harder we lean. And the harder we lean, the stronger we grow spiritually, even while our bodies waste away. To live with your ‘thorn’ uncomplainingly — that is, sweet, patient, and free in heart to love and help others, even though every day you feel weak — is true sanctification. It is true healing for the spirit. It is a supreme victory of grace.”1
While nobody wants pain and afflictions in the economy of God they are, simply put, His “chisel” and often His chief tool to help us grow spiritually and learn to become more dependent on Jesus. In our world, where independence is often touted as a virtue, in the spirit world, dependence on Jesus is not only a wise decision, but essential if we want to experience peace, joy, and meaning.
Just as an artist uses a chisel to smooth out the rough edges of his sculpture and break off parts of the clay that are not necessary, God uses pain and affliction to help us lean more on Jesus, but also to get rid of many of our character flaws such as impatience, bitterness, envy, and self-centeredness. Learning to be more dependent on Jesus and less on ourselves sometimes can only happen when God puts us through the crucible of affliction.
So Christian, what about you? Are you suffering from an illness? Have you recently lost your job? Or has your wife just had a miscarriage? In all of these situations God has allowed them to happen because God has a master plan in which He wants to use your tragedy for His glory. Our role is to trust God that He will use our suffering in unique ways if we just turn them over to Him. So, rather than question God in these above cases with the refrain: “why me,” I much prefer to ask God how can you use these negatives to bless others and make me a God glorifying vessel.
For the Christian, sadly, without understanding that God always has a purpose in suffering, he or she can become bitter at God, especially if tragedy strikes when we believe we are doing the will of God. I believe that when suffering comes our way, we need to trust God that He has a divine plan for ultimate good. And if we allow Him, we can use the suffering we go through as an opportunity to bring Him glory. So, for the Christian we can use suffering to either grow more reliant and closer to God or bitter and away from Him. If we choose the latter, we lose the only chance we have to truly overcome our afflictions because without the help of the Lord we are on our own and are destined to come up short.
One final thought. When we really understand that God works all things together for good (Romans 8:28) we will be able to truly rejoice and be thankful for the afflictions that come our way since they are after all pathways to blessings and opportunities to glorify Jesus!