Psalm 119:65-72 – Getting a Better Viewpoint

 "It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes."

Psalm 119:71 (ESV)


Affliction puts us in a posture to see more of God's character and instruction.

I can only remember a few times in my life when I felt completely drawn to the Gospel, as if it were something I needed not just spiritually, but mentally and emotionally. It's only really been when I was genuinely struggling, wrestling with God's will for my life when it's felt like something I physically needed to survive. The best way I can describe it is that it feels like a craving, or thirst – going back to it feels like total relief. Obviously I wish it didn't work that way – I wish it felt that way all the time. We should go back to it like we need it, even when we don't feel like we need it, because we do. Just because we don't have an appetite doesn't mean we don't need to eat, and just because we don't have a headache yet doesn't mean we shouldn't be hydrating. It takes a lot of effort to make that a lifestyle, instead of letting it be situational.

Still, some things aren't really revealed to us until we're forced to experience them. I really don't think we're capable of seeing any more of God's character than what's revealed to us when we feel like He's all we have left. Believe it or not, happiness is not the state that God's mercy is the most evident in. It's great, but we see the most of God's mercy when we're face-to-face with the thing that He's saving us from. Even when we see it through things that make us happy, those things don't really exist without the contrary. We appreciate them because we remember what life was like without them.

I've seen Him work in ways that I couldn't have possibly predicted, all because I waited long enough to see Him stay faithful. I see flaws in myself that He's taught me how to work on gradually, even if it takes my whole life. I've come out as a better man every time, and I have so much more work to do. But I understand that I can't expect to see the fullness of God's power when I try to limit what He has to work with. 

"Give me good judgement and knowledge . . . before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep Your Word. You are good and do good." (119:66-68)

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