Christians Thanking God for the Bitter Afflictions

As I was reading of the disasters that hit my country the Philippines for the past few weeks, it was something as the earthquake followed by Typhoon Yolanda was really a devastation.  It made me think again, "What is God's purpose in this?".  I was remembering the times I would get mad with all the bad things God allows and say, "God why?" which really a hard question.  But God has His answers to why He allows suffering in mankind.  If he can praise God in the night, the daylight is not far off." which is so true.  When looking at the Bible, one can read in Romans 8:28 that all things work together for good for those that love God. 1 Peter 1:7 says that the trial of faith is much more precious than gold.  These trials serve a special purpose for the reason- for the greater glory of God!

Now one must remember, this is a sinful world.  I did remember the sermon of Pastor John F. Macarthur called "The Purpose of Trials".  In fact there is no Christ without the cross.  That's the message of Christianity and the Gospel according to Jesus.  From his sermon we learn that trials (1) tests the strength of faith so the Christian may examine himself or herself, (2) to humble the Christian, (3) wean the Christian away from worldly things, (4) calls the Christians to eternal hope, (5) reveal to Christians what they really love, (6) teaches Christians to value God's blessings and not take them for granted, (7) trials enable Christians to help others and (8) trials produces endurance and strength.  Wow, those are good reasons to thank God for bitter afflictions.  These bitter afflictions are meant to make Christians better, not bitter.  If one is bitter about trials consistently and blaming God, one could be a false convert.

Just made me think also speaking of trials, I also remembered Ray Comfort's sermon called "True and False Conversion", "Revival's Golden Key" and "Hell's Best Kept Secret" which reveals about apostasy.  Trials don't only do things as I've mentioned above but also is a huge test of faith, weeding away the true convert from the false convert.  Remember the parable of the sower?  The sun is needed for the plants to grow and depending on the condition of the heart of man, God's Word is the seed that grows.  Trials are represented by the sunlight to help the plants grow, the believers are the plants and no trials, no growth and there are roots. The false converts during trials fall away, true believers do not fall away and will continue on (1 John 2:19).  I would also dare say that sometimes even my favorite preachers forget that God sends trials to assure Christians of their conversion was real because times will come when they will start to doubt their salvation which would be an expansion of point number eight in Pastor John F. Macarthur's sermon I just mentioned above.

In fact, Bible preacher Charles H. Spurgeon said, "When a man blesses God for the bitter, the Lord often sends him the sweet." which is true.  This is in Psalm 34 that David was not only thanking God for the good tiems but also the bad times that he will always be thankful.  This also makes us think of Job.  If one goes around Job, this was the most afflicted man I've ever read.  I've read of people losing their wealth but Job lost more than wealth, his own children were killed, his wife even nagged at him, his friends turned on him and he might have fallen into near insanity when God allowed Satan to afflict him.  But let's face it, Job said the most hard to say words, "Though He may slay me yet in Him will I trust." and that is the theme of Job. After the series of trials, Job was restored yet again.  Some Christians may even die during these trials but let's face it, their death means they are already gone home with the Lord and no longer afflicted by this world.

When I think about it, these bitter afflictions can be very rewarding for Christians.  Hebrews 11:24-25 had Moses later rejecting his adoption choosing to suffer affliction with the people of God rather than enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season.  Let us think also about Joseph in Genesis 39- just imagine that after rejecting Mrs. Potiphar what did he get?  He was cast into prison for a crime he did not commit yet God later made him governor of Egypt and made him a picture of the coming Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ to provide salvation for Jews and Gentiles alike.  You might also think of it that David's trials made him a man after God's own heart.  Ruth's trials as a Gentile believer who was converted from Moabite idolatry brought her not only to God's people but also God later blessed her to marry Boaz the wealthy old bachelor and not to mention, from her line came Obed from Obed came David and from David centuries later came the Lord Jesus Christ's human lineage.  Even better, death for the Christian is a liberation for them from all of the sinful world's affliction towards them.