Making Affliction Count

Insensitive Friends Hurt Be careful what you say when suffering hits a friend “God wanted to teach you something” “God wanted your child with Him” “What sort of sin is in your life?” “God has everything planned” “There was a reason” Timing is everything Be careful what you say in the moment

Ps 119:65 Do good to your servant according to your word, Lord. 66 Teach me knowledge and good judgment, for I trust your commands. 67 Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I obey your word. 68 You are good, and what you do is good; teach me your decrees.

69 Though the arrogant have smeared me with lies, I keep your precepts with all my heart. 70 Their hearts are callous and unfeeling, but I delight in your law. 71 It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees. 72 The law from your mouth is more precious to me, than thousands of pieces of silver and gold.

Making Affliction Count 1. God is good 67 Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I obey your word. 68 You are good, and what you do is good; teach me your decrees. When we have no affliction, we tend to live a carefree life Affliction gets our attention We are not immune Our plans get interupted We must deal with the important question: Is God good? A Boy Named Sue Well my daddy left home when I was three And he didn't leave much to Ma and me Just this old guitar and an empty bottle of booze Now, I don't blame him 'cause he run and hid But the meanest thing that he ever did Was before he left, he went and named me "Sue" Well, he must o' thought that is quite a joke And it got a lot of laughs from a' lots of folk It seems I had to fight my whole life through Some gal would giggle and I'd get red And some guy'd laugh and I'd bust his head I tell ya, life ain't easy for a boy named "Sue In the song; He vows to get even with dad " And I said: "My name is 'Sue!' How do you do!? Now you gonna die!" They fight Yeah he said, "Now you just fought one heck of a fight And I know you hate me, and you got the right To kill me now, and I wouldn't blame you if you do But ya ought to thank me, before I die For the gravel in ya guts and the spit in ya eye 'Cause I'm the mean ol guy that named you "Sue" Yeah what could I do, what could I do I got all choked up and I threw down my gun Called him my Pa, and he called me his son And I come away with a different point of view And I think about him, now and then Every time I try and every time I win And if I ever have a son, I think I'm gonna name him Bill or George! Anything but Sue! I still hate that name! Yeah Songwriters: Shel Silverstein A Boy Named Sue lyrics © T.R.O. Inc.

Making Affliction Count 2. God does good 68 You are good, and what you do is good; teach me your decrees. 65 Do good to your servant according to your word, Lord. 66 Teach me knowledge and good judgment, for I trust your commands. Is God vindictive? Is there something God cannot be or do? Is God free? Is God in control of your affliction?

Job 1: 6-7 One day when the angels came to report to God, Satan, who was the Designated Accuser, came along with them. God singled out Satan and said, “What have you been up to?” Satan answered God, “Going here and there, checking things out on earth.” 8 God said to Satan, “Have you noticed my friend Job? There’s no one quite like him— honest and true to his word, totally devoted to God and hating evil.”

Job 1: 9-10 Satan retorted, “So do you think Job does all that out of the sheer goodness of his heart? Why, no one ever had it so good! You pamper him like a pet, make sure nothing bad ever happens to him or his family or his possessions, bless everything he does—he can’t lose! 11 “But what do you think would happen if you reached down and took away everything that is his? He’d curse you right to your face, that’s what.” 12 God replied, “We’ll see. Go ahead—do what you want with all that is his. Just don’t hurt him.” Then Satan left the presence of God.

Making Affliction Count 3. Time spent in sickness is redeemable 71 It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees. Consider the low-tech times Going to the Bible for guidance was natural I am NOT saying God brought you affliction just to teach you; --- BUT--- You can choose to redeem your time by “breathing in” the Words of God

Making Affliction Count 4. Enduring unhelpful people 69 Though the arrogant have smeared me with lies, I keep your precepts with all my heart. 70 Their hearts are callous and unfeeling, but I delight in your law. The human need to make sense of pain The human fear that it might happen to me Blame is assigned (that I don't do) Then we can make sense of a loving God

Making Affliction Count 5. The Value of God's Word 72 The law from your mouth is more precious to me, than thousands of pieces of silver and gold. What is your most valuable item? “If the house burns take this box” Many of us ignore the Bible when things aren't going our way or when we suffer

So What? Use your illness to learn about God The causes/reasons for affliction are a mystery held closely in Gods perpsective Stop trying to intellectually defend God God is good; Let God prove it Job tells us that God allows suffering You have a choice: to see God as: Vindictive Good Choose Good!