2. Making Affliction Count

3. 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

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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?

8. 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.”

9. 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.

10. 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

11. 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

12. 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

13. 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!