5. Afflictions are opportunities for Christ to display his power in us.
As long as we can handle things in our own strength, we won’t see God’s power. It’s when the burden gets too massive for us to bear that Christ comes along and says, “Hey, let me take that from you,” and reveals his universe-sustaining strength. “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness’” 2 Corinthians 12:9.
6. Afflictions drive us to God’s word.
“It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes” Ps 119:71. A life preserver doesn’t mean much to someone lounging in a deck chair reading a novel. But when the ship is sinking and one is adrift in the ocean, that life preserver is everything. When we are sinking in affliction, we grab onto God’s promises and they uphold us.
7. Afflictions yield supernatural comfort.
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction” 2 Corinthians 1:3-4.
8. Afflictions prove the reality of God’s grace in our lives.
How does someone endure years of sickness, yet continue to be joyful? How does a wife lose her husband to cancer yet join the saints the following Sunday and lift her hands in worship? What makes a husband care for his Alzheimer-racked wife and continue to love God? God’s amazing grace! Endurance through afflictions is evidence we haven’t believed some empty philosophy or fable.
