All to Him I Owe

Affliction makes you cherish your relationships. You begin to value your relationships more. Your heart is encouraged that you have people you can lean on in times of trouble and people who genuinely love you and are delighted to support you. When we allow ourselves to be vulnerable and let others in on what we are going through pain strengthens the bond between you and your closest friends and family.

Affliction gives you a compassionate heart. You become more empathetic, tender-hearted and loving. You grow “eyes” that are able to notice others who are hurting and you don’t want others to be alone. It gives you the heart to go toward those who are brokenhearted, to reach out, to be kind. You learn what kinds of things to say, and things not to say. You learn when to listen, when to offer a hug, when to be silent, and when to speak.

Affliction increases your wisdom. You to see life differently and you are given a new perspective of what is most important and what is trivial. You begin to value things that you once overlooked and eliminate things you once thought you could never let go of. You learn how to respond to circumstances with thoughtfulness and intention. You learn to be slower to speak and quicker to listen. Little things don’t bother you as much anymore.

Affliction makes you stronger. Like a growing muscle, you grow in your ability to endure. With each trial and each season of struggling you are better prepared to face difficult situations in the future. Trials are painful, just like exercise can be at times, but after the healing, there is a great strength, which gives you increased ability to withstand even more.

Affliction reorders your priorities. You begin to put things in life in right perspective and as you gain laser sharp focus for what matters most. You might begin to reconsider your career, your health, where you live, how you spend your time, your finances and your relationships. It can help to re-route you and redirect you to new plans, new goals, and new adventures as you stop and ask questions regarding priority you previously didn’t know to ask.

Affliction makes you vulnerable, in the best ways. Your pain makes you approachable, real, and pure. Your life in the midst of brokenness becomes a humble invitation to others who need to be loved more deeply. Your pain gives a firm confirmation to others that you bleed just like they do. We aren’t meant to live life alone and our struggles help us to realize that we need others just as much as they need us.

Affliction teaches you the difference between happiness and joy. Happiness is circumstantial, joy is not. We are all tempted to look for ways to end the struggle, feel better and just be happy again. But through hardship, we begin to see that there is something far richer than happiness that is worth pursuing. True joy comes from the Lord, and it has nothing to do with how well or how hard our lives are. You begin to search for joy, which means time with Jesus, instead of a quick fix or a proverbial band-aid.

Affliction increases your faith. Pain brings you to the Bible, the Church and to godly people for advice, encouragement, and hope. When we can’t understand why certain things happen, you begin to realize that although there may not be answers you are not alone. Your desire to understand God and Truth become a priority; a priority you begin to set time aside for. You begin to consider God’s character, and you see the story of the gospel more clearly.

Affliction helps us serve others. When we struggle the Church is built up. Those who know Jesus are encouraged to seek Him in new and fresh ways. Those who do not yet know Jesus see the beauty that comes through your hope in the midst of pain and will begin to want to know where your hope comes from. Your suffering, in the path of righteousness, helps spur others on to be stronger, joy-filled, and more compassionate. It invites others around you to prioritize, to value, to also find joy in the Lord. Your brokenness offers an invitation for others to feel safe in their brokenness too. And your life softly whispers to all “you aren’t alone,” and breeds relational intimacy, oneness, friendship, and companionship.

Affliction glorifies God. It is in our weakness, not our strength, that God is made great. When we are in pain we no longer boast in ourselves, our accomplishments, or our achievements. We have the honor, through our suffering, to boast in Jesus and all He accomplished on the cross for our sake. Suffering produces an eternal weight of glory that will one day come.