Listen:
“Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the LORD delivers him out of them all. He keeps all his bones: not one of them is broken.” (Psalms 34:19-20 KJV)
Reflect:
If we are honest, we would rather avoid afflictions if we have a choice, yet the Psalmist says, “Many are the afflictions of the righteous.”
We love God, and we serve Him with all our hearts. Yet, we often face multiple diverse challenges causing intense pain concurrently.
The good news is that this is not the end of the story. The Psalmist assures us that God delivers us from all our afflictions. Deliverance does not guarantee that pain and anguish will cease in this world, but we are assured that we will never be alone amid our many troubles.
This scripture was a lifeline of hope and encouragement during my long years of multidimensional chronic and debilitating illnesses. The weight of afflictions threatened to squeeze the life out of me. But the promise of deliverance kept me from being sucked into the vortex of despair.
“Not one of his bones is broken” became a struggle for me when my legs were amputated. Broken, I wept in the anguish of my soul. But here again, I found the assurance of hope and God’s help.
The amputation of both legs became an opportunity for me to see God’s hands stretched out to help me and give meaning to my pain. Jesus, whose bones were left unbroken when He hung on the cross for my shame, makes me perfect and spotless in God’s eyes. In Him, I am without a single broken bone.
Our afflictions are meaningful. Our many perplexing circumstances will transform our flabby faith into a strong, persevering, authentic faith. We will get to know God in a better way and grow stronger muscles pushing hard against the rock of afflictions.
Questions to Ponder:
Do you know there is hope for every believer in the season of multiple afflictions that causes mental, emotional, and physical distress?
How does the promise that the Lord will intervene during our afflictions and supply all we need to overcome help us to navigate such seasons?
Prayer of Response:
O Lord, I am thankful that our afflictions are never wasted or in vain. Every moment of our affliction is meaningful. You cause them to work and produce for us a weight of glory in the life to come. Thank You for using our afflictions to take us from the shallow to a more profound and experiential knowledge of You.
—Submitted by Irene Olumese
Irene is a lung transplant survivor and bilateral amputee who speaks and writes to inspire hope. As a certified Faith-Informed Transformational/Trauma Coach, Irene helps those facing adversities go beyond their traumatic experiences and find meaningful purpose. Irene is the Founder of the Feet of Grace Foundation, a charity organisation that provides prosthetic limbs for indigene amputees. She lives in Geneva with her husband, Peter.
Feature photo of young girl: Photo by Joice Kelly on Unsplash
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