Affliction

Affliction, we all know, is a word that many experience at different times in their lives, and  at different degrees. Pain that for every circumstance and for every person feels very different. But one thing is sure, God loves His people so much, that He let us be hit by affliction in this world that we may hate it. To remind us that as shiny and pretty this place may seem, it is broken. There is nothing to cling to that will last, nothing so precious and perfect as Him. And in this, we may be sanctified. Affliction brings humility... it leaves nothing to boast about, but in Jesus Christ, specially when when people see the strength that is clearly not yours, but His. When you so desperately need Christ to be enough. When there is no hope but in the hope that He gives you every morning. When you see His mercies every morning and His faithfulness at nights, it humbles you again in gratitude.

When you feel like you hate the pain the affliction has caused you, it serves as a reminder of sin, and what sin causes, the pain, the tears, the hurt, death, the consequences, the broken dreams, ... and with this, helps you hate it, helps you want to get rid of it all... get rid of those precious sins that we treasure, those that we cling so dearly...... they are not lovable, they are just poison in pretty bottles!

Oh! that with time I don't forget this lessons! , that I may not forget and start clinging to sin again!, that my heart will truly hate sin for good and love what is holy more! It is so easy to forget, so easy to get busy with the vanities of this world and forget not so much the "how" affliction was brought to you, but the lessons and the humbleness, and the tenderness to hear and beg every day for God's mercies, depending on Him... for your next breath, for your next hour, for the next day, for the next week, for the rest of your days! I have now a scar on my belly, that serves as a reminder of the pain that we went through, BUT also, serves as a reminder of how God was so merciful to us, his providence, His love, His comfort, His patience, His teachings, the perseverance that He is giving us though this... As the Israelites used markers as reminders of the work of God for the purpose that they may not forget and they could tell their children and their children's children of the work of their God, so is this scar in me; so I can tell the generations after me, that the Lord is good!, that He is faithful and tell them about Him with confidence, because I know Him.

Time is one of God's mercies to help heal, but also, if we do not heed to His teachings and are like a quick fire that burns big but extinguishes quickly... our suffering may be in vane. But I pray, that this fire will last. I pray that no distractions will come in the way or that when they come, God will tenderly remind me of how He was sufficient for me in the time of trouble, that He will remind me of his love, His faithfulness, His teachings and that He will bring me to this place of need often, that I may not grow cold in my love for Him.

With the death of someone so dear and close to you, it is a blessing every year, every month, every time that the day of the death comes, to come to the Lord and ask to be reminded again about the reason we should die to ourselves and have more of Him and less of us. Oh what a providence of God that is! A painful providence! A providence of love!

Oh!, the wait of the day, when the exchange of tears for joy and fear for peace will happen! Oh! what a hope! what a blessing to put our eyes on that day, on Him who will make that precious exchange.