My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline or be weary of his reproof ~ Proverbs 3:11
God will have his saints experimentally acquainted with His truth and with Christ, Who is the truth. A mere theoretical Christian or a notional religionist is of little worth. We need a religion on which we can live holily and die happily. This can only be attained in a personal acquaintance with Christ and His Gospel. All God’s children are taught of God in the same school, the same truths, and by the same divine Teacher; and thus “he fashioneth their hearts alike” (Psalm 33:15). If, then, this experimental acquaintance with the Bible is the result of affliction, welcome the discipline whose rod of correction blossoms into such golden fruit as this! ~Octavius Winslow
It is good for me that I have been afflicted ~Psalm 119:71
this proves that affliction is a mighty advantage to us… The life of a Christian is filled up with interchanges of
sickness and health,
weakness and strength,
want and wealth,
disgrace and honor,
crosses and comforts,
miseries and mercies,
joys and sorrows,
mirth and mourning.
All honey would harm us; all wormwood would undo us; a composition of both is the best way to keep our souls in a healthy constitution. It is best and most for the health of the soul that the warm south wind of mercy and the cold north wind of adversity do both blow upon it. And though every wind that blows shall blow good to the saints, yet certainly their sins die most and their graces thrive best when they are under the frigid, drying, nipping north wind of calamity, as well as under the warm, nourishing south wind of mercy and prosperity. ~Thomas Brooks, Good Comes Through Affliction