Afflicted, Yet Not Forsaken

“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:22–23).

These verses are among the most beloved in the Bible. They echo in countless hymns and modern worship songs, not least in the timeless refrain:
“Great is Thy faithfulness!”

What we often miss, however, is the setting. This stunning declaration of God’s faithfulness rises not from comfort and peace, but from the ashes of deep affliction. Jeremiah wrote these words as his nation lay in ruins under Babylon’s siege. The suffering was immense and yet, he affirms the faithfulness of God. How?

Because the Scriptures reveal not only that God is faithful to deliver us from affliction, but also that God is faithful in and even through affliction. That is, our suffering may be the very expression of His steadfast love.

Affliction as Faithful Love

In Psalm 119, the psalmist echoes this same truth “I know, O Lord, that your rules are righteous, and that in faithfulness you have afflicted me” (Psalm 119:75).

Affliction is not always punishment. In many cases, it is redemptive surgery painful, yes, but meant to heal, restore, and refine. “Before I was afflicted I went astray,” he writes, “but now I keep your word” (Psalm 119:67). And again: “It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes” (Psalm 119:71).

These are not the words of a man defeated by suffering. They are the words of someone who has come to see affliction not as abandonment, but as divine attention a loving intervention that draws him closer to the heart of God.

Affliction That Prevents Destruction

Consider Jacob in Genesis 32. After a lifetime of manipulation and fear, Jacob is about to meet his estranged brother Esau who he believes may want him dead. That night, God comes to Jacob in bodily form and wrestles him. As dawn breaks, God disables Jacob’s hip.

Why would God injure Jacob in such a moment of vulnerability? One reason is that God was keeping Jacob from running away again. This affliction forced him to confront his fear and trust God’s promise. Jacob limped into reconciliation, supported not by his own cunning, but by the limp of grace.

Sometimes, God’s mercy comes in the form of a limp. Sometimes, the greatest danger isn’t what lies ahead of us, but the temptation to flee what God has called us to face. In love, God may afflict to preserve.

Affliction That Guards Against Pride

The Apostle Paul also bore a mysterious affliction. He called it a “thorn in the flesh,” a messenger of Satan sent to torment him. But why would God allow such torment?

Paul explains: “To keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations” (2 Corinthians 12:7). The affliction was a preventative measure a faithful act to protect Paul from the far greater destruction of pride.

When Paul pleaded for deliverance, God responded, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” And Paul, through tears, found peace: “For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:10).

God’s Purposes in Our Pain

Across Scripture, we find this consistent truth: God’s afflictions are never arbitrary. For His children, they are always purposeful. Whether correcting a wandering heart, overcoming fearful unbelief, or preventing the rot of pride, God’s providence works even in pain.

As Jeremiah writes, “[The Lord] does not afflict from his heart” (Lamentations 3:33). That is, He takes no pleasure in our pain. Yet in His infinite wisdom and unrelenting love, He chooses to afflict when it produces something eternal in us. And so we declare with the psalmist, “This is my comfort in my affliction, that your promise gives me life” (Psalm 119:50).

Even our culture recognizes the refining power of hardship. Yet unlike stoic endurance or blind fate, Christian suffering is wrapped in purpose, promise, and presence. “We know that for those who love God all things work together for good” (Romans 8:28) even affliction.

The God of All Comfort

In 2 Corinthians 1:3–4, Paul exclaims “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.”

What a title: the God of all comfort. Not the God of some comfort. Not only post-affliction comfort. He is with us in the valley. And often, that comfort doesn’t come by escaping the fire, but by seeing who walks beside us in it (Daniel 3:25).

When we realize that even our afflictions are tools in the hands of a loving Father, we begin to understand why Jeremiah could proclaim, “Great is your faithfulness” not after the pain was over, but in the midst of it.

So if you’re walking through suffering, don’t despise it too quickly. Ask instead: What might God be doing through it? Might He be drawing you back from wandering? Teaching your heart to trust? Guarding you from pride? Strengthening you for someone else’s comfort?

Affliction is not the absence of grace. Sometimes, it is grace tenacious, refining, redemptive.

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