“And he returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and came, and stood before him: and he said, Behold, now I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel: now therefore, I pray thee, take a blessing of thy servant.”
(2 Kings 5:15)
Many people think wisdom comes through learning, success, or a long life. But Scripture shows that wisdom is often learned through suffering. When God afflicts us, He is desiring to teach us. Sorrow softens the heart. Loss humbles the spirit. And pain makes a person think seriously about God, about sin, about life, and about eternity.
Naaman is a wonderful biblical example of this. He was a great man, a captain, a successful soldier, and an honored man in his country. But he was a leper. All his power and honor could not remove his disease. His affliction brought him to the prophet Elisha, and through that affliction he came to know the true God. After he was healed, he confessed, “Now I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel.” His suffering led him to knowledge, and his disease led him to God.
This is often the way God works. When life is easy, we grow careless and complacent. When life is comfortable, we often forget God. When everything is going well, we tend to trust in ourselves, in money, in health, in friends, or in our own wisdom. But when affliction comes, these false supports begin to fail and we look for something sure, something strong, something that cannot be taken away. Affliction teaches us that only God is sure, only God is strong, and only God can save.
Affliction also makes the soul teachable. A hard heart softens when it passes through sorrow. Pride dwindles when a person is brought low. We listen to God’s Word more in days of pain than in days of prosperity. Trouble makes a person listen to sermons differently, read Scripture differently, and pray differently.[1]
Affliction not only teaches us for our own good, but also makes us able to help others. A person who has suffered and been comforted by God can speak to others in a way that no one else can. They understand sorrow, fear, loss, and weakness. They can speak of God’s faithfulness not as theory, but as something they have experienced. In this way, God uses suffering to make one believer a comfort to another.
Affliction also teaches the Church wisdom. Through trials, errors are corrected, truth is made clearer, and believers are driven back to Scripture. Difficulty forces Christians to think carefully, pray seriously, and hold firmly to the truth.
Therefore, affliction, though painful, can be one of God’s greatest teachers of humility, dependence on God, seriousness about sin, love for Scripture, and compassion for others. It shows us that this world is not our rest, that our strength is limited, and that God alone is our help.
So when affliction comes, we should not ask, “How can I escape this?” but “What is God teaching me through this?” We may come to know God more deeply and to understand Scripture more clearly through suffering than we ever did in times of ease. Affliction is a hard teacher, but a wise one, and those who are taught by it are often the wisest Christians.
Contemplations:
- Affliction makes me teachable. Lord, I realize I am often slow to learn when life is easy. When things go well, I become careless, I don’t pray as much, and Your Word does not affect me as it should. But when trouble comes, I begin to pray and to listen to You. Teach me to learn from affliction what I would not learn in prosperity, and make my heart soft under Your hand.
- Affliction shows me my false trusts. Father, when life is easy, I trust in many things without realizing it. I trust in health, in plans, in money, in people, and in my own strength. But when affliction comes, these supports fall away, and I see how weak they really are. Affliction shows me that only You are unchanging, only You are faithful, and only You are able to carry me through every condition of life. Teach me to stay upon You alone.
- Affliction drives me to the Word. Lord, I confess that I do not always value Your Word as I should. But when I am troubled, then Your Word becomes precious to me. I look for promises, for comfort, for direction, and for hope. Affliction makes the Bible more real and more necessary to me. Help me love Your Word not only in trouble, but at all times, and to see that it is my guide in every condition of life.
- Affliction prepares me to help others. Father, I see that the comfort You give me in trouble is not only for me, but also so I may comfort others. When I have passed through sorrow and You have helped me, I am better able to speak to others who are suffering. Help me not waste my afflictions, but to use what I have learned to help others trust You, follow You, and find comfort in You as I have.
Prayer (Supplication)
Lord, Your Word shows me that wisdom is not learned only through ease and comfort, but often through suffering and trial. I ask that when You bring affliction into my life, You not let me waste it, but use it to teach me, to humble me, and to draw me closer to You.
Teach me to not trust in the things of this world. Do not let me rest in my health, my plans, my strength, or anything else more than I rest in You. When these things are shaken, help me stand firm by faith, remembering that You do not change and that Your promises never fail.
When I suffer, help me listen carefully to what You are teaching me. Show me my sins, my pride, my unbelief, and lead me to repentance and a stronger faith in Christ. Let affliction make me wiser, more humble, more prayerful, and more dependent on You.
I also ask that You use my afflictions to prepare me to help others. When I have been comforted by You, help me comfort those who are in trouble. Give me words that are wise and gentle, and help me point others to Christ, the only true comforter of His people.
Lord, I ask that in every trial I may learn to say, like Naaman, that there is no God but the Lord. Teach me through all the changing circumstances of life to know You better and to trust and love You more. And through all these things, make me grow in spiritual wisdom, until I am made fit for Your presence.
In Jesus’ name I pray.
Further Scripture References for 2 Kings 5:15:
Isa. 44:6; Isa. 45:5; Rev. 22:13; 2 Chron. 6:14
[1] Richard Younge, The Victory of Patience and Benefit of Affliction, (London: R. Badger and are to be sold by M. Allot at the Black Bear in Paul’s Churchyard, 1636), 64-67.
