Shining in affliction

I was praying for a sister who was admitted to ICU due to a severe dengue attack. She was hovering on the brink of death and we prayed fervently for her to recover. At times at the morning watches we must have spent up to an hour just interceding and pleading with God for her life.

Yesterday the Lord dropped the whole of Psalm 139 into my heart and I declared it aloud in prayer for her. 2 verses in particular stood out:

Psalm 139:11-12

 "If I say surely the darkness shall fall on me," Even the night shall be light about me. Indeed the darkness shall not hide from You, But the night shines as the day; The darkness and light are both alike to you"

How can this be? How can night become like day?Suddenly I realized that when God is with us even in the darkness of our days or the tragedies that we are going through, night is shining as bright as day!

One person in the Bible experienced 'night' in his life for many years. The person is Jacob but there was light shining in the darkness of his days.

The story of Jacob is fascinating and so applicable to me in real life.

Jacob worked for his father-in-law Laban for 20 years but he called it his years of "affliction".

Genesis 31:42 

"Unless the God of my Father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac had been with me, surely now you would have sent me away empty-handed. God has seen my affliction and the labor of my hands, and rebuked you last night"

What was the "affliction" that Jacob suffered from?

He was "afflicted" by Laban, his father-in-law who was also his employer. I wonder how many of us have been taken advantage off when we worked for our relative or for that matter any employer? Well, Jacob certainly was!

He shares his experience which are so applicable to those of us who work in the marketplace:

1. Salary that do not commensurate with the work done by us.

"You have changed my wages ten times" - Gen 31:41. 

Jacob was promised Rachel for the first seven years but was given Leah (wages changed). After the second tranche of another seven years, Rachel was finally given to him in marriage by Laban.

In the modern day context it can mean a number of things - pay reduction, payment in cash rather than kind, refusing to pay bonus, EPF or increment although required by law. 

2. Honesty and integrity which is not given due recognition.

"These 20 years I have been with you, your ewes and your female goats have not miscarried their young and I have not eaten the rams of your flock" - Gen 31:38. 

In the modern employment scenario, it may mean that we have not caused any losses to the business of our company through the neglect of our duties. It also means that we have not committed CBT or stolen money, goods or possession from our employer.

3. Being asked to pay for company losses through no fault of our own.

"That which was torn by beasts I did not bring to you; I bore the loss of it. You required it from my hand whether stolen by day or stolen by night" - Gen 31:39.

Cash shortage in the counter and you have been asked to pay up. Your staff made a mistake at work and financial losses ensued as result but your employer asked you to pay for the error made by them!

4. Working hard till late at night/early hours of the day and even working on public holidays. Working in the most uncomfortable of environment - heat and cold alternating.

"There I was! In the day the drought consumed me and the frost by night and my sleep departed from my eyes" - Gen 31:40

Some of us work really hard. Official knock-off hours can be 6 pm but you only leave at 9 or 10 pm at night. You also bring back work home on weekends to do.

Yet Jacob continued to shine in the midst of affliction. This was acknowledged by Laban that God had blessed him for Jacob's sake!

There was another person in the Bible who shone in the midst of affliction and that person was Joseph.

When he was afflicted in Potiphar's household through false accusation and lies, he shone his integrity and moral uprightness by going to prison for something he did not do. He was afflicted with lies and false accusations.

When he was afflicted in the prison, he busied himself by interpreting the dreams of the baker and the butler who came to him for help. In his affliction, he kept himself busy serving God by helping the prison guards who entrusted him with the care of other prisoners.

When he was in Egypt separated from his father in Canaan, he did not allow the bitterness caused by his brothers affliction of injustice and loneliness to overwhelm him but he used his time in exile to serve Pharoah by advising Pharoah what to do to deal with the years of plenty followed by the years of famine. 

How do we know this? We know this when Joseph cried out aloud upon seeing his brothers bowing down before him to buy grain in Egypt! Joseph was not interested in revenge. He just wanted reconciliation. Affliction has changed him for the better and made him a gracious and forgiving person.

Joseph named his son Ephraim to signify fruitfulness in affliction:

Gen 41:52

"And the name of the second he called Ephraim: 'For God has caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction"

Joseph shone with FRUITFULNESS in the land of his affliction!

Is it possible to shine in affliction? 

Yes certainly. It is my prayer that in the affliction of:

- injustice of the management
- verbal abuse of the bosses
- mean words of our colleagues
- politics/back-stabbing in the workplace
- false and unfair accusations

I will continue to SHINE FOR JESUS no matter what!

What are the practical things we need to do while undergoing affliction:

1. Continue to do what is right
2. Wait upon God to right every wrong done to you
3. Pray blessing upon all those who have afflicted us
4. Ask God to deliver us from the affliction