Types of affliction

It's Feb 2016 and the theme that seems to be coming to me during the morning watches while praying with others and alone with God seems to be on 'affliction' or being 'afflicted'. I believe that God is showing me from His Word that such an experience is not unusual but rather something that is commonly experienced and runs through the Bible.

Perhaps it is because I have a few close friends who were badly afflicted this year that I felt led to pray for them - one lost a baby just conceived, one is suffering 'slavery' at work and another has family members suffering sickness and financial problems. 

As for myself, the kind of work expectations from the boss seems to have stepped up this year so much so that at times, I feel that I cannot endure it anymore. The thought of throwing in the resignation letter came to me many times this year but I had to grit my teeth and keep on working until a suitable time for me to give my 'love' letter to the boss as there are unfinished work for me to do before I leave.

'Affliction' in Hebrew has several meanings - distress, grief, sorrow, oppression, anguish and adversity.

'Affliction' in Greek carries about 3 meanings - hardship, maltreatment and persecution.

There are about 5 different kinds of incidents in the Bible that can amount to 'afflictions'. They are:

1. Hard and rigorous labor

Jacob described the 'affliction' of hard work and manual labor that he suffered at the hands of his employer, his father in law:

Gen 31:42
"Unless the God of my Father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac had been with me, surely you would have sent me away empty-handed. God has seen my affliction and the labor of my hands, and rebuked you last night"

Hard work that takes up your weekends, your sleeping hours, enduring all kinds of unkind treatment by the bosses - this is a kind of affliction.

The children of Israel suffered hard labor at the hands of their Egyptian masters:

Deut 26:7
"Then we cried out to the Lord God of our Father and the Lord heard our voice and looked on our affliction and our labor and oppression"

The good news is God is with us in our affliction and the days of our affliction will surely come to an end especially when we start calling out to God for help and deliverance. Afflictions seem to be only for a season and for a purpose and they will soon be over. Our response is to ENDURE IT.

The children of Israel after enduring wicked rulers and taskmasters were delivered from Egypt with great riches and Jacob also did not leave Laban empty-handed.

2. Humiliation, defamation and slander

Hannah described her affliction of being scorned, degraded and humiliated by her husband's first wife:

1 Sam 1:11
"The she made a vow and said, "O Lord of hosts, if You will indeed look upon the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me...."

David himself suffered defamation and slander at the cursing of his enemy, Shimei:

2 Sam 26:12
"It may be that the Lord will look upon my affliction; and that the Lord will repay me with good for his cursing this day"

Again we saw how the Lord answered those who called upon Him in the day of their affliction. Hannah conceived a child and David got the better of his enemy when he came back victorious from the battle with Saul.

3. Persecution

Paul endured great persecution in preaching the Gospel as is recorded in 2 Timothy 3:11 "persecutions, afflictions what happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra - what persecutions I endured. And out of all of them all the Lord delivered me"

Very often the affliction will come as a result of us doing God's will. It is to be expected when we are standing up for Christ. See what happened to Micaiah the prophet:

1 Kings 22:27
"and say, 'Thus says the king: "put his fellow in prison, and feed him with the bread of affliction and water of affliction, until I come in peace"

Micaiah prophesied differently from the other false prophets and it angered the king who afflicted him with imprisonment.

4. National disasters

Natural disasters like plagues, famines and earthquakes are also afflictions upon a group of people or groups of nations.

2 Chron 20:9
"If disaster comes upon us - sword, judgment, pestilence or famine - we will stand before this temple and in Your presence (for Your name is in this temple) and cry out to You in our affliction, and You will hear and save"

Is Malaysia afflicted? Yes, indeed. With corruption, political machineering, dengue, drought, haze - the list keeps on increasing. Yet there is hope for us. The church has to cry out to God for help! Such afflictions should serve to bring us closer to God and to make us cry out to Him more fervently and with all our hearts.

5. Near-death experience

Jonah suffered affliction when he walked out of the will of God. He was almost near the door of death. He suffered almost dying moments in the belly of the whale before he cried out to God for help:

Jonah 2:2
"And he said; "I cried out to the Lord because of my affliction, And He answered me. "Out of the belly of Sheol I cried and You heard my voice"

However affliction can come upon us even when we are doing the will of God like what happened to Paul who willingly suffered persecution in Jerusalem.

6. Sicknesses

Sicknesses is a kind of physical affliction. 

Mark 3:10
"For He healed many, so that as many as had afflictions pressed about Him to touch Him"

Mark 5:29
"Immediately the fountain of her blood was dried up and she felt in her body that she was healed of the affliction"

I do not know why sicknesses afflict some people and does not touch others. I do not know why God still has not chosen to heal my knee affliction and my tendonitis. All I know is that I need to continue to abound in thanksgiving no matter what kind of physical condition I am suffering from. God is merciful and kind. I believe that God has a higher purpose from my affliction.

Isa 48:10 says that afflictions are for testing and refinement of our character "Behold I have refined you, but not as silver, I have tested you in the furnace of affliction"

Apart from the testings of character, there is also the higher purpose of God working out His plan and purpose through us in our affliction in order to demonstrate to others His grace and His mercy. For e.g. Esther saved an entire nation, Daniel reached out to his bosses and became a strong testimony and Joseph was afflicted by his brothers and in prison so that he could save nations!

Thus affliction is biblical. If it can happen to great men and women in the Bible it can also happen to us thus we are not exempted!