Psalm 119:teth

"Before I was afflicted I went astray,
But now I keep Your word....
It is good for me that I have been afflicted,
that I may learn Your statutes."

And here's another one of those verses that I'm so prone to misunderstand. We so often think of affliction as punishment. We think God has to punish us (and others!) to pay us back for the naughty things we do, smack us for the rules we break.

Is the point of affliction to twist our arm behind our back so that we know we'd better shape up and act right? Or is the point of affliction to work repentance, sorrow over sin, and to make us aware of how much we need a Savior?

God cursed the creation not to get back at us, not to mete out grief for law-breakers. He cursed the creation so that we would know our need for Him, so that we wouldn't skip merrily along on our hell-bound path. Without affliction, we do indeed go astray. Without affliction, we have no use for His word. "For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory" (2 Co 4:17).