Turn Up The Heat

“Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.” (Isa 48:10 AV)

Affliction is the standard for growth, correction, and perfection.  These things do not come by idleness.  They do not increase by comfort.  Holiness, character, faith, integrity, etc. all have to be tested and proved.  These desirable traits do not come by sitting in our favorite recliner and all of a sudden, we are overwhelmed by a great light from glory, rising to be the child of God which He intended all along.  If we are to be what the LORD intended for us to be, on this side glory anyway, it will take days, months, and years of affliction.  If we are smart, we will learn to appreciate them.  Recently, I was reminded of this very thing.

My father knowingly put his children in situations that were difficult to say the least.  Growing up in one of the snowiest areas of the country, western New York, winter time was hard.  Particularly those of us who had paper-routes.  It was no easy task to load up those Sunday papers on a sled and traipse off at five in the morning to deliver those papers on time.  There were times it became a community effort.  If one completed their route, they would pitch in and help a younger sibling complete their route.  There were also times that we got behind on our collecting.  That was when we would go to our client’s home and collect the money that was owed for the previous week’s delivery.  Usually on a Friday night and Saturday afternoon.  Then we would pay the publisher their cut.  If we got behind a few weeks, we didn’t want to collect because the client might be upset that we allowed it to go so long.  My father would check our books to see if we are all caught up with our client’s accounts.  Rather than face an angry client, we often used our tips to cover their bill.  It was not a fun experience.  But that paper route had multitudes of life’s lessons for us all.  Lessons we would not have learned any other way.  It was not a joy to work that hard so early in life.  But the experience helped us mature quicker and above our peers.  In the long run, it saved is from a lot of other experiences that kids with idle time fell into.

We may not enjoy life’s afflictions.  But these afflictions are the only way God can change who and what we are.  We may not like a poor diagnosis.  We may wish we could work a different job.  We may not enjoy another car repair bill.  We would rather not have to climb up on the roof to patch yet another leak.  We wish there was an easier route to work so the commute wasn’t so stressful.  We wish the kids would have one good day wherein they do all they are told without any lip whatsoever.  Life is far from perfect.  It is those times that shape us into the person we are and the person God is working towards.  It can come no other way.