The School of Suffering

"It was good for me to be afflicted--so that I could learn Your statutes." Psalm 119:71

Most of us need the chastening of affliction. 
Pain is wonderful revealer. It teaches us many 
things we never could have known, if we had 
not been called to endure it. It opens windows 
through which we see, as we never saw before--the beautiful things of God's love. 



Many of the finest things in character, are the 
fruits of pain. Many a Christian enters trial--cold, 
worldly, unspiritual--and emerges from the 
experience a little later, with spirit softened, 
mellowed, and spiritually enriched. 


Sanctified afflictions soften the harshness and 
sharpness of one's character. They consume the 
dross of selfishness and worldliness. They humble 
pride. They temper carnal ambitions. They quell 
fierce passions. They show to us the evil of our 
own heart, revealing our weaknesses, faults, and 
blemishes--and making us aware of our spiritual 
danger. They discipline the wayward spirit.

Sorrow draws its sharp ploughshare through the 
heart, cutting deep and long furrows--and the 
heavenly Sower follows with the seeds of godly 
virtues. Then by and by, fruits of righteousness 
spring up. 

Sorrow has a tenderizing influence. It makes us 
gentle and kindly toward each other.

In no other 
school, do our hearts learn the lessons of patience, 
tolerance, and forbearance so quickly--as in the 
school of suffering. J.R. Miller