AFFLICTIONS AND ADVERSITIES

1. God regulates the measure of afflictions.

Jer 46:28 Do not fear, O Jacob my servant, for I am with you," declares the LORD. "Though I completely destroy all the nations among which I scatter you, I will not completely destroy you. I will discipline you but only with justice; I will not let you go entirely unpunished."

2. Determines the continuance of.

Isaiah 10:25 Very soon my anger against you will end and my wrath will be directed to their destruction."

3. Does not willingly send.

Lam 3:33 For he does not willingly bring affliction or grief to the children of men.

4. Man is born to.

Job 5:6 6 For hardship does not spring from the soil, nor does trouble sprout from the ground. 7 Yet man is born to trouble as surely as sparks fly upward.

Job 14:1 "Man born of woman is of few days and full of trouble.

5. Saints appointed to.

1 Thes 3:3 so that no one would be unsettled by these trials. You know quite well that we were destined for them.

6. Consequent upon the fall.

Gen 3:16 16 To the woman he said, "I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you." 17 To Adam he said, "Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, `You must not eat of it,' "Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. 18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. 19 By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return."

7. Sin produces.

Job 4:8 As I have observed, those who plow evil and those who sow trouble reap it.

8. Often severe.

Job 16:7 7 Surely, O God, you have worn me out; you have devastated my entire household. 8 You have bound me-- and it has become a witness; my gauntness rises up and testifies against me. 9 God assails me and tears me in his anger and gnashes his teeth at me; my opponent fastens on me his piercing eyes. 10 Men open their mouths to jeer at me; they strike my cheek in scorn and unite together against me. 11 God has turned me over to evil men and thrown me into the clutches of the wicked. 12 All was well with me, but he shattered me; he seized me by the neck and crushed me. He has made me his target; 13 his archers surround me. Without pity, he pierces my kidneys and spills my gall on the ground. 14 Again and again he bursts upon me; he rushes at me like a warrior. 15 "I have sewed sackcloth over my skin and buried my brow in the dust. 16 My face is red with weeping, deep shadows ring my eyes;

Psalms 42:7 Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me.

Jonah 2:3 You hurled me into the deep, into the very heart of the seas, and the currents swirled about me; all your waves and breakers swept over me.

9. Always less than deserved.

Ezra 9:13 "What has happened to us is a result of our evil deeds and our great guilt, and yet, our God, you have punished us less than our sins have deserved and have given us a remnant like this.

Psalms 103:10 he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.

10. Results of, good.

Gen 50:20 You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.

Exodus 1:11 11 So they put slave masters over them to oppress them with forced labor, and they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh. 12 But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread; so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites

11. Tempered with mercy,

Lam 3:32 Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love.

- OF SAINTS.

12. To be expected.

John 16:33 "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."

Acts 14:22 strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith. "We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God," they said.

13. Comparatively light.

Romans 8:18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.

2 Cor 4:17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.

14. Temporary.

Psalms 30:5 For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.

Psalms 103:9 He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever;

John 16:20 I tell you the truth, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy.

1 Pet 1:6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.

1 Pet 5:10 And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.

15. Joy under.

Job 5:17 "Blessed is the man whom God corrects; so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.

James 5:11 As you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job's perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.

16. End in joy and blessedness.

Psalms 126:5 5 Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy. 6 He who goes out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with him.

Matt 5:4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

17. Often arise from the profession of the gospel.

Matt 24:9 "Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me.

John 15:21 They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the One who sent me.

2 Tim 3:11 11 persecutions, sufferings-- what kinds of things happened to me in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra, the persecutions I endured. Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them. 12 In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,

18. Exhibit the love and faithfulness of God.

Deut 8:5 Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the LORD your God disciplines you.

Psalms 119:75 I know, O LORD, that your laws are righteous, and in faithfulness you have afflicted me.

Prov 3:12 because the LORD disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in.

1 Cor 11:32 When we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world.

Heb 12:6 6 because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son." 7 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father?

- BENEFITS OF.

Job 23:10 But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold.

Jer 31:19 After I strayed, I repented; after I came to understand, I beat my breast. I was ashamed and humiliated because I bore the disgrace of my youth.'

Romans 5:3 3 Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope.

Romans 8:17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs-- heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

Romans 8:28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

2 Cor 4:17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.

Phil 1:12 12 Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel. 13 As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. 14 Because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly.

James 1:2 2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4 Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

James 1:12 Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.

1 Pet 1:7 These have come so that your faith-- of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire-- may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.

DESIGN OF.

2 Sam 22:28 You save the humble, but your eyes are on the haughty to bring them low.

Psalms 9:9 9 The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. 10 Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you.

Psalms 23:4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

Psalms 27:5 5 For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle and set me high upon a rock. 6 Then my head will be exalted above the enemies who surround me; at his tabernacle will I sacrifice with shouts of joy; I will sing and make music to the LORD.

Romans 8:28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

Romans 8:35 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written: "For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered." 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Deut 8:2 Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands.

Deut 8:16 He gave you manna to eat in the desert, something your fathers had never known, to humble and to test you so that in the end it might go well with you.

Deut 30:1 1 When all these blessings and curses I have set before you come upon you and you take them to heart wherever the LORD your God disperses you among the nations, 2 and when you and your children return to the LORD your God and obey him with all your heart and with all your soul according to everything I command you today, 3 then the LORD your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where he scattered you.

Deut 31:17 On that day I will become angry with them and forsake them; I will hide my face from them, and they will be destroyed. Many disasters and difficulties will come upon them, and on that day they will ask, `Have not these disasters come upon us because our God is not with us?'

Judges 2:21 21 I will no longer drive out before them any of the nations Joshua left when he died. 22 I will use them to test Israel and see whether they will keep the way of the LORD and walk in it as their forefathers did."

Psalms 66:10 For you, O God, tested us; you refined us like silver.

Psalms 106:43 43 Many times he delivered them, but they were bent on rebellion and they wasted away in their sin. 44 But he took note of their distress when he heard their cry;

Psalms 119:71 It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees.

John 9:2 2 His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" 3 "Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.

1 Cor 11:32 When we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world.

2 Cor 1:4 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. 5 For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. 6 If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer.

2 Cor 12:7 To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.

1 Pet 1:6 6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that your faith-- of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire-- may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.

Rev 2:10 Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life.

DESPONDENCY IN.

Job 4:5 But now trouble comes to you, and you are discouraged; it strikes you, and you are dismayed.

Prov 24:10 If you falter in times of trouble, how small is your strength!

- MURMURING IN.

Phil 2:14 Do everything without complaining or arguing,

- RESIGNATION IN.

1 Thes 3:3 so that no one would be unsettled by these trials. You know quite well that we were destined for them.

2 Tim 2:3 Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus.

2 Tim 4:5 But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.

James 4:7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

1 Pet 1:6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.

1 Pet 4:12 12 Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. 13 But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.