Afflictions and adversities are integral themes throughout the Bible, serving as instruments through which God accomplishes His divine purposes. These experiences, though often challenging and painful, are not without meaning or purpose. They are designed by God to refine, discipline, and draw His people closer to Him.

Refinement and Purification

One of the primary purposes of afflictions is the refinement and purification of believers. The Bible frequently uses the metaphor of refining silver or gold to describe how God uses trials to purify His people. In Zechariah 13:9 , the Lord declares, "I will bring that third into the fire and refine them as silver is refined and test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, and I will answer them. I will say, ‘They are My people,’ and they will say, ‘The LORD is our God.’" Through afflictions, God removes impurities and strengthens the faith of His followers.

Discipline and Correction

Afflictions also serve as a form of divine discipline. Hebrews 12:6-7 states, "For the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and He chastises every son He receives. Endure suffering as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father?" This passage highlights that God's discipline is an expression of His love and a means to correct and guide His children back to righteousness.

Dependence on God

Adversities often lead believers to a deeper dependence on God. In times of trouble, individuals are reminded of their own limitations and the necessity of relying on God's strength and provision. The Apostle Paul, in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 , shares his experience of a "thorn in the flesh" and God's response: "But He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest on me. That is why, for the sake of Christ, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong."

Testing and Strengthening Faith

Afflictions are also a means of testing and strengthening faith. James 1:2-4 encourages believers, "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you encounter trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Allow perseverance to finish its work, so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." Trials are opportunities for growth, leading to spiritual maturity and a more robust faith.

Conformity to Christ

Through suffering, believers are conformed to the image of Christ, who Himself endured great suffering. Romans 8:17 states, "And if we are children, then we are heirs: heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ—if indeed we suffer with Him, so that we may also be glorified with Him." Sharing in Christ's sufferings is part of the Christian journey, shaping believers to reflect His character and glory.

Witness and Testimony

Finally, afflictions can serve as a powerful witness and testimony to others. The endurance and faith displayed by believers in the face of adversity can lead others to glorify God. In 2 Corinthians 1:4 , Paul writes, "He comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God." The comfort and strength received from God during trials enable believers to minister to others experiencing similar hardships.

In summary, afflictions and adversities are not random or purposeless; they are divinely designed tools used by God to accomplish His will in the lives of His people. Through them, believers are refined, disciplined, and drawn closer to God, ultimately leading to spiritual growth and a deeper relationship with Him.Deuteronomy 8:2,16
And you shall remember all the way which the LORD your God led you these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you, and to prove you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments, or no.
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Deuteronomy 30:1-3
And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come on you, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before you, and you shall call them to mind among all the nations, where the LORD your God has driven you,
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Deuteronomy 31:17
Then my anger shall be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide my face from them, and they shall be devoured, and many evils and troubles shall befall them; so that they will say in that day, Are not these evils come on us, because our God is not among us?
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Judges 2:21,22
I also will not from now on drive out any from before them of the nations which Joshua left when he died:
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1 Kings 8:33-48
When your people Israel be smitten down before the enemy, because they have sinned against you, and shall turn again to you, and confess your name, and pray, and make supplication to you in this house:
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2 Chronicles 6:24-31
And if your people Israel be put to the worse before the enemy, because they have sinned against you; and shall return and confess your name, and pray and make supplication before you in this house;
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2 Chronicles 7:13,14
If I shut up heaven that there be no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people;
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Job 33:11,16-30
He puts my feet in the stocks, he marks all my paths.
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Job 36:8-10
And if they be bound in fetters, and be held in cords of affliction;
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Psalm 66:10
For you, O God, have proved us: you have tried us, as silver is tried.
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Psalm 106:43,44
Many times did he deliver them; but they provoked him with their counsel, and were brought low for their iniquity.
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Psalm 107:10-14,17-21,23-31
Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron;
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Psalm 119:71
It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn your statutes.
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Ecclesiastes 7:14
In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity consider: God also has set the one over against the other, to the end that man should find nothing after him.
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Isaiah 1:25-27
And I will turn my hand on you, and purely purge away your dross, and take away all your tin:
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Isaiah 4:3,4
And it shall come to pass, that he that is left in Zion, and he that remains in Jerusalem, shall be called holy, even every one that is written among the living in Jerusalem:
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Isaiah 9:13,14
For the people turns not to him that smites them, neither do they seek the LORD of hosts.
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Isaiah 52:5,6
Now therefore, what have I here, said the LORD, that my people is taken away for nothing? they that rule over them make them to howl, said the LORD; and my name continually every day is blasphemed.
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Jeremiah 24:5
Thus said the LORD, the God of Israel; Like these good figs, so will I acknowledge them that are carried away captive of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans for their good.
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Lamentations 1:5
Her adversaries are the chief, her enemies prosper; for the LORD has afflicted her for the multitude of her transgressions: her children are gone into captivity before the enemy.
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Ezekiel 6:10
And they shall know that I am the LORD, and that I have not said in vain that I would do this evil to them.
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Ezekiel 14:10,11
And they shall bear the punishment of their iniquity: the punishment of the prophet shall be even as the punishment of him that seeks to him;
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Daniel 4:25-27,34
That they shall drive you from men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and they shall make you to eat grass as oxen, and they shall wet you with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass over you, till you know that the most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomsoever he will.
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Hosea 5:15
I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offense, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early.
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Amos 4:6
And I also have given you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, and want of bread in all your places: yet have you not returned to me, said the LORD.
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Micah 6:9
The LORD's voice cries to the city, and the man of wisdom shall see your name: hear you the rod, and who has appointed it.
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Malachi 3:3
And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer to the LORD an offering in righteousness.
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John 9:2,3
And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?
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John 11:4
When Jesus heard that, he said, This sickness is not to death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby.
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John 15:2
Every branch in me that bears not fruit he takes away: and every branch that bears fruit, he purges it, that it may bring forth more fruit.
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John 21:19
This spoke he, signifying by what death he should glorify God. And when he had spoken this, he said to him, Follow me.
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1 Corinthians 11:32
But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.
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2 Corinthians 1:4-6
Who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted of God.
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2 Corinthians 4:11,17
For we which live are always delivered to death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.
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2 Corinthians 12:7
And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.
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Philippians 1:29,30
For to you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake;
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2 Thessalonians 1:4,5
So that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that you endure:
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Hebrews 2:10-18
For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.
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Hebrews 5:8,9
Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered;
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Hebrews 12:5-11
And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to children, My son, despise not you the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when you are rebuked of him:
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1 Peter 1:6,7
Wherein you greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, you are in heaviness through manifold temptations:
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1 Peter 5:10
But the God of all grace, who has called us to his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that you have suffered a while, make you perfect, establish, strengthen, settle you.
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Revelation 2:10
Fear none of those things which you shall suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that you may be tried; and you shall have tribulation ten days: be you faithful to death, and I will give you a crown of life.
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Whither Goest Thou?
... not only permitted it, but he had a design in it ... God appoints the weight and number
of all our adversities. ... Since every trial comes from God, afflictions are no ...
/.../spurgeon/spurgeons sermons volume 35 1889/whither goest thou.htm

The Solar Eclipse
... beyond a doubt that he has a design in the ... I mean, the adversities, the wars, the
famines, which ... Troubles must come; afflictions must befall; it must, needs be ...
/.../spurgeon/spurgeons sermons volume 4 1858/the solar eclipse.htm

Israel's Hope Encouraged;
... to suffer all troubles, afflictions, and adversities that it ... The cause from whence
these afflictions arise is known to ... us their help.[12] But my design is not ...
/.../bunyan/the works of john bunyan volumes 1-3/israels hope encouraged.htm

The Bereavements of the Christian Home. [A]
... afflictions God has some merciful design, the execution ... meekly submit to the
providential afflictions of our ... should remember that all the adversities of life ...
/.../philips/the christian home/chapter xxvi the bereavements of.htm

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