Afflictions of the Righteous

Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the LORD delivers him out of them all. Psalm 34:19
Sunday night, just a day or two before I leave my friends in India for Johannesburg, someone comes up to me, looking slightly distressed and says something to the effect of the verse above.

I wondered a lot about this verse, what is God trying to say to me? Is something really bad going to happen to me? A few months later and I’m still wondering, waiting, when It hit me. Our pain is not a pain of the world. If I lost all my money, all support from family, got left to roam a desert on my own with nothing but the clothes on my back, I would still be happy so long as I have God by my side. These kind of things shouldn’t be a concern, there is no point in worrying about my stuff. Even persecution should bring me joy because it shows that I’m living for God. Perhaps “afflictions” are different from person to person. For me, for the time being, It’s the lost state of the world.
The pain and suffering experienced by millions around the world right now, hurt me. The sin and corruption that runs rampant in society, breaks me. As I draw nearer to God, my heart looses sight of the pleasure in sin. As those I love fall into temptation without remorse, my soul cries. Jesus had compassion when he saw the people without a shepherd, on the cross his concern was for those crucifying him, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” When I ask, “Lord, break my heart for what breaks yours”, I get a taste of what God feels.
That’s the one side, the outside. The inside, is my own temptations. I won’t suffer by going with the flow of things. I could just follow the way of the world, no obstructions, just a waterfall and death drop at the end, but that’s too far ahead for me to worry about…right? Saying no to anything unholy equals getting pounded in the face by tonnes of storm water. And that is what I want. Let me suffer, and let that suffering turn into endurance, character, faith and hope. This is a suffering I bring upon myself, let it be swift, and let God be there with his delivering hand.