Around 600 AD, quite a few Christians abandoned the trappings of power offered by the Roman Empire and went out to the wilderness. The desert fathers and mothers attracted pilgrims with their wisdom and devotion. One such hermit had a visitor who had become very sick, and wanted a spiritual giant to pray for their healing. And I'm sure that the hermit did eventually pray for the person. However, what stuck with the sick visitor was what the hermit said about sickness- that it offered a chance (similar to fasting) for growth. I'm not a person who wishes affliction or illness on anyone, but if God wishes for me to grow through an affliction, I pray that I am ready.
In Psalm 119 Teth, we are told about an unknown affliction in the life of the psalmist. And nobody wants to go through an affliction, whether that be a depression, an illness or something else. On the other side of this affliction, though, the psalmist finds a new strength and devotion to obedience.
Whatever you may be going through today, I pray that God brings you strength to face it and even to grow in the face of your affliction.
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