“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; And I will dwell in the house of the Lord Forever.”
– Psalm 23:6
Job cried out to God and asked, “What is man, that You should exalt him, That You should set Your heart on him, That You should visit him every morning, And test him every moment” (Job 7:17-18)? Whether the Lord places in our paths comforts or crosses, one thing we understand as born-again Christians is that our heavenly Father cares for us in every affliction. There is unspeakable comfort when poor souls such as ours realize that we are nothing before Him, yet God places such high esteem and value on us that He sets His heart on us and attends us.
The Psalmist was visited with affliction. He may not have understood their purpose in the midst of them, yet he certainly gained perspective at the end of them. We observe this deep understanding of his heart when he writes, “It is good for me that I have been afflicted, That I may learn Your statutes” (Psalm 119:71). These are the words of a saint who understood God’s dealings with him. The understanding that his soul was being fitted for glory.
God’s goodness and mercy never flee from those who are His; they pursue. When we are His, these graces follow us. They cannot be avoided, and they give us chase day by day. The Lord’s goodness finds us out, even when, at times, we put ourselves by sin out of the way of it. His mercy has a way of drawing us back and covering us in the blood of Christ Jesus. What overflowing joy we have between the first meeting of our afflictions and their departure from our lives. Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning!
“How cross soever the winds and tides of Providence at any time seem to us, yet nothing is more certain than that they all conspire to hasten sanctified souls to God, and fit them for glory.”
– John Flavel
surrendered devotions 