Reasons for Affliction
by Hugh Baird
"I have tested you in the furnace of affliction." - Isaiah 48:10
The furnace has often been the instrument of conversion. Manasseh’s dethronement, captivity, and dungeon were a furnace. He cried to God in his affliction: he was heard and restored to his kingdom. The prodigal’s poverty and hunger made him come to himself; when he returned to his father, and was welcomed, clothed, and feasted. How many have read and listened to the word of God in the light of eternity, and prayed at the gates of death, who might never have done so in other circumstances! The furnace proves the Christian’s faith, hope, and patience. The Christian needs his faith strengthened, and his hope brightened; and he prays for this. May not God answer his prayer by casting him into the furnace, where only such blessed results can be attained? Suffering in the furnace assimilates to Christ. He suffered, and learned obedience practically by suffering; and can we expect to escape? He can feel all the better for others by having suffered himself. Is it not so with us? A few weeks’ affliction will teach us more sympathy for others than years of health. Suffering in the furnace is a check to sin. The Jewish captivity thoroughly cured them of their propensity to idolatry, and drew forth renewed covenant engagements of adherence to God; and how often has the furnace restrained us from evil, weaned us from folly, led us to Jesus, led us to holiness, and led us to heaven!