The Gift of Misery

Re:Verse reading–Psalm 32 (day two)
“For day and night Your hand was heavy on me; my strength was drained as in the summer’s heat” (32:4). I think my junior high Sunday school teacher was right. The most miserable person on the planet is not the atheist or agnostic, Muslim or Mormon, rebellious or religious. It is the redeemed, follower of Jesus who is living in willful disobedience to God. Whether in deliberate sin or simply refusing to follow the Spirit’s prompting, the Spirit of God may make that person miserable until he or she yields. To that person, the “still small voice” becomes “like a lion roaring.” This gift of misery is indeed a powerful expression of mercy. The misery reveals the need for forgiveness (5), brings protection (7), opens the door for God Himself to instruct (8) and rejuvenates praise (11). All of this comes to those who will “acknowledge their sin.” What a great gift misery can be!