[b]Those doltish children!
(William Secker, "The Consistent Christian" 1660)
Sin is pleasant--but unprofitable.
Affliction is unpleasant--but profitable.
By affliction, the Lord separates the sin that He hates--from the soul that He loves. He sends affliction--to take the dirt of the world out of the hearts of His children! "Before I was afflicted I went astray--but now I keep Your word!" Psalm 119:67
As waters are purest, when they are in motion--so saints are generally holiest, when in affliction. Some Christians resemble those doltish children, who will learn their lessons--no longer than while the rod is on their backs! In the greatest affliction--the Lord has sealed the sweetest instruction, "It was good for me to be afflicted--so that I could learn Your statutes!" Psalm 119:71
Many Christians are not bettered by the judgments they see--when they have bettered by the judgments they have felt. The gold is refined--by being in the furnace! Likewise, with the Christian, "I have refined you in the furnace of suffering!" Isaiah 48:10