Getting Back on Track
Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept thy word. Psalm 119:67
Every day it occurs; a vehicle or some form of transportation leaves its intended course. The result is a crash, with many of these wrecks being deadly to the human passengers. A car goes off the road, a train derails off the tracks, a ship or airplane goes off course. Whenever the vehicle goes off of its intended path and direction there is damage, and trouble. The loss of life, cleanup, and expenses are enormous. The same is true concerning the path we take in our lives. When we get off the path, we need help getting back on! Going off God’s intended path for us is damaging, costly, and hurtful for us as well. The Lord has given us clear directions for right and wrong, for Christian living as opposed to worldly living.
In the verse above you will notice the Psalm writer went astray and then affliction came along that got his attention. In fact, after the affliction, he was better able to obey God’s Word. Affliction has to do with distress, and difficult events that severely affect a person. It would seem like all affliction is bad, but sometimes affliction can work out for the good! Later on in the Psalm 119:71 he says: It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes. The Lord allowed or sent the affliction to His servant so that the person wondering astray could get back on track. What a wonderful God we have, Who is willing to help us get back on the right path. May the Lord help us to learn from the moments of life we are given, (those abounding moments and those affliction moments), and grow closer to the Lord and to get back on or continue on the path that He would have us to go.