I am usually reading more than one thing for my devotions.  Right now, I am in Psalm 119.  I have a devotional book "Streams in the Desert" on the go but forgot it at home while we're here in Calgary.  I'm also reading Ezra as I make my way through the Old Testament.  So I know I promised some thoughts on Ezra; it seems God was speaking to me lately through the Psalms and so I'll go with it!
I enjoy the portions of this psalm as they are divided into octets, verses of 8 in a group.  Sometimes the thoughts seem random.  Sometimes they are repetitive.  But almost every verse is speaking about God's Word, His law, His decrees and His promises.
This morning, I read verses 65-72.
The two verses that had a similar theme caught my attention and seemed to be speaking to a situation we are part of at this time.  I can't share details.  But if you are reading this, the details don't really matter to you.  What God is teaching me and you on a personal level is what counts!
"Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I obey Your Word...
"It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn Your decrees."
(Verses 67 & 71)
Afflictions.  Nobody wants to experience them but we all do.
A definition is "a state of pain, distress, or grief, misery" and some synonyms are "mishap, trouble, calamity, tribulation".
"Affliction suggests not only a serious misfortune but the emotional effect of this."
(Dictionary.com)
I get the impression these hard times are not necessarily something we bring on ourselves, but difficulties that happen to us.  Like a disease, a disaster or hardship.  But even if we are the cause of our own difficulty, maybe consequences for our own foolishness or mistakes, the effect is a physical and probably an emotional challenge that we must deal with somehow.
And that is the crux of the matter:  how we deal with the affliction.
The psalmist recognized something about himself-he had been prone to go astray (verse 67a).  In our natural selves, we do tend to go our own way, do our own thing.  Unless someone or something intervenes, we are very self-focused and do not automatically do right.  What the affliction did for the psalm-writer was to teach him to obey God's Word.  Somehow in his foolish wanderings, he realized God's ways were far better and He learned obedience.
In the second verse about affliction, the psalmist is reflecting an attitude lesson.  Do we enjoy affliction?  Do we not think it is something bad happening to us?  But in verse 71, the author is declaring "It was good for me to be afflicted..."  What?  Instead of complaining about the hard times and even blaming someone-God- we read how the affliction was beneficial for him.  How?
This psalmist was able to learn God's decrees.  The commandments made more sense in light of distressing circumstances.  God's loving and kind and merciful character comes through to us when we invite Him in to our problems and learn to trust Him as our guide.
Another attitude I pick up from this passage of Scripture is thankfulness.  To acknowledge God's goodness through a trial is the basis of being thankful.  We can express gratefulness for God allowing us to grow and learn through the life lessons of affliction.  We can praise Him for His ways being good for us and His wisdom being superior to ours.
I can't help but think of other passages that teach the same lessons.  Romans 5: 3-5
"Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.  And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us."
We can rejoice in suffering because God is doing something productive with it:  developing our  character.  As disciples of Jesus, we won't grow unless we are forced to change.  And one of God's most effective tools for growth and change is tribulation and suffering.  If I can see a purpose in something, then I can get through it with hope for something positive resulting.  It feels like it was worth it!
The image of the Holy spirit being poured out like oil into our hearts gives me even more hope that the trial is being smoothed and cushioned by His love.  He is not a harsh Teacher.  The pain we feel in affliction, whether physical and/or emotional, is more bearable when we know He loves us and has our good in mind.
I can somehow accept this for myself and God's grace is sufficient for the struggles I am having personally.  It is quite another thing to watch someone we love going through a season of suffering and feel so helpless.  I am learning that to interfere with God's ways in another person's life can be damaging and not helpful to their growth.  In fact, it may slow down His process and they will have to go through more difficulties in order to learn what God was teaching.
2 Peter came to mind as I was meditating on this.  "His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness."  What a beautiful promise when we are feeling stressed by our reality!  Peter then elaborates as to our part in participating in the divine nature, the transforming of our lives into the character of Jesus our Lord.  Verses 5 to 8  lists the qualities we can "add to your faith".  There is an element of cooperation in the sanctifying work of God that we disciples need to contribute.  We can add goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness and love.  Jesus was all of these things.  He lived them out.  Peter saw and experienced this first-hand.  Peter also experienced this character transformation personally.  He knew Jesus in the earthly relational sense; he also wanted to know Jesus more and more on a heart level that could change him from the sinful fisherman he was to the powerful preacher he became!  We can choose to develop these qualities, which are amazingly similar to the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5 as listed by Paul.  (By the way, in both Peter's letters, he is writing to believers who were being persecuted and confused by false teachers.  He is saying these truths to those suffering through affliction.)
I think I am done rambling now on this subject.
But I'm not done learning.
Lord, teach me Your decrees!