About the goodness of afflictions:

Psalm 119:71 It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees. (NIV)

Most people curse their afflictions. Most people do not count afflictions as any kind of blessing. Our afflictions try to take us down. In the way the world thinks about afflictions, the world would think King David must surely have been delusional when he said afflictions were good. If we are ever to really take in the meaning of being able to count our afflictions as a blessing or as good for us, we must see how the affliction will benefit us. We must see how we can use the affliction as a learning experience. To turn every affliction into a learning experience we must first learn what to do with the affliction. Normally, we let afflictions have their way with us. We usually let our afflictions do whatever they want with us. We rarely think about doing something with the affliction. When you go to repair something, you either have to know how to make the repair or you have to learn in advance how to make the repair. In our life, we have to learn what God wants us to do with our afflictions. If we let God lead us, our afflictions have a way of letting God guide us and teach us His lessons. When we have this kind of utilitarian attitude about using our afflictions, our afflictions bless us. Our afflictions can insure we walk on the right path chosen for us by God. Our afflictions can be a good thing because if we are never taught which path to walk, we will wander or walk anywhere, even into places of danger. Like a two or three-year-old child who does not yet know the meaning of danger, without the guidance of God, we can walk into trouble and danger without knowing. In the case of a small child, to protect the child we have to teach the child the right way to go. In some cases we must afflict the child to get the child to learn.