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The word that was inspired by God can radically shake a person's soul. Every Christian seems to have that one particular bible verse that speaks to them personally. There is one verse that stands out to me, it is Psalms 22:24. "For He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; Nor has He hidden His face from Him; But when He cried to Him, He heard."(NKJ) Most people have probably never paid much attention to this particular verse. The first time I read it, however, it grabbed a hold of me.

This verse paints an eerily accurate portrayal of the Christian life for me. "For He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted...". The opening of this scripture might not line up with many people's pretty mental image of the Christian life. But it states clearly that people are afflicted. No matter what type of affliction it is, humans will go through struggle and pain. The reason this grabbed my attention was that it put to rest my childhood view of Christianity, that everything was splendid after accepting Jesus. While my belief was totally innocent, it wasn't true.

We, as humans, will go through tough times. God knows this, and He also knows it is to our benefit. I often hear people say that it isn't God's will for us to hurt, to struggle financially, to get sick, and other things of that nature. But time after time in the bible we see that those who were closest to Christ went through the most affliction. The verse says God does not despise the affliction, nor does He turn away when we cry out. Therein lies the real beauty of this verse. It basically says that the times when we are the most afflicted, the most beat up and shot down, we cry out to Him. It takes us losing control of everything to realize that He is in control. And if we have to feel pain to cry out to our healer, so be it. He will hear us when we do cry out. That is an extremely powerful notion to me, the God of all creation hears us when we call out to Him. God doesn't go run and hide during our struggles. He is there beside us, whether we realize it or not.

As I continue my walk, Psalm 22:24 will always be etched in my heart. I am light years from perfect and young in my faith, but this verse is very real to my Christian experience. I, personally, see God the clearest when I am in my toughest battles. I am so thankful that He listens when I cry out during these times.

Learn more about this author, Scott Blackburn.
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