Afflictions awaken us to our sins because they often push our idols out of reach. In other words, trials are designed to prevent us from living at peace with our idols and remaining sin. Much of our sin appears hidden and dormant until the whip-snap of affliction rouses the indwelling sin to stand up and show itself, or stand up and hiss, or stand up and strike. It is more necessary for us to see the sins remaining in our hearts and to flee to Christ for grace than it is to live blissfully ignorant of the cancers in our soul.
