I know my first inclination when I face difficulty is to say, “life is hard in a fallen world”. However affliction is different. Affliction has the element of the “deliberate” attached to it. Most often affliction is brought about by some area of unrighteousness in a nation, or an individual’s life; it is brought as a wakeup call by God, not Satan. You may say, “That seems cruel of God,” but when you read the scripture, God only brings this affliction when people, especially those who claim him as their God, ignore him and go deeper and deeper into sin. It is the slap he uses to get our attention. It hurts, but it is happening to prevent greater harm.