Affliction is the Shepherd's dog, sent out not to devour the sheep, but to bring them back into the fold again. Sanctified affliction cures sin. The life of God's children is like a bell - the harder it is hit, the better it sounds. They learn more under the rod that strikes them than under the staff that comforts them. No, the Good Shepherd is not drowning His sheep when He washes them nor killing them when He shears them.
Affliction reaps golden fruit.
It mines, smelts, refines, and forms the believer until the divine goldsmith can see His reflection in the work of His own hands. Fourth, the Lord uses affliction as a means to cause His people to seek Him, to bring them back into communion with Himself, and to keep them close by His side. The storms and stones of affliction only force God's sheep closer to their Shepherd. All the stones that hit Stephen only knocked him closer to the chief cornerstone, Jesus Christ, and opened heaven all the more for his soul. Even the magnet of God's rich mercy does not bring nor keep His flock so close to the Great Shepherd as do the cords of affliction.