David Wilkerson emphasizes the importance of not wasting our afflictions, using the example of Zelophehad's daughters who lamented their father's death in unbelief despite witnessing God's miracles. He warns that the trials we face can either harden our hearts or deepen our faith, and our reactions to these afflictions will influence the next generation. Wilkerson urges parents to model trust in God during hardships, as their behavior shapes their children's understanding of faith. He challenges Christians to transform their bitterness into a testimony of God's faithfulness, ensuring that their struggles yield spiritual growth rather than despair. Ultimately, he calls believers to embrace their afflictions as opportunities for growth and to glorify God through their responses.

The book of Numbers contains a sad example of wasted afflictions. The five daughters of a man called Zelophehad came to Moses asking for a share in the possession of the Promised Land. They told Moses, "Our father died in the wilderness, and he was not in the company of them that gathered themselves together against the Lord in the company of Korah; but he died in his own sin, and had no sons" (Numbers 27:3). These women were saying, "When all the others rose up against you with Korah, our father wasn't one of them. He wasn't in rebellion. He died in his own sin." This last phrase struck me as I read it: "He died in his own sin." This meant that although their father had seen incredible miracles—deliverance out of Egypt, water flowing from a rock, manna coming from heaven—he died in unbelief with the rest of his generation. Of that generation, only faithful Joshua and Caleb survived the wilderness. Obviously, these five daughters were born in the wilderness and they grew up in a family full of anger toward God. All of Israel's testings and trials produced only hardened unbelief in their father and these young women grew up hearing murmuring, complaining and bitterness. At breakfast, lunch and supper, there was constant bellyaching, with never a word of faith or trust in God. Now these women had to tell Moses, "Our father left us with nothing—no hope, no possessions, no testimony. He spent those forty years whining and in bitterness, because life was hard. He died in sin, his life a total waste." What a horrible thing to have to say of one's parents. Yet I must warn all parents reading this: Your children are watching you as you're under affliction and your reactions and behavior will influence them for life. So, how are you behaving? Are you wasting your affliction, not only for yourself but for the generations that follow? I hope your heirs are being established in Christ as they hear you say, "I don't like this affliction but blessed be the name of the Lord." I know many Christians who become more bitter and grumpy with every new affliction. The very afflictions meant to train and sweeten them, trials designed by God to reveal His faithfulness, instead turn them into habitual complainers, sourpusses, and meanies. I wonder, "Where is their faith, their trust in the Lord? What must their children think?" Beloved, don't waste your afflictions. Let them produce in you the sweet aroma of trust and faith in your Lord.