Why Do the Righteous Suffer?

WHY DO THE RIGHTEOUS SUFFER?

THE CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER

The Coronavirus disease of 2019, abbreviated COVID-19, has placed most of us on lock down at the time of this issue going to press. We Christians cannot assemble ourselves as was customary, fear may make some of us reluctant to leave the safety of our homes, paranoia can set in so that we will not embrace our loved ones, and any sneeze or cough will worry us of possible infection. At the same time, being forced to be shut-in with our immediate family members deprives many of us from our jobs, our finances are in jeopardy, and medical coverage is a worry. We also wonder how long will it be before normalcy returns, and we are secure from the virus?

It is easy for us to question why God is allowing this to happen. Haven’t we been living right? Haven’t we been witnessing, paying our tithes and offerings, attending church regularly, and haven’t we been reading our Bibles everyday, and devoting time to prayer? Why must we suffer with the masses? Why must Christians suffer at all?

WHAT DOES JESUS SAY?

The answer can be found in the words of Christ. “For the Son of Man himself did not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many," so Jesus said in Mark 10:45 (NIV). He suffered death to save all us humans from our sins. In Matthew 26:28 He says He poured out His blood “for many for the forgiveness of sins.” His sacrifice became the divine plan for all to be reconciled to the Creator as He declared in John 3:16 (KJV): “For God so loved the world, that He gave his only begotten Son...!" God showed His divine justice and His love by suffering the punishment of death Himself.

Once saved this did not release believers from pain and suffering. In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus tells us why. He speaks in Matthew 5:43-48 that it is not enough to just love those who love us, but to love our enemies and pray for them who treat us with hateful actions and curses. To do this is to emulate our Heavenly Father who treats all the children of the earth, whether good or bad, the same, as Jesus says in verse 45 (KJV): “That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for He maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust." This verse shows God loves saints and sinners alike, for He blesses all mankind the same with rain and sunshine. Yet easily one can read the strong implication in this verse that He will also allow disease and death for every believer and non-believer. That is what makes us human, and we must all accept the reality that we are fated to grow old and sick and die.

WHAT ABOUT DEATH?

Let us look at the most crucial ordeal anyone has to experience: death of a loved one or facing our own demise. David acknowledges this fact when he says to his son Solomon in I Kings 2:1,2 (NKJV): “Now the days of David drew nigh that he should die; and he charged Solomon his son, saying, ‘I GO THE WAY OF ALL THE EARTH: be thou strong therefore, and shew thyself a man.'" He says to his son to accept the death of his father as the inevitable and be strong and move on with the responsibilities of life.

If God has ordained that all mankind must individually experience death to pass into eternity, then we must all accept death as a sovereign act of the Almighty.

The suffering for us Christians is when we experience the ordeal of losing someone we love. But it is an act of God, therefore love touched by death is HOLY! All the dreams and hopes we shared with that loved one, the beautiful memories, the words spoken that become gifts of remembrance - all remain painful joys to comfort us until our time “to go the way of all the earth.” This can be a fearful human experience for all of us, but again let it be said it is a HOLY thing to love what death has touched, a precious and solemn moment in our lives.

For Christians, we have that blessed hope that death does not have the final word, for Christ conquered death, hell, and the grave with the promise of everlasting life for all believers. There WILL BE a grand reunion with our loved ones when God shows His mercy on Resurrection Day as declared in Psalm 49:15 (KJV): “But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave: for He shall receive me. Selah!”

WHAT ABOUT TRIALS AND ORDEALS?

Aside from death, Christians face problems and tests almost everyday. Some ordeals can easily be solved by the wisdom and knowledge we can receive by putting our faith and trust in Christ. He shows us the way to make problems go away, and many of these answers come to us when we pray for guidance and deliverance: “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6,7, KJV). Some trials and ordeals can test us for years, like they’re never going to go away, but this is what makes us Christians stronger in the faith, and builds character to be a blessing to others in the church: “We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because He has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with His love" (Romans 5:3-5 NLT). The Holy Spirit becomes a vital factor in giving us comfort that all is in God's will for our lives, whether a good experience of a tragic event. We cannot lose our faith in Him for He loves us.

Let us remember that God has given us the promise that we will endure through every trial and ordeal, and we should never be tempted to throw our hands up and leave the church. "The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure" (I Corinthians 10:13 NLT).

We can endure this present dilemma and all tests and trials that may come our way because Christians can say: "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose!" (Romans 8:28 KJV).

Suffering, pain, and death are what make us humans, but when we attain salvation and endure with patience our trials and ordeals in the flesh, we are promised everlasting life with our saved loved ones, forever in the presence of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. "And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away" (Revelation 21:4 KJV). AMEN!