“Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.”
Psalm 34:19; NASB
Many in our churches today are being misled by their leaders. I pray you are not among them, but if so, I pray you come to the true knowledge of His Word. If you are doubting whether God hears your prayers because you are suffering hardship, please keep reading. Then go to your Bible in prayer and ask the Lord to guide you. Although sin can be a major contributor to hardship in your personal life, this is an evil world. Sin is still part of our nature, even after being saved (see Rom. 7:14-25). God does not punish us when we are bad. Sinful behavior can have poor results because evil is part of this life. It can, and many times will, compound the consequences of any missteps.
You are not promised a wonderful, peaceful life because you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. The Bible is full of encouragement to persevere. It tells us to expect persecutions and trials. James tells us, “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance” (James 1:2-3). Considering trials and hardships joyfully can seem impossible when you’re in the middle of them. It is important in our lives as believers that we do not expect God to intervene whenever something doesn’t go our way. Some teachings suggest that we “declare” the results we want to see and expect them to happen. This is a false teaching that can lead to disappointment. We cannot declare or demand that God do what we want when we want it.
As today’s passage says, even the righteous will have many afflictions. We cannot have true peace in our lives until we learn to embrace the hardships as events that strengthen us and draw us closer to God. David wrote, “It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I may learn Your statutes” (Ps. 119:71). It is not the good times in life that strengthen us. In fact, if God were to answer every prayer with what we demanded, when we demanded it, we would become like spoiled children, unable to handle anything we didn’t like. As God spoke through His prophet, “‘For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,’ declares the Lord” (Is. 55:8). We certainly do not know what is best for us like God does. The secret is to be settled with that truth. When Paul wrote, “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose” (Ro 8:28), he was not referring to our personal good. It is through selflessness that we can attain true peace.
The Lord delivers all true believers out of all our afflictions. That does not mean He will remove them. He may remove some and leave some, depending on what will be best for us. The Apostle Paul asked the Lord three times to remove the thorn from his flesh and the Lord did not remove it. Paul said it was “to keep me from exalting myself” after he had been “caught up into Paradise” (see 2 Co 12:1-9). God’s response to his prayer for relief was “…My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness…” (2 Co 12:9). It kept him humble and reliant on God’s grace. True peace lies in your willingness to be content with God’s will being done in your life, regardless of what that means.
God bless and have a great week