“Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.”
Psalm 34:19
Today’s text is going to take two parts. We’re going to start from the first half of this verse, which is many are the afflictions of the righteous. It’s important for us to notice two words in this first half: afflictions and righteous.
Affliction means a cause of pain or a state of being in pain. It also refers to distress or suffering. There is no definition of affliction that sounds like something a righteous person should experience.
Now, a righteous person, in Christ, is not just somebody who does good things. It’s not somebody who is just morally right or justifiable, like we often saw in the Old Testament. A righteous person, in Christ, is a person who has received Jesus and has received the gift of righteousness. That person is in right standing with God. All of their sin was eliminated and erased the moment they embraced Jesus and became a new creature (2 Corinthians 5:17).
A righteous person is someone who wears and carries the nature of Jesus. When God looks at that person, what He sees is Jesus. And that person is the one the Word says will experience pain, distress, and discomfort. A good person.
Too good for this
And often, people ask this question: why? Why do bad things happen to good people? Why? If I’m good, why don’t I get only good things? Why do I have to go through difficulty? What could I have done differently? Did I not serve You enough? Did I not love You enough? Did I not pray enough? Was I not faithful enough? I trusted You, God. Why did I have to go through this?
Situations will come where your first question will simply be, why? You cannot wrap your head around the reason behind that affliction. And if I’m being honest, I’ve had a couple of why seasons confront me in my life. I’ve gone through many why seasons. And here’s what I’ve learnt (if you’ve been here a while, you will not be hearing this for the first time).
Side Effects
First, we live in a fallen world, and affliction is the side effect of our earthly existence. Jesus told us that in this world, we will have tribulation, but we should be of good cheer because He has overcome the world (John 16:33). However, although the affliction feels painful, it will work for your good (Romans 8:28), and it is for the building of your faith. The trying of your faith produces patience, the Bible says (James 1:2–4). So it is working patience in you.
Not alone
Another thing I hope you remember when you get into those why seasons and nothing seems to make sense, and you’re not getting the answers you need, you can trust the comfort of God. You are not alone in that affliction. You are not alone in that pain. The One you love, the One you have trusted, is with you when you go through the fire and when you go through the flame. He is standing right beside you (Isaiah 43:2). And you can trust Him.
Pray
So if this is a why season for you, pray and ask the Lord to help you through the affliction. Ask Him to help you stay faithful as you face this difficult season. And if this is not a why season for you, thank the Lord. Thank Him because you are being equipped for when it comes, because it will come. Not something you sit around expecting, but it will come in one form or another. Your faith will be tested.
And you can thank the Lord because He has given you the strength and the grace to come through, in Jesus’ name.
God bless you.
Shalom.
❤️❤️