I recently met this sweet girl whose passion for God leaves me amazed each time I am with her. Despite her own challenges, she has allowed herself to be used by God to heal others, cast out demons, and lead quite a number of people to Christ. The challenge, however, is that she has a lot going in her health and quite a lot of people, including very close family and friends have concluded that her past sin is the reason for her sufferings health wise. As much as this might be the fact, the truth is God forgives and cleanses us when we genuinely confess and repent of our sins. In fact, His Word says He remembers our sin no more.
HEBREWS 8:12
“For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.”
It is quite easy for us as humans to look at someone going through sufferings or what I call a stormy moment and conclude that the sin, misdeeds or unworthiness of that person is the reason they are confronted with their present unpleasant situation(s). It is sad that we often forget that if God were to mark iniquity, who will stand? None of us! That we are experiencing a break from the storms of life does not make us better than those going through their own season of tests and trials.
ECCLESIASTES 3:1-3
“To everything, there is a season and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up…..”
As much as we understand that sin can be the reason for which people go through certain situations, it is important we remind ourselves that sin is just one of the several reasons bad things happen to people. When we act like the only reason people go through bad times or storms as I earlier stated is simply because they missed it somewhere or somehow, we are not different from the hypocritical friends of Job in the Bible.
JOB 4:5-8
“But now it has come upon thee, and thou faintest; it toucheth thee, and thou art troubled.
Is not this thy fear, thy confidence, thy hope, and the uprightness of thy ways?
Remember, I pray thee, who ever perished, being innocent? or where were the righteous cut off?
Even as I have seen, they that plow iniquity, and sow wickedness reap the same.”
Let us take a look at the life of Job. This was a man God Himself boosted about, yet He allowed Him to go through the kind of test a lot of us would have forsaken God for were we in the shoes of this innocent, yet tested and tried man. Job, like many of us in our legalistic nature, did all he thought was right before God and felt that was all that would keep him and his household from evil and destruction. It was not long before he realized God is an examiner that cannot be questioned by His student.
PSALM 115:3
“But our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased.”
I am yet to meet anyone who has never been through one challenge or the other in life. We all have stories to tell but our stories differ in nature, so does the timing of our life events. However, It is heartbreaking to see someone who has had his or her fair share of the issues of life see another person who is going through turbulent times and conclude it is because of such person’s unworthiness or sin.
It is important we try as much as we can, not to add to the pain of others just like Job’s friend did. They were quick to forget how they themselves had written the exams of life in the past and how despite all they did or did not do, the Unquestionable God still decided to do what He did, for reasons best known to Him.
Let us leave Job for now and look at the life of David. It is true David sinned against God on several occasions. On a particular occasion, God decided to deal with David in His own way and He simply had Nathan the prophet inform him of his sin and what it was going to cost him. The moment David heard the decision of God through the mouth of the prophet, He humbled himself and sought God’s face for forgiveness. Did this change the fact that the sword has still not departed and will not depart from the house of David, according to the pronouncement of God? NO! ( 2 SAMUEL 12:10)
Before we judge David and talk about how terrible his act of adultery and murder was, let us remind ourselves that this is the same person God called a man after His heart and promised a throne that will be established forever, Hence the reason our Lord Jesus Christ is from the lineage of David.
2 SAMUEL 7:12-13
“And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom.
He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom forever.”
God is All-knowing and All-powerful. It pleases Him to do whatever He wants and however He wants to without our help or analysis. Who would have thought that a man like David who deserved to die and his house forgotten forever, considering the way he dealt with Uriah the Hittite would have an everlasting Kingdom established through Christ- The Messiah?
Let us learn to let God be God, as He decides what and why He permits somethings we consider to be beyond our control, even as we walk by faith into the victory the Blood of Jesus by grace already made available to us and everyone He created in His image and for His pleasure.
1 CORINTHIANS 15:57
“But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
We are to view our life and that of others as that of students who are learning through every process in order to pass the examinations set by the Great and Mighty God Himself so He can see how much we have learnt and grown to become who He has called us to be. It is important we consciously learn through every process He takes us through so that we will not fail the tests and examinations that follow.
We are to lift up others when they fall or find themselves in their own stormy moment, knowing fully well that it is only a matter of time, our own moment of forbearance will also come because Christ did not promise us a chocolate and Ice cream filled life, but a life filled with constant battles that He has already won on our behalf- yet we will still be confronted with “stuffs” no matter how righteous we consider ourselves to be. Just before you conclude on someone else’s case, look through the eyes of this Scripture…
JOHN 16:33
“These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”
Author Profile
- Temitope is the founder of thesoulmeal.com, an online platform that she shares with her God-given spiritual family and friends. She is a speaker, teacher and youth counselor. She is passionate about inspiring people to find their identity in Christ. Catch her interviewing inspiring leaders on Tongue of the Learned Podcast
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