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There is something strange about life the Bible talks about. It concerns the many afflictions the righteous suffer and the prosperity the wicked enjoy. An affliction is anything that causes pain or distress. It can be poverty, persecution, hardship, sickness, rejection or unemployment.
The righteous, on one hand, are those who have right standing with God through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. They walk by the Holy Spirit, learn God’s ways, live by faith, learn to live by the commandments of God and desire to do things that please Him. Simply, they worship God.
The wicked, on the other hand, are those who do otherwise. They are disbelievers, wrongdoers and blasphemers who have no love relationship with God. They have no regard for the commandments and ways of God. In fact, they despise and resent anything about God.
Many who believe in God through Jesus Christ today expect that they will enjoy prosperity. They wonder why they should suffer when the Almighty God is on their side. Scripture says, “if God is for us, who can be against us” (Job 8:31). With this, it is expected that the wicked rather suffer many afflictions in life.
Surprisingly, however, the Bible does not say that many are the afflictions of the wicked. Rather, it says, “many are the afflictions of the righteous…” (Psalm 34:19). Of course, it adds that “but the Lord delivers him out of them all.”
But why should the righteous suffer many afflictions when they have chosen to walk with a loving, powerful and caring God and obey His commandments? Is it not the wicked who should suffer for their faithlessness and for the consequences of the evil ways?
Job sheds light on these questions in a dramatic way. You know Job was a righteous man in his day. Even God testified about him. Yet, Job suffered many afflictions in life engineered by Satan with God’s permission.
Job’ friends, Bildad and Zophar, mocked him, thinking that he suffered as a result of his wickedness. In other words, they thought that people suffered afflictions because of their wickedness, implying that the righteous do not suffer afflictions.
But in a response to Zophar, Job thought otherwise, observing that in life the righteous rather suffer while the wicked prosper and enjoy good long life on earth (see Job Chapter 21).
Clearly, Job told the truth. It is the same today in the world. Most Christians who are righteous in Christ Jesus suffer many afflictions whereas the wicked enjoy prosperity. For this reason, many believers worry and even sometimes become faithless when they are mocked.
But believers must understand that most afflictions they suffer are brought upon them as trials or tests of their faith in God. They are attacks of Satan with God’s permission to test our loyalty and devotion to God.
Thus, those who hold on to their integrity, keep clear conscience, pray for their mockers and refrain from cursing or rejecting God during trials are rewarded. The Lord delivers them from all their afflictions, and gives them abundant blessings and prosperity. Such was the case of Job (Job 42:10).
Therefore, do not lose hope in God. Continue to trust in Him with endurance. Understand that believers who thank God in their afflictions prove their sonship, knowing that their situation is meant to test their faith, and it will not last forever.
By James Quansah
