08/07/13

The righteous are never forsaken

Pslams 37:25, 26 - I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread. He is ever merciful, and lendeth; and his seed is blessed.


There is always a question which people who believe in God ask when problems come into their lives, when their world turns upside down and when life looks like a dead end they ask, is God not there? Why does God allow this to happen to me? Does God not love me? Does it please God to see me suffer?

There are 2 types of storms that come in life of a child of God, one is persecution and other is chastising. The storm of persecution is something which every Believer will experience in their lives until the coming of Jesus Christ. This storm comes because the world hates us for our faith and who we are. These storms are required so as to expose them for who they are and to give glory to God.

The other type of storm which is chastising comes when people of God do not walk in the way of the Lord. God needs to do that out of love because He does not want His children to perish in vanity. He does not want them to experience His wrath therefore tries to change them through storms. When we experience such storm we may think it is the wrath for it may be long, but at the end we will see it is better than the quick and harsh consuming wrath of God.

Today's message says those who walk in the ways of the Lord do not see God forsaking them, not only them but also their children are blessed because of them. Even if their children falter yet the Lord's mercy is greater on the children of the righteous - we see an example of this in David and Solomon.

There are many examples in the Bible on how God chastises His people who go off track to the ways of the Lord but the best one and easiest one I found to explain people is of Jonah.

Jonah was a man of God who communicated with the Lord, one who saw the glory of God in his life. He always desired to do the will of God, but due to lack of understanding the ways of the Lord and more so his enforcing his ways on the Lord, he had to experience hell in his earthly life.

God had told him to do a task of warning the people of Nineveh to repent from their evil ways. God had also given them a time period before His wrath would consume them. Jonah instead of going to Nineveh went the other direction, not because he was running away from God; he was not that foolish to think he would run from God who is omnipresent. He was also not a person who ran away from doing what God told him. The problem here was he was judging the people of Nineveh according to his understanding and was ignorant of the purpose of God. Jonah wanted the people of Nineveh punished for the evil they did, he was afraid they would repent and be saved from the punishment so went in a direction by which he thought it would be impossible for him to reach Nineveh in the due time period. He underestimated God and in his wildest dream did not think God would put him in a belly of a fish and take him to Nineveh. He was ready to die but did not want the people of Nineveh go unpunished. He thought it was right to get evil punished and that would give glory to God, he did not realize even today the testimony of how God saved Nineveh glorifies God and is one of the top most famous testimony in the Bible.

Yesterday one sister was talking to me about a Believer being questioned by none other than so called Christians about Jonah being in the belly of a fish (whale) for 3 days. That Believer told them she believed it because I was written and went on to say even if it was written that the whale was in the belly of Jonah, she would yet believe it. That shut the mouths of these so called Christians.

Many of us think we are righteous and are doing God's work or living the way of the Lord but at times because of our lack of understanding are actually doing something else or enforcing our ways unto the Lord and calling them the Lord's ways, that's the reason we go through turbulence in our lives even when we are doing God's work.

Believe God for His Word like the Believer sister said she would believe even if it was written a whale was in the belly of Jonah for 3 days and would not doubt God. God has said if we walk in His ways and pursue His righteousness we will see the blessings of God in our lives and the lives of our children.


[ Prayer Starter ]
Lord, we know all that You do, You work them for our good, even those times when we go astray and in your name do our own things. You are truly a merciful God and see that your people are not consumed in vanity. Your corrections at many times are mistaken for your wrath, people do not know your wrath is quick and harsh and is symbolized by a tornado and not a storm. Both tornado and cyclones are experienced only when hot and cold exist together, your wrath comes only on those who are neither cold nor hot. You spare the evil unto judgement unless they come against your people. Lord we pray we open our eyes and know when we are under persecution and when You are bringing correction in our lives. Holy Spirit, help us to always walk in your way and not face turbulence in our lives...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.


[ Reference ]
Psalms 34:19 - Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all.

Proverbs 29:16 - When the wicked are multiplied, transgression increaseth: but the righteous shall see their fall.

Jonah 4:1-3, 10-11
1 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry.
2 And he prayed unto the LORD, and said, I pray thee, O LORD, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest thee of the evil.
3 Therefore now, O LORD, take, I beseech thee, my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live.
10 Then said the LORD, Thou hast had pity on the gourd, for the which thou hast not laboured, neither madest it grow; which came up in a night, and perished in a night:
11 And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?

The Word of God was given free to us, therefore we should also share it freely with others. (All rights are with God)