GOD WILL SET THE RECORD STRAIGHT

When I went to worship last Sunday, the first person who greeted me at the gates was my friend a young Minister of the Gospel  whose life is a living example of unwavering faith.

My friend has been ailing for years. His doctors have pronounced that he wouldn’t last long, and yet, he’s still around. Every now and then he would be admitted to the Hospital, uncertain if he would ever survive but by God’s Grace and loving kindness, he  would  check out, come back and  return  to his ministry. 

He has no doubt that he survives only by the mercy of an all powerful  God whom he humbly serves . As I looked at him and clasped his hand, he radiated so much joy and peace which was infectious, that even the cares and anxieties which weighed me down had vanished, bringing lightness to my soul. 

This simple man of God is a personal  inspiration to me.  He is a living testimony that God’s strength is made perfect in weakness. Beneath his frail body is the inner strength which sustains him to unconditionally trust and  obey our Lord Jesus Christ, our Healer and Comforter.   

As I reflect on the life of this man, I cannot help but join in the chorus of questioning minds, why a righteous servant of God would be allowed to suffer terrible infirmity, while around him  the ungodly, the wicked and the corrupt live in comfort and are surrounded by public admiration.

The ancient Prophet  Jeremiah asked the same age old question :

     “Righteous are You, O Lord, when I plead with You; yet let me talk with You about Your judgments. Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why are those happy who deal so treacherously?” (Jer. 12:1)   

The Psalmist Asaph,  was similarly  insightful in his observation :

“For I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.  For they have no pangs until death; their bodies are fat and sleek.   They are not in trouble as others are; they are not stricken like the rest of mankind.  Therefore pride is their necklace; violence covers them as a garment.  Their eyes swell out through fatness; their hearts overflow with follies.   They scoff and speak with malice; loftily they threaten oppression.   They set their mouths against the heavens, and their tongue struts through the earth.   Therefore his people turn back to them, and find no fault in them.   And they say, ‘How can God know? Is there knowledge in the Most High?’   Behold, these are the wicked; always at ease, they increase in riches.” (Psalm 73:3-12)

The Psalmist Asaph was saying that as he looked around him he saw the ungodly and the wicked don’t seem to suffer, they have abundance, live easy,  don’t seem to struggle and are not afflicted. Worst, the result of their prosperity did not make them any more thankful to God for on the contrary their prosperity caused them to be proud, arrogant,  self sufficient and haughty  that they felt no need for God  rejecting His existence.

But at the end of his musings the Psalmist was given discernment and understanding.  Beyond the artificial self sufficiency of the wicked, God has set them up in slippery places that they will fall into ruin. Even though they seem to have made it in this world,  they will be utterly swept away.

    

Asaph, by stroke of insight when he went to the  sanctuary of God, went on  to declare :

“But when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task,   until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I discerned their end.   Truly you set them in slippery places; you make them fall to ruin.   How they are destroyed in a moment, swept away utterly by terrors!”(vv. 17-19)

Seeing this weak and infirm friend whose only taste of luxury is to be the recipient of God’s mercy and grace, yes indeed I am inspired and  strengthened by the resolve of this righteous man.  One day God will set the record straight.