WHY DO WE SUFFER/WHY ME?
Going about my daily activities last week, the thought that constantly filled my heart was LORD, I DON’T DESERVE WHAT IS HAPPENING TO ME. That was what I kept saying to myself. Let me share a real-life story with you, there was a woman who was pregnant with her 3rd child, but at the eight months of pregnancy, she had a miscarriage. According to her description, she bled for 12 hours and could not be rushed to the hospital on time due to financial challenges. She finally made it to the hospital, and narrowly escaped death from the excessive bleeding. She was broken and even more broken after giving birth to a dead child, who was a girl. She was in pain, deep pain. She said to me, “I am a faithful tithe payer, I don’t know why God allowed me to suffer this pain. I don’t know why me…” she said this with tears rolling down her eyes profusely. The importance of the story is to highlight some situations that we go through, and we can’t explain the reason why they are happening.
Maybe your situation may not be like this woman, and so you would be unable to relate because we are all unique and have unique experiences. But take a minute to reflect on those days when you were in certain situations, and when you tried to speak to God or even yourself, the only word that came out was, why me Jesus?. I have asked that same question many times and even last week. Perhaps in your situation, I may not fully answer or reason out why you are faced with uncomfortable circumstances, but let me share with you what the bible says about suffering. You know what, some of these scriptures came to my mind last week when I was faced with some challenges and I said to God in tears, -I don’t deserve what was happening to me.
The Bible says in Psalm 34 v 19, “Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all. (KJV) The NIV translation puts it this way: “The righteous person may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all.” The word there is MANY, not few but many. I know from my English class that many is an uncountable noun, we cannot quantify how many the afflictions of the righteous are, but the comforting thing is that God said, he would deliver that man/woman/boy/girl/youth/elder/you from all of them. Though the afflictions are many, God himself will deliver you and me from them all. Hmm, maybe this does not convince you right, so let me share my story.
Recently, I asked God, ‘why me? I don’t deserve this problem,’ and he said to me, “if not you then who deserves the problem you are facing?”. This problem is not to defeat you but rather make you learn from the process. I did not say you would not suffer, you MUST suffer, especially when you have decided to follow me faithfully, and you are suffering for good and not evil reasons. But in that trial, God would be there with you. That is why he said in Isaiah 43 v 2 (NIV) “when you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze”.
What of the example of Peter in prison, ask the only son of God, JESUS, who prayed that his father would take away the cup from him before his death, but not his own will but that of the father. Ask Daniel in the lion’s den (Daniel 6), ask the three Hebrew boys (Daniel 3), ask Elijah would have to flee from Jezebel after defeating the great prophets of Baal and their idols (1 kings 18 v20–40, 1 Kings 19 v1–3).
The thing with us Christians is that we have a kind of suffering we want and those we don’t want. We sometimes expect God to prevent us from certain types of suffering, but truthfully that is not how God works. The reason why we may sometimes want a minimal suffering is so that we can handle it quickly, but it is not about you managing it, it is about God’s plan, God’s training, God’s perfect purpose for you and I. If we truly say we accept God as our father, we have to lay down many things for his sake, and that includes our desires. I know of a truth, that no one likes rough times, your rough time may be finances, academics, relationships, family issues, even school fees, death of a loved one, your laptop not working and you have an assignment due 11:59 pm (Ashesi students may be able to relate to this one paaaaa).
The whole essence of this post is to encourage us, including me, that we have to see the hand of God in that situation through our spiritual lenses from God. That is why I like the lyrics of a song by the gospel music group called Hillsong United. It is titled -Even when it hurts, I will praise you. Truthfully, trusting God in those hard times is veryyyyyyyyyyyyyy difficult, but to stand firm in our faith, we have to do it. Holding on to God is critical because if you leave his presence due to the challenge, it would be more challenging to survive, and you may end up in the world, which is full of death and destruction. We need to cultivate the habit of praising him in the storms like Paul and Silas did in the bible (Acts 16 V 16–34). One thing I loved was that the prison state of Paul and Silas (which was uncomfortable) was the route that Jesus used to save the jailer and his family(Acts 16 v 29–34). I have a strong desire for the spirit of praise and worship to God at all times. I have heard a lot of men of God who say that our worship to God should not change when faced with difficult situations. It should be as when we had a significant breakthrough, and you are dancing to ONAGA (song by Tim Godfrey and J.J Harrison). Back to the story of the woman I shared at the beginning of the post, sometimes we think due to our commitment to God, we don’t deserve to suffer, but the question then is who deserves to suffer? Let’s all ponder on this. It takes the grace and the spirit of God to remain firm when unpleasant situations come our way, and that is why we continue our walk with God to become stronger in him like the prophets in the bible.
I would leave you with this summary; the unpleasant circumstances we face should not be the beginning of us questioning God and feeling like you are so holy and don’t deserve suffering. That uncomfortable situation is present because God has a purpose; it is part of his plan for your life. You never know if that situation may be the birth of a story that would inspire generations and even elevate you as an author and an awardee of the New York best times selling author. I like what Paul and Silas did in prison, they praised God, and I believe that is what God expects from us as his children. Remember, the process gold undertakes to become gold. It is after it has been passed through the fire. Since we are God’s treasure, we are the clay, and he is the potter, we have to cultivate the habit of trusting him in the challenges and not questioning him.
Thank you for reading until the end, and I hope you have learned something. Thank you, God, the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit help us to remain and trust you more during the challenges, and we are victorious through your help in Jesus’ Name. AMEN. These are the scriptures we read,( Acts 16:16–34, 1 Kings 18:20–40, 1 Kings 19:1–3, Daniel 3, Daniel 6, Psalm 34:19, Isaiah 43:2 ) and you can reread them, maybe one every day till the next blog post. God bless you, stay blessed, and have a fruitful week.
Please, like, comment, share this post with all your contacts list, you never know the soul you may save by this word.
Watch out for the next blog post.
Love you all but God loves you the best.
Hephzibah Emereole.
