Why
are Christians afflicted?
The book of Psalms 119 verse 67 says "Before I was afflicted I
went astray, but now have I kept thy word." That’s to tell you
that the major reason Christians get afflicted is because such has gone
astray. Going astray has to do with disobedience to the words of God.
When one shows doubt and unbelief to the words of God, He makes room
for affliction.
Also, the same Psalm 119, verse 71 says, "it is good for me
that I have been afflicted, that I might learn thy statutes."
So, when we fail on our part to do things the way God wants it, the
result is affliction. When you don’t pray, when you don’t study the
Bible, when you stop to walk in righteousness, then you invite affliction.
God doesn’t do bad
Devil does it. God only permits when one goes astray. Devil is very
relevant in God’s plan for the earth, he plays a key role in God’s
agenda. That is why God allowed him to afflict Job. Nobody can destroy
Satan until the appointed time, it doesn’t matter your prayer, Devil
will not die, you can only rebuke the devil by the word of God through
the power of Jesus. I laugh sometimes when I hear some prayers Christians
pray, it shows their scriptural level of understanding. No amount
of prayer can kill Satan, he plays a key role in God’s agenda.
When you look at the case of Job, Bible points it in chapter 1 verse
6 that Satan was present with the sons of God when they gathered with
God – he has a purpose to fulfill. When we go astray, it becomes the
responsibility of Satan to accuse and afflict.
But Job did not sin?
Job had fear, that worked against him. He was living in fear and fear
was responsible for his calamity. All who fear will always be victims
of witches. Those who fear water get drowned, those who fear traveling
by air get plane crash.
I had a friend who said then that he wouldn’t like to travel by air
again, he got afraid because of the mishap of that time, eventually
he died in a plane crash. Fearful mind is a victim of the devil. When
you read Job 3:25, he says that what he feared mostly happened to
him. So, Job was fearful and fear itself is a sin.
How can one differentiate if what he’s passing through is
as a result of sin or for other reason?
I can say with confidence that many of those things that believers
pass through are result of going astray. There is one common sin of
omission people don’t recognize, it is lack of gratitude to God and
it brings affliction to Christians. Deuteronomy 28:47 and 48 talks
of serving God with joyful and grateful heart. This confirms there
are a lot of things we pass through not because we don’t go to church
but because we don’t worship with joyful and grateful heart.
But where is the place of trial of faith?
Trial of faith is like challenges you pass through or what I can call
temptation. That is when your faith is challenged, and when you release
your faith by praying and remaining firm in the Lord, the problem
will leave you. Somebody may have miscarriage, lose his job, late
marriage, those are trials of faith, or it could be prolonged sickness
like the woman with the issue of blood, she released her faith and
got the solution.
We also have what we call chastising of the Lord. That is discipline
of God on His children. There is judgment of God and there is chastising
of God. God chastises His children who are supposed to have grown
to adulthood but remain babies; He gives them what belong to babies.
How then can one know if he is being inflicted, passing through
trial of faith or being chastised?
It is the function of the Holy Spirit, He will always bear you witness
as a believer when problem comes; He will tell you what really goes
wrong.
How would a Christian know he needs deliverance?
Every problem does not attract deliverance. There are problems that
were not caused because the victim is possessed and if the person
is not possessed, he doesn’t need deliverance. Though there is what
I call word deliverance, not until you lay hand and the victim falls,
you can deliver somebody by opening the word of God and let him see
some truth of the word. The Bible says that you shall know
the truth and the truth shall set you free.
So, there are some deliverance that can happen by teaching and not
necessarily by laying of hands, only that the minister has to be sensitive
in the spirit to be able to differentiate.
Separation brings fear and torment.
Separation in relationships either God, others or self is a form of
bitterness. When we don't love who we are, then we have bitterness
towards self. It could be self-hatred, not able to forgive yourself
for your own sins in the past, etc. You have to release yourself from
your past sins. The Lord has already forgiven you if you have given
it to him? Second, is not forgiving others of what they did to you.
All these bring fear into our lives because of separation. When we
are anger what has happened in our past because of bad things, bad
parents, then that is ungratefulness. You have to see that the Lord
will redeem your past and you will be able to share with others what
you endured. Be grateful what you have endured and focus of God's
redemption and restoration he is going to do to help others!
more on fear
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