{"id":19134,"date":"2019-11-21T06:27:27","date_gmt":"2019-11-21T11:27:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/?p=19134"},"modified":"2019-11-21T06:34:37","modified_gmt":"2019-11-21T11:34:37","slug":"why-the-righteous-suffer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/why-the-righteous-suffer\/","title":{"rendered":"Why the righteous suffer"},"content":{"rendered":"

…and the prisoners were listening to them.<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0 (Acts 16:25)<\/p>\n

They’re always listening.<\/p>\n

The world is constantly watching when God’s people go through disasters, experience heartaches, and deal with bankruptcies and setbacks.\u00a0 How will the so-called “God people” handle these trials?\u00a0 Will they grow angry and curse, lose their temper and drown their sorrows in the bottle? Or will they live up to this heavenly rhetoric they’ve been spouting?<\/p>\n

The world wants to know whether our faith in Jesus Christ is just so much talk, just another religious alternative, or the real deal.<\/p>\n

God is going to give us the opportunity\u00a0 to convince them.<\/p>\n

This might not be pleasant.\u00a0 But it will be worthwhile.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The Lord was preparing His disciples for the mistreatment many would receive in the future as a result of their faithfulness to Him.\u00a0 Expect to be slandered, jailed and beaten without due process, and put on trial for no other reason than preaching the good news of Heaven.\u00a0 And when that happens, said Jesus…<\/p>\n

When that happens, you must not panic.\u00a0 You must not accuse God.\u00a0 You must not allow your fears to get the best of you.\u00a0 God is as much there with you as He has ever been.\u00a0 In fact, moreso.\u00a0 Because He is using this.<\/p>\n

You will be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles.<\/em>\u00a0 (Matthew 10:18)<\/p>\n

Now, when that happens, do not worry.\u00a0 Do not fear.\u00a0 Stay calm. God is about to do something very special through you.<\/p>\n

When they deliver you up, do not worry about how or what you should speak.\u00a0 For it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak. For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.\u00a0<\/em> (Matthew 10:19-20)<\/p>\n

Caesar ain’t coming to your revival, friend.\u00a0 So, we have to get the gospel to him in the only way available, in the courtroom where he sits as chief justice.\u00a0 You will be brought before him and he will say, “Tell us what you have been preaching.”\u00a0 When that happens, there is your opportunity.\u00a0 The entire court is listening.\u00a0 Which is why we don’t need any of your speeches. The Holy Spirit\u00a0 will do the preaching.<\/p>\n

Your job is to remain obedient, to keep your cool, to stay calm and carry on.\u00a0 Your job is to remember whom you have believed, knowing that He is able to keep what you have committed unto Him against that day. (2 Timothy 1:12)<\/p>\n

The Christian on trial may never know–will probably not know in this lifetime–the effect his testimony had that day.\u00a0 In fact, it is highly possible his life will come to an abrupt end soon after that courtroom appearance.\u00a0 It’s been known to happen through the centuries, and still goes on today, all over the globe.<\/p>\n

But we’re not just talking about preaching missionaries being jailed and put on trial. We’re talking about all of God’s people who go through terrible experiences in this life.\u00a0 The world will be watching and listening to see how you handle this.<\/p>\n

They watched Job.\u00a0 In one day, he lost all ten of his children and his vast holdings.\u00a0 Everything dear to him, well, almost everything, gone in one 24-hour period.\u00a0 How would he handle that?\u00a0 Job said, “The Lord giveth, the Lord taketh away. Blessed be the name of the Lord!”\u00a0 We read that in all this, Job did not sin. Nor did he blame God. (Job 1:21-22)<\/p>\n

Job’s friends thought he was into denial.\u00a0 Some may have thought he had lost his mind.\u00a0 But neither was the case.\u00a0 He knew something.<\/p>\n

I know that my Redeemer liveth and at last, shall stand upon the earth….<\/em> (Job 19:25).<\/p>\n

Listen closely, children…<\/p>\n

Your Heavenly Father will sometimes allow His special children to experience great loss and heartache in this lifetime.\u00a0 Far from being cruel or uncaring, He is demonstrating to the world that among them are still a few people–like you–who are anchored to the Rock of Ages, whose testimony rings forth of a living Christ and a true salvation.<\/p>\n

Paul was one such suffering disciple.\u00a0 He said, “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared to the glory that is to be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18).<\/p>\n

The early disciples returned to tell the church how they had been beaten without cause and threatened.\u00a0 And “they rejoiced that they were considered worthy to suffer for His Name” (Acts 5:41).<\/p>\n

“What are you going to do with such people?” asked the frustrated magistrates.\u00a0 “They don’t surrender to beatings and threats.\u00a0 The usual punishments don’t work on them.”<\/p>\n

Ask any high school student.\u00a0 It’s a basic law of physics: Fire burns brighter under pressure. \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

The world does not get it.\u00a0 Never has, never will.\u00a0 They keep trying the old remedies that have only caused the gospel message to flourish and spread like wildfire.<\/p>\n

But God’s people have to rejoice in the midst of their pain.\u00a0 That’s the secret: Not rejoicing by feelings but by faith.\u00a0 “I know.”\u00a0 “I know that I know.”<\/p>\n

The world will accuse you of being crazy or into denial.\u00a0 But here and there, one by one, people will see that you are the real deal. That’s when they will know that you know Someone.\u00a0 And many will turn to Him and believe.<\/p>\n

In Heaven–because you will probably be there before you see it–you will know it was all worth it.<\/p>\n

Will you be faithful?\u00a0 In the midst of your pain, will you still sing?\u00a0 Will you remain true and steady?<\/p>\n

Be thou faithful unto death and I will give thee a crown of life.\u00a0<\/em> (Revelation 2:10).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

…and the prisoners were listening to them.\u00a0 (Acts 16:25) They’re always listening. The world is constantly watching when God’s people go through disasters, experience heartaches, and deal with bankruptcies and setbacks.\u00a0 How will the so-called “God people” handle these trials?\u00a0 … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19134","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-suffering"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19134","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19134"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19134\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19138,"href":"http:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19134\/revisions\/19138"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19134"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19134"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19134"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}