Dear Editor,
Does suffering around us give us the right to question the Character of God? Certainly not!
God is always good, and He is always just, and whatever He does is always right.
God has given us free will. We are able to choose between good and evil. (Deuteronomy 30:15) The choices we make not only reveal our character, but it also carries consequences along with it, and that’s the part many refuse to realise or to admit. Most of the suffering that we see around us is directly linked to our choices.
Sometimes God inflicts certain suffering on us for a good reason, and sometimes it is to shield us from a worse catastrophe that we were heading for, and sometimes it is to reshape our character, as the Scripture says in Proverbs 20:30.
Sometimes it takes a painful experience to make us change our ways.
Someone might ask, ‘What about Job’s case?’ When you read the book of Job, you see that Satan himself accused Job of being faithful to God because God had blessed him and everything he does. God allowed Satan to test Job’s character to prove who he really is. Was he faithful to God because of the riches that God had blessed him with, or was it because he is a good man, and he knows that is the right thing to do? The Bible describes Job as a person who worshipped God, and God described Job as a good man. During Job’s suffering, he said, “I was born with nothing, and I will die with nothing. The Lord gives, and now he has taken away. May His name be praised!” (Job 1:21) The Scripture went on to say, “In spite of everything that had happened, Job did not sin by blaming God.” (Job 1:22) Even though, at one point, Job was questioning God, at the end, this is what Job acknowledged: “I know, Lord, that You are all-powerful, that You can do everything You want. You ask how I dare question Your wisdom when I am so very ignorant. I talked about things I did not understand, about marvels too great for me to know. You told me to listen while You spoke and to try to answer Your questions. In the past I knew only what others had told me, but now I have seen You with my own eyes. So I am ashamed of all I have said and repent in dust and ashes.” (Job 42:2-6)
Praise be to God. Praise be to Jesus Christ. Praise be to the Holy Spirit.
I am,
Sonia Fay Buckland (Mrs.)
