In Psalm 91 God says:
Those who dwell in God’s shelter, keeping themselves right under his wings, and rely on him to protect them:
*Will find in his shadow: shelter, rest and protection from evil.
*For the Most High will cover them with his feathers, and under his wings they will be safe”!
Do you get the picture?
The psalm goes on saying:
“No harm will come on you because you have put your hope in God, because you hold on to his Truth and run to Him for help:
you will not fear the terror of war, you will not be touched by diseases, plagues and other tragedies…
Even if thousands of men and women fall around you, you will not be affected.
They are wicked, and are being punished for their sins.
But no harm will fall on you and your family, since your actions and life show that you know God!
“I, the Lord Almighty will rescue you and protect you because you love me,”, says the Lord, “and I will be by your side, in all your sorrows…”
I will answer your prayers of deliverance, and satisfy you with long life and I will give you my Salvation!”
Let us consider a person who falls in this category of men, and let us learn from what happened to him:
Joseph, (of Genesis 39 onwards) Jacob’s son, was a righteous man!
And yet:
Evil was done to him by his brothers who sold him to slavery.
Evil was done to him by his master’s wife who accused him falsely of being fresh with her…
Joseph suffered much in his youth as a slave and as a prisoner for some
12 years, but God stood by him in all his sorrows, alleviating his misery.
And, one day, when Joseph was tested and made more into God’s image through all that he experienced, God delivered him and made good use of him, making him a fulfilled and happy man!
There are other examples in the Bible: King David, the apostle Paul and others.
From this we see that God does not withhold sorrows and suffering from the righteous. He promises to be with us in our sorrows deliver us from them and make it all worthwhile…
Righteous men today can expect the same treatment:
The evil that is done to them, God will turn it upside down into a blessing.
He will use it to mould them more into the image of his Son and then he will make good use of them in this world, in one way or another, making them also fulfilled and happy.
God will not let the “righteous” go under and be destroyed by the bad things that they experience, but once over the period of suffering and sorrows the righteous will be able to say in all sincerity: It was all worth it!
Let us brace ourselves therefore and be strong, and live righteous lives.