I am suffering: is God punishing me?
A lot of people are wrongly pointing at the Creator when they are experiencing suffering and pain of any kind. This is a problem common to both, believers and unbelievers.
A test of faith
A person I came close to over the last two years, because of our interest for the Shroud of Turin ( he is a devoted researcher and a man of faith), once asked me:
"Do you think that the disease I am experiencing is due to the fact I let our Lord down in some way?"
David had caught dengue flu' and was quite worried about its consequences.
I reassured him, reminding him of the many extreme situations people had been experiencing in many biblical episodes, including the death and resurrection of Lazarus in John 11.
My friend looked beyond the visible world and walked by faith. I started praying for him and a group of strong believers joined me in prayer. Today, David is a 100% cured of his illness.
As you would probably notice it, this was a test of faith my friend David passed successfully.
Not God, but your own sin is causing you pain and suffering
Especially unbelievers prompt to accuse the Creator when things don't go after their plans. However, we must consider that either our own stubbornness is causing our soul some unnecessary suffering or we are getting the chastisement that we deserved for our unruly behavior.
Either way, it is the separation from Hashem that causes our soul huge pain inside.
I have so often punished myself by going my own selfish ways.
But when we are experiencing punishment from Above, we deserve it and we should accept it, in the same way David recognized himself as faulty when he had sinned with Batsheva. Remember that he asked the Lord to create in him a clean heart ( "lev tahor" in Hebrew).
The Book of Proverbs , chapter 3 verse 11 states:
"Do not despise the LORD's instruction, my son, and do not loathe His discipline."
Remember our Heavenly Father corrects us, because we are His children, in the same way our earthly father educated us when we were little kids.
Copyright© by Isabelle Esling
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Comments (3)
ARGHYA SANYAL
2
TRAVEL ADVISOR & HOLIDAY CONSULTANT
It is just unfair. to take things positively, treat your sufferings & pains like an anvil on which God is hammering to mold you to become priceless. Pains & sufferings are all a part of life. to some extent, the degree of sufferings is based on your karma( deeds), sometimes in the very life or maybe in your previous birth. I remember mom passing away when I was 13, and today at 33, i believe god has guided me to avoid the unethical and unsocial path of life. I am a believer and worshiper of Lord
Isabelle Esling
10
published author-certified teacher-
Many thanks for your input, Joseph:)
I don't know much about the Knights Templar, so I reserve my opinion for the moment...as for Miriam of Magdala, I wrote an article about her on my blog dedicated to Yeshua our Messiah on blogger...she was a true disciple and Yeshua honored her to be the first witness of the Resurrection. I believe what the Bible says about her and I would dismiss the apocrypha implying something else ( not everything that is laid on paper is necessarily true, this is also a
Joseph Doyle
10
Irish "Celtic_Spirals" Jewelery
Hi Isabelle,
Greetings from Ireland ~ Reputedly "The land of saints & scholars"
Thank you for sharing your interesting article "A test of faith"
What are your views on " The Knights Templar" their persecution.
& Jesus of Nazareth's relationship with Mary Magdalene>
Kind regards.
Joseph.