What does it mean to be righteous? One definition includes the words “justified” and “morally right.” Some synonyms for righteous/ness are; good, upright and virtuous.
One day somebody tweeted “many are the afflictions of the righteous but the Lord delivers him out of them all”. I’ve heard and read this passage a few times and each time it fills me with hope. The day it was tweeted and I retweeted it however, I was feeling particularly upset. I used the scripture to make me feel better but conviction hit me. You see the initial pain I felt was from a place of being unfairly treated. My reaction however, was not one of righteousness and therefore the situation escalated. This led me to think, are all of my afflictions really because of righteousness or are they self inflicted?
An affliction is a cause of pain. Are we sometimes the architects of our own pain? Clinging to scripture like this as a “pick me up” but not looking deeply at the cause of affliction. Is it my character? Is it the way I respond? Do I really have love in my heart? Do I need to reconsider the way I’m thinking about this? And so on.
You see to be afflicted for the cause of Christ and His gospel (the process of becoming like Him, proclaiming His name, trials and tribulations etc) comes with assured deliverance. It is a beautiful process of pain with a purpose. However when we use our own stubbornness, rebellion, pride and whatever else it may be to cause affliction upon ourselves, that promise does not stand. Many are the afflictions of the disobedient too, those hurts and pains however are in vain. We cannot go through life without reflecting on our character and thoughts or a desire to truely change and let go of what does not please God but pull out scriptures of encouragement and think that everything will be okay. That is not how it works.
We can hold firm to biblical truths wholeheartedly as a result of steadfastness. Seeking Him, being in His word, praying etc. Our righteousness is from God yes but we have a part to play. Are we standing for what is right and suffering because of that? If so the bible makes it clear that we are blessed in such a case (1 Peter 3:14 & Psalm 106:3). Or are we living with the consequences of chasing after desires that only satisfy the flesh but leave the spirit discontent?