Tonight, listening to a husband talk about the progress of his wife and newborn baby as they struggle through illness and problems, I realized the opposite is true as well.
Calamity comes on the just and on the unjust; difficulty and depression come on the believer and the unbeliever.
What is the difference, then?
Is there a difference?
At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps, and I will punish the men who are complacent, those who say in their hearts, ‘The LORD will not do good, nor will he do ill.’ Their goods shall be plundered, and their houses laid waste. Though they build houses, they shall not inhabit them; though they plant vineyards, they shall not drink wine from them.” ………………………………………………………….. I will bring distress on mankind, so that they shall walk like the blind, because they have sinned against the LORD; their blood shall be poured out like dust, and their flesh like dung. Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them on the day of the wrath of the LORD.
(Zephaniah 1:12-18 ESV)
"In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 1:6-7).
"Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing" (James 1:2-4).
"the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep
the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment" (2 Peter 2:9).
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