Not Everyone Suffering Is Being Punished For Something

John 9:1-3 (NIV) – 1 As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3 “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.

Jesus and His disciples meet someone born blind. The disciples are curious because in their limited understanding if you became blind during your lifetime it directly was related to a sin you committed. You were born seeing, but as you grew up you committed sin and God punished you with blindness. That seemed sensible until they met a man born blind.

If a man is born blind and we wrongly think all blindness is a punishment for sin, the question would be, who sinned, for him to be born blind? This is the question the disciples asked Jesus. Did this man sin before birth, causing him to be born blind? Was the man born blind as a punishment for the sins the parents committed? Who sinned and caused this blindness?

Jesus refuted that thinking. Jesus said neither the man nor the parents sinned. Misery and suffering may not always be a direct consequence of someone sinning. Not everyone suffering out there did something to cause that suffering. That thinking is not biblical.

Jesus told the disciples that this blindness was intended to bring glory to God. It was in God’s plan to use this situation to glorify Himself. This blindness and its related inconvenience and suffering, had nothing to do with anyone sinning.

When your enemies suffer, it’s not always because they hurt you. When those who hurt you suffer, do not be excited that they are paying for it, it’s not always the case. When those whose success you envy, fail and seem to have lost everything, do not pontificate that they are paying for something. Sometimes people go through difficulties and it’s not related to anyone sinning personal sins.

When you break up with someone and they suffer, it’s not because of the break up. When you divorce someone and they suffer after that, it’s not always because you were the blessing and losing you brought curses. That thinking is what Jesus refuted.

When you leave a Job and the organization collapses, you were not the magic that held it together, it could be a coincidence. Do not overestimate yourself. It’s not always a punishment for sin that causes direct suffering.

Job 22:5 (NIV) – Is not your wickedness great? Are not your sins endless?

When Job suffered, his friends accused him of having committed some sin. How can you lose all wealth at one go? How can you then lose your health? You must have done something terribly wrong. There is a sin you are being punished for. This was their reasoning and they were wrong.

Loss of wealth. Loss of job. Loss of high rank. Loss of business. Living in need after having lived in wealth. All these and many more may not be related to some sin the person committed. It could be temptations like Job’s. It could be God wants to achieve something as it was in the case of the blindman.

Riotous incorrigible children may not always be a result of bad parenting. Inability to have children may not always be because someone was earlier on using pregnancy prevention pills or had abortions. Our quick judgment of others is not always right therefore we should be slow to judge and instead be sympathetic.

Our desire to see others suffer as a result of punishment may indicate that we have an unforgiving spirit that needs to be addressed. It may mean we are envious. It may mean we harbor hatred against others. That quick conclusion that others are suffering because of sin, may be a revelation that their suffering excites us or gives us dark humor.

May God help us to sympathize with those who are suffering. May God forgive those who may be suffering because of their sins. May God help those who are suffering for other reasons and not necessarily their sins. May God grant us wisdom, in Jesus name, Amen!

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