Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers them out of them all (Ps. 34:19).

Once during a counseling session, I had a gentleman tell me that he couldn't understand why he was going through the trials that he was going through. He said that he had been attending church regularly with his family, that he had been walking in forgiveness, and that he had been tithing. As far as he could see, he had been doing everything right. So he was greatly confused about why those the trials were happening to him. Then he made a surprising statement to me. He said, "I lived in the world for a lot of years and I had a lot of problems. I was under the impression that when I became a Christian, my problems would be over."

This man had the wrong impression. Becoming a Christian does not mean all our problems go away. Becoming a Christian does not mean there will be no more attacks from the enemy.

Jesus told the story in Luke 6 about two men who built houses. One man built his house on a solid foundation and the other man built his house on the sand. (vv. 47-49.) A commonly overlooked portion of this story is this -- both houses went through the storm. When the scripture tells us, "Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all," we usually focus on the deliverance.

Of course, it is wonderful news that we will be delivered. When we hear the story of the two men who built the houses, we focus on the house that weathered the storm, because that man heard the sayings of Jesus and obeyed them. But we cannot ignore the fact that both houses went through the storm and that God's Word tells us, "Many are the afflictions of the righteous."

Often this fact is ignored because of a subtle fear that God will not deliver His people. However, if we truly walk in faith, and truly believe that God's Word is true, then there will be no fear whatsoever. And we will know that God delivers His people. With this one truth in our heart, we will have no fear of any storm that will come our way because we know that no matter what the storm, we will be delivered.

Devotion 0365