“Why me?”; is one of the most frequently asked questions every time a person faces difficulties, sufferings, illness or the death of a beloved person.
However, the Holy Bible provides many reasons as to why this question should be reversed into “Why not me?”
The Holy Bible emphasizes that Jesus Christ the founder and the perfecter of our faith himself endured hardship, temptations, sufferings, the shame of the cross and even death without complaining.
The God-Man Jesus Christ himself being sinless and pure was not under any obligation or necessity to endure sufferings, yet he consented and chose willingly to go through sufferings and accepted trials and tribulations for our sake so that we do not have to grow weary or fainthearted when trials and difficulties attack us (Hebrew 12:2-3).
Throughout the Holy Bible it is repeatedly stated very clearly that difficulties and sufferings have been appointed by the divine wisdom of God for the Lord himself and for all of his faithful followers to ensure the stability of the walk of those who are to be saved.
“My son; do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.” (Proverbs 3:11-12)
“Why Me?” is a question that reflects either ignorance or rejection of the teaching of the Holy Bible about trials, difficulties, sufferings and that they are the consequences of the fall of humankind into sin.
It was God’s choice for man to live in a state of complete delight until man chose to become sick through sin, and his own choice brought upon him its consequences in the form of pain and suffering.
Accepting tribulations with patience and gratitude reflects faith and trust in the Holy Bible as it as a form of confession that we are on the earth as prisoners who were sent into the exile because we have been distanced from God upon making a free but a wrong choice to embrace sin.
“Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.” (Luke 5:31-32)
Jesus Christ the God-Man came to the earth to bring comfort and healing to the sick and afflicted humankind that lives upon the earth because they are sinners.
Those who are well because they are sinless are not in need of any comfort as they have no pain, and that is not the case of the humankind while they are still on the earth.
Christians should not only rejoice that they are confessing the biblical belief when they accept the trials and tribulations with patience, rather they should rejoice even further to know that when they are faced by them; they are receiving a divine sign that God has declared them his children.
Furthermore, they should feel sad if they are not being tested as the absence of God’s discipline indicates the displeasure of God with them, and they have been rejected as God’s children.
“It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live?” (Hebrew 12:7-9)
Sorrows and trials are God’s protective way to shield and guard the faithful believers from falling away into sin and from slipping into the trap of Satan. “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.” (Psalm 34:18-19).
Those who reject and murmur about afflictions and tribulations cannot become God’s children as they refuse to be Jesus’ disciples who declared that there is an unbroken bond between following him and willingly accepting to walk on the path of the cross; “Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:27)
Apostle Paul teaches us that accepting afflictions patiently corresponds to the analogy of a sick person who accepts a medicine that comes from the hands of God. Acceptance of affliction willingly and allowing God to refine and cleanse the soul of the faithful through tribulations; is a sign of deep faith and surrender to God.
When the appointed afflictions from God come upon the faithful, they do not crush or harm him, rather, they will only expose, uproot, and cleanse the hidden vices and sins that are hiding and lurking in his heart aiming to destroy him quietly.
“For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2Corinthians 12:10)
In a like manner, the rejection of the afflictions is a sign of faithlessness and disbelief in God. Those who reject the afflictions declare that they have no need for the remedy from their spiritual ailments as they do not believe that they are sick.
It also means that they don’t desire to be saved as they are timid people and are not ready to sacrifice their temporarily comfort and earthly ease for the sake of the eternal heavenly citizenship because they do not believe in the assurances of the holy word of God, “Woe to faint hearts and listless hands, and to the sinner who treads two paths. Woe to the listless heart that has no faith, for such will have no protection. Woe to you who have lost the strength to endure; what will you do at the Lord’s visitation?” (Wisdom of Sirach 2:12-14)
The Christians believers throughout the history and from the first day of start of the Christian preaching developed a way of life that is based upon strict adherence to the teaching of Jesus Christ.
In the time of persecutions they confessed the Christian faith boldly without taking into consideration their earthly losses or even the loss of their lives.
In time of peace and tranquility and even if they were prosperous they lived privately with strict rules of fasting and bodily toils while they might have appeared to the eyes of other people as enjoying a luxurious life.
The Christian examples of royalty and aristocracy who dedicated their lives to ascetic living at homes or deserted their wealth to enter the monastic communities are countless.
Christians believers once they have realized the power of the indispensible need of cleansing from sin and passions and the freedom they are rewarded with because of this process; they will end up joyfully embracing a strict self imposed style life of prayers, fasting, continuous mindfulness of the Holy Scriptures with a thankfulness attitude regardless of their educational backgrounds, social classes, economical levels, language and land of origin.
The uninterrupted Christian monastic life and its various forms that exist within the remote areas as well as in the urban cities and even inside Christian homes within the parishes are a clear sign about the powerful impact of the biblical teaching against the danger of the earthly comfort, and the benefits of the spiritual toil and labor in the name of Jesus Christ.