I Once Foolishly Thought That Doing What's Right Won't Get Me into Trouble or Hardship

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There's the stupid statement that says, "Just do what's right and you won't get into trouble." I grew up believing that statement because that's what I was taught. I once believed it and said, "If I'm going to do what's right then my life will be smooth-sailing!" Boy, I was really dead wrong. There's nowhere in the Scriptures that says that if you just do what's right then you will never get into trouble. On the contrary, doing what is right can, more often than not, get you into trouble with the world. That was one reason why I didn't like reading the Bible.

Let's consider how God's saints got into trouble when they didn't deserve it. You can consider getting into trouble for doing what's right. I could call it as getting into trouble when you don't deserve it but God allows it. Consider Hebrews 11 is the hallmark of faith. Consider Abel became the first Old Testament saint, people laughed at Noah for 120 years straight, Joseph got into trouble because he stood by God, Moses' old age was spent dealing with hardheaded people, Joshua spent his old age leading a stiffnecked people to conquer Canaan, David was constantly on the run from Saul, and the prophets of God were usually outcasts. In the New Testament, the apostles frequently got into trouble for doing the right thing. They didn't deserve their trouble coming such as persecution and disasters. God allows people to suffer even when they don't deserve it (like Job) because he's got a wonderful plan for them. Not Joel Osteen's concept of a wonderful plan but God's concept of a wonderful plan. That wonderful plan is not met here on Earth but for eternity.

I remembered a number of times I irritated God by murmuring. I remembered being told that I could have two options because I was not doing well with my studies. The first option was to transfer from the Christian school and move back to the secular school where I began my education. The second option was to move to a Jesuit all-boys school (but it's currently co-ed now). I chose neither and decided that I may have a hard time but the will of God is more important. Later, I found myself crying before God as to why I was having a hard time. I had a hard time accepting that it's God's will that I pass, I fail, I suffer, and I get relieved. Huh... was it God's will that I fail and suffer too? Hard to believe but the more I read the Bible - it was indeed God's will Peter failed his test. John 21 had Jesus restoring a now humbled Peter. Would have Peter not failed that evening of Jesus' arrest - he would have probably remained pompous and ineffective in God's ministry.

In real life, sometimes taking the right path will involve a lot of trials. Nehemiah could've chosen not to rebuild the walls but he chose to. The decision Nehemiah made got him into trouble. You can consider sometimes the way to safety is full of obstacles. You can think that sometimes to reach the top of the mountain - you need to pass through the rocky path. Matthew 7:13-14 says that the road is narrow and difficult. If I don't' experience difficulties then how can I prove to myself and to others the power of God? Maybe, that's why Chinese Christians are doing a way better job at evangelism than the Christians in the United States of America (USA) today. Christians in the USA have gone way too complacent causing the rise of the politically correct culture. Meanwhile, Christians in China that are suffering persecution are only showing more signs of godlike character. You can think that the right path is often difficult but there's an infinite value to it. There may be a lot of problems when you choose the right path but it's all part of character building. Also, these trials remind us that we have a lot of undiscovered sins that need to be dealt with to bear better fruit. God only trims the real branches while throws away the false branches (John 15:1-8).

Jesus did the right thing all the time because He's God's only Son (therefore, He cannot sin and be wrong) but He got into trouble with the worldly crowd. Jesus did His Father's will to the last letter. What did it get Him worldly-wise? Jesus was already in trouble with self-righteous sinners especially when he dined with repentant sinners. Just think Jesus attended to a repentant Zaccheaus and people were talking behind his back (Luke 19:1-01). Jesus attended to repentant harlots and publicans a lot offering them forgiveness. Jesus lived the perfect and sinless life and got into trouble for it. Besides, His obedience to the Father led Him to be crucified a few days after His triumphant entry. His refusal to give in to the desire of the sinful crowd to establish His kingdom before His Father's time got Him falsely accused. Yet, He allowed Himself to be crucified by sinful men so He can be the perfect sin sacrifice for all who would believe. He did everything right and was hated. The reason is that doing what's right in a world gone wrong will get you into trouble with it. Jesus' followers can only expect that because their Master, Jesus, also passed through all that (John 15:18-19).

Note to self - just do right until the last call!

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