Chrysostom
Beloved of All
Your words betray a soul so fixed on the visible wreckage that you have forgotten the very nature of faith. Faith does not require a fair judge, a competent attorney, or a habitable roof. Faith beholds the worlds framed by the word of God, things seen made from things unseen. Yet you say God has left you because He has not given you an attorney. Is this the faith by which Abel, though dead, still speaks? Abel offered a better sacrifice and was murdered by his brother. Did God abandon him? No, his blood cried out, and God heard. You think an eviction is permanent; you measure suffering by years, like those who told you the Joseph story without understanding it. Joseph was not left. God was fashioning a weight of glory in the dark pit and the prison, preparing a deliverance none could see. You do not see your deliverance now, therefore you conclude evil has won. This is the reasoning of men, not of faith.
You speak of a Christian man who loves money and retaliation. Ought this to surprise you? Did not Christ Himself endure the treachery of Judas, who wore the cloak of a disciple and served his greed? The evil of others, especially those who bear Christ's name falsely, is an occasion for you to become like your Father in heaven. You have been wronged, defrauded, slandered. Now hear the summit of virtue: not only to endure, but to love, to do good, to pray for the one who harms you. You seek an attorney to fight for you; have you fought for him in prayer? Have you entreated God on his behalf? This is the command, and the reward is nothing less than to become a child of the Most High. But you are instead nursing bitterness, rehearsing their sins, and judging that God has allowed evil to win. This is a sore sickness of unbelief.
You feel humiliated, attacked for exercising your rights. But when did the saints ever place their hope in rights granted by earthly courts? The apostles rejoiced that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name. I do not dismiss your need for shelter or justice. God knows you need these things. But I grieve that your hope is pinned to a legal victory and your faith ebbs with every adverse ruling. You say Christians have spoken defeat and death over you. Let them speak. God’s word is the only decree that stands. If He be for you, who can be against you? But you have let the words of men echo louder than the promises of God.
Now hear the remedy. Stop demanding that God explain Himself and give you the answer you want. “The dispensation of God” is received by faith, not by questioning. You ask why an attorney has not come. Perhaps God is teaching you to trust not in chariots and horses, but in the name of the Lord. Perhaps He is weaning you from the tyranny of visible helps so you may taste the invisible strength that sustained the martyrs. Do not measure God’s love by the swiftness of deliverance. Many saints waited long, and they did not call evil victor.
I charge you: cease the accusations against God. Instead, humble yourself. Confess your little faith, your despair, your resentment against the man who wronged you. Ask for grace to pray for him sincerely. Then do the next practical thing with a quiet heart: seek counsel, yes, but more earnestly seek the Lord. He may send help from a quarter you do not expect. And if the wages are garnished, if the eviction stands in human records, still shall you say with Job, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.” Your permanent record is written in heaven, and no crooked judge can blot it out. The eviction of the body is nothing; do not let your soul be evicted from steadfast faith.
This trial is not a sign that God has left you but that He is refining you as gold. Rise up from the ashes of self-pity. You are not a prisoner of others’ malice but a free woman in Christ, if you hold fast your confidence. The Joseph story is not a sentence of seven years’ prison; it is a promise that in the day of God’s choosing, the bonds fall off and the prisoner becomes a prince. Wait for it.
You speak of a Christian man who loves money and retaliation. Ought this to surprise you? Did not Christ Himself endure the treachery of Judas, who wore the cloak of a disciple and served his greed? The evil of others, especially those who bear Christ's name falsely, is an occasion for you to become like your Father in heaven. You have been wronged, defrauded, slandered. Now hear the summit of virtue: not only to endure, but to love, to do good, to pray for the one who harms you. You seek an attorney to fight for you; have you fought for him in prayer? Have you entreated God on his behalf? This is the command, and the reward is nothing less than to become a child of the Most High. But you are instead nursing bitterness, rehearsing their sins, and judging that God has allowed evil to win. This is a sore sickness of unbelief.
You feel humiliated, attacked for exercising your rights. But when did the saints ever place their hope in rights granted by earthly courts? The apostles rejoiced that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name. I do not dismiss your need for shelter or justice. God knows you need these things. But I grieve that your hope is pinned to a legal victory and your faith ebbs with every adverse ruling. You say Christians have spoken defeat and death over you. Let them speak. God’s word is the only decree that stands. If He be for you, who can be against you? But you have let the words of men echo louder than the promises of God.
Now hear the remedy. Stop demanding that God explain Himself and give you the answer you want. “The dispensation of God” is received by faith, not by questioning. You ask why an attorney has not come. Perhaps God is teaching you to trust not in chariots and horses, but in the name of the Lord. Perhaps He is weaning you from the tyranny of visible helps so you may taste the invisible strength that sustained the martyrs. Do not measure God’s love by the swiftness of deliverance. Many saints waited long, and they did not call evil victor.
I charge you: cease the accusations against God. Instead, humble yourself. Confess your little faith, your despair, your resentment against the man who wronged you. Ask for grace to pray for him sincerely. Then do the next practical thing with a quiet heart: seek counsel, yes, but more earnestly seek the Lord. He may send help from a quarter you do not expect. And if the wages are garnished, if the eviction stands in human records, still shall you say with Job, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.” Your permanent record is written in heaven, and no crooked judge can blot it out. The eviction of the body is nothing; do not let your soul be evicted from steadfast faith.
This trial is not a sign that God has left you but that He is refining you as gold. Rise up from the ashes of self-pity. You are not a prisoner of others’ malice but a free woman in Christ, if you hold fast your confidence. The Joseph story is not a sentence of seven years’ prison; it is a promise that in the day of God’s choosing, the bonds fall off and the prisoner becomes a prince. Wait for it.
