Are God-fearing people labouring in vain?
It is a puzzle to some: why do people considered ungodly thrive and lord it over the pious in terms of success?
Some of them hold high positions in society and rule over God-fearing people. On the other hand, some of those who toil for God never taste success and wallok2w in abject poverty.
This was the case for Lyness Saka who lived what people viewed as a holy life until her death on August 1 2013.
Saka, who lived in Loti Village in Traditional Authority (T/A) M’mbelwa in Mzimba, observed the Sabbath religiously and served God with diligence. But she died a very poor woman.
Throughout her life, she survived on alms from well-wishers because she could not produce enough for her family.
But why couldn’t God grant her success as a reward for her faithfulness?
“We fail to understand why God appears to show more love, tenderness and kindness on sinful people. Sinful people are enjoying life and have less worries compared to some of us who go to church every Sunday,” said Zondwayo Mtika, a member of the Catholic Church.
Mtika said God’s grace on sinful people is unmerited and can easily drive God-fearing Christians into copying tricks employed by sinners to achieve their material ambitions.
But a Mangochi resident, Ernest Kadzokoya, holds a different view. Kadzokoya believes that God’s love for sinners shows that the creator has his own ways and people cannot decide on his behalf.
He said what professing believers should know is that God has his own reason for allowing sinners to thrive in their endeavours at the expense of those who fear God.
“Whatever happens has a reason that God wants to fulfill. God will visit sinners in a special way. Their riches, if not blessed by God, either won’t last or such people won’t have peace,” he argued.
Commenting through Facebook, Tieho Mothibe observed that it is actually the devil who is lavishing success on bad people.
Mothibe said God-fearing people should not envy wealth acquired through sinful means.
“Don’t be misled, the bad people you see living lavish lives get their wealth from Satan. What’s behind the success of bad people is their father, Satan. They will continue to hold high positions because most of them have formed cult groups like freemasonry orders and other cult groups that support each other,” he said.
Reverend Bannet Zimba of Mabiri CCAP Church in Mzimba said while people have valid reasons for questioning God’s love for sinners, it would be wrong for them to develop hatred towards the unsaved.
Zimba said although it is true that there are two types of people on earth—the God-fearing and the unsaved—God views everybody everybody the same way.
“God looks at us all as sinners and, therefore, fall short of the glory of God such that we are being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. We all deserve to be punished throughout all eternity for our sins, but Christ Jesus has already taken our punishment,” said Zimba.
He said God has planned salvation for the human race and he is deliberately letting bad people to thrive and even live long lives to give them time to repent.
But this explanation does not satisfy Mtika who argues that God-fearing people are labouring in vain.
“Humanly speaking, it’s not fair that sinners and the God-fearing should share the same place after this life because it will mean that sinners are being rewarded twice. They are rewarded for living sinful lives and the eleventh-hour repentance.
“for me, it is the God-fearing that get a raw deal in that case,” he said.
If the word of God is followed properly you will notice that it is perfectly explained that it is worthwhile to acquire heavenly riches than earthly that will wither with time. In most cases wealth is associated with sinful nature. A few years ago there was a rich person in Lilongwe who apparently died. It was rumoured that after his death people found humanbeings body parts in a fridge in his house which was associated with Satanism. Riches do not come from God because it is pointed out in the bible that share with your neighbour whatever you have, even the smallest has to be shared but have we seen the rich practicing this? The reason behind all that is because they do not have spiritual love within them as narrated in the book of life. There is a lot of literature that is talking deeply on this and all one requires to do is to read widely. Those who are praying day in, day out but are poor materially they will inherit their riches in the next life after this temporary one, which is an eternal life and not money. In the bible it is explained about a rich person and a leper who both died and when they reached the other world their status was the other way round. That is how God works.