Why Does The Righteous Die Young?

CALL TO PRAYER

By: Stephen Osei Kuffour

Date: 26.11.2023

Title: Why Does The Righteous Die Young?

Good people pass away; the godly often die before their time. But no one seems to care or wonder why. No one seems to understand that God is protecting them from the evil to come. (Isaiah 57:1 NLT)

I have been a bit sad for a while now because I received a message a couple of days ago that one of the Leaders of my former Denomination has passed away. He was a very anointed and gifted man who made great impact in the lives of many youths. He served and rose through the ranks and was ordained a Bishop. When such things happen, it brings a lot of questions because most people including Believers wonder why such could happen.

Also, the mockers who are ignorant of the word mostly use these situations as an opportunity to ridicule our God. The Faith of those who are still in the process of maturity and are not yet deeply rooted in the Lord might be shaken. Therefore, I would like to use this opportunity to provide some reasons based on the word of God why such incidents might happen.

One of the reasons why the righteous may die young is because their time on earth is up. The word of God makes us understand that there is time for everything. There is a time to be born and a time to die (Eccl 3). We all have different times; even twins who came to this earth on the same day will not depart on the same day. Some may have longer years while others have been given short years on earth. Most of us might want to live long on earth but that’s not always the case.

Let’s consider our Lord Jesus Christ and John the Baptist. It is believed that the Lord Jesus departed the earth when He was about thirty-three years old, and John the Baptist was about thirty-two years old (Matt 14:10, Mark 15:37). In human terms, most people will say that they departed the earth at a young age. However, they fulfilled their purpose, and the impact they had on humanity is still being talked about to this day. The truth is that it is not about how long you live on earth that matters but rather the positive impact that you will have on others in accordance with your life’s purpose.

Also, the Lord sometimes calls His people home to save them from an upcoming temptation or evil (Is 57:1). The main plan of the evil one is to steal, kill and destroy Believers (Jn 10:10). You become his number one target the very day you give your life to Christ, and he will not rest or sleep until he causes you to return to your evil ways (1 Peter 5:8).

The Lord on the other hand loves you and wants you to be with Him forever (Jn 3:16). The Lord is also All-Knowing and He is aware of all your abilities and inabilities. Therefore, when He sees that the evil one is planning a huge temptation which might cause you to lose your Faith, the Lord out of love will rather call you home than lose you to the evil one.

Beloved in the Lord, the normal human expectation is for evil men to die early while the righteous live long. However, this does not always happen because the ways and thoughts of the Lord are not like ours. The righteous might die young for various reasons stated above. In such situations, our faith should not be shaken and let’s not also listen to mockers. Let’s rather be encouraged because we know that they are with the Lord and all their good works they did will surely follow them.

Prayer Point:

Let’s thank God for His Word today. Let’s ask the Lord to comfort all Believers who have lost loved ones. Let’s also ask Him to help us to be sensitive and obedient to His voice and the leadings of the Holy Spirit.

God bless you all