The Line Between Suffering and Blessing

Abijah, the son of Jeroboam, fell ill. Despite his father’s hardness of heart, he had remained good in the sight of God to the last, yet his sickness came upon him because of his father’s sin. Jeroboam sent his wife in disguise to seek out the prophet, but the child died, just as had been foretold.

In the eyes of the world, a child’s mortal illness is a misfortune; before God, it was the last opportunity for repentance given to Jeroboam. And for Abijah it was grace, for God took his life before the judgment that would destroy his whole house could fall. It is precisely a desperate trouble beyond any human power to resolve that God uses, in his compelling work, to turn people’s eyes to him.

The world and God draw the line between suffering and blessing in different places. Jeroboam let his opportunity pass, never able to lay himself honestly before God, while Abijah, after a brief affliction of the flesh, was gathered into God’s arms. Rather than resenting present hardship, what is needed is a faith that can see the opportunity God has left open within it.