Several times recently, the subject of “Why do bad things happen to good people?” has come up. Although it is very understandable for people to think this way, it is actually a false premise. The only good person is Jesus Christ. Romans 3:10 (NASB1995)
as it is written, “There is none righteous , not even one ;
In addition, although there are lots of things that happen to us, many that are painful, hurtful, and not understandable, they are not necessarily bad for us. Jesus, the perfect lamb of God, who lived 33 years without a single sin, was punished for our sins and died one of the most awful deaths, death on the cross. This seems like the most unfair, evil thing, but God used it for good, for the salvation of all who trust in him. Whatever bad things happen, or have happened, to you, God can and will use it for good.
The God of the Bible is all-powerful, all-knowing, all-loving. Nothing happens contrary to His will and His will is for our good This seems contradictory when we see the evil in the world, but it is the truth.
There are very few people that grow in faith and in wisdom during good or easy times. We grow more in hard times, especially because it is in hard times when we realize we cannot do things on our own and we chose to lean on the power of God and His righteousness.
Hard times seem wrong to us with our limited understanding, but just as a parent gives his kids meat and vegetables instead of cake and candy, so God gives us difficult times instead of easy times because it is better for our eternal good. Just as a parent punishes his kid when he is not making wise decisions, God may punish His children (Christians) when they are not making wise decisions. This does not mean that we necessarily understand His purpose when we are suffering. If, instead of thinking “Why has God allowed this to happen to me?” or “Why does God treat me so badly?”, we think “What is God trying to teach me?” and “How will God use this terrible thing for my good and the good of others?”, we can actually have joy in our suffering. (When I had two separate miscarriages, I learned that God’s plans are not necessarily the same as my plans and I was able to minister to those who had had miscarriages or lost children. When I delivered a son with Down Syndrome and when he had terrible health problems and was hospitalized probably close to 20 times, I learned I could not handle this on my own and to lean on God and His power When my health fell apart because I didn’t go into a deep sleep for >3 years because I was always listening out for sounds of my son being unable to breathe, I learned to more properly evaluate what is truly important because I only had the energy to do what was necessary and critical and not what was preferable. When my house burnt to the ground, I learned that the only thing I need is Jesus.)
Three verses that can help us understand how God uses these hard times are below.
Romans 8:28 (NASB1995)
And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.
If we are believers we know that ALL, not just some or most, things, work for our good. We need to focus on what God is doing and what He is teaching us instead of focusing on our hurt and our pain. (I understand that this is easier said than done, but this should still be our goal). It is amazing how we can actually find joy when we focus on what God is doing instead of what we are going through. I’ve also found that when I am looking for God’s good, I usually find it. That doesn’t mean I fully understand all that He is doing through my hard times, but it does mean I can see good in the suffering. The worst things that have happened in my life, I wouldn’t change, even if I could, because they have helped me grow in my faith and have enabled me to minister to others, who are hurting, in ways that would’ve been impossible if I had not gone through these hard times.
Hebrews 12:7-11
7It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? 8But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. 9Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live? 10For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness. 11All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.
If we are believers, children of God, we will be disciplined for our good. Having a hopeful and trustful attitude will make this discipline (or just general hard times) much more joyful and we are more likely to learn from the situation than when we are fighting God or accusing Him of “doing us wrong.”
And now for the verse that sent me on this tangent for Good Friday.
Luke 9:21
23And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.
Just as Jesus willingly died on the cross to take away our sins and we call this seeming travesty of justice, Good Friday, so we also must take up our little crosses in our quest to become more like Jesus. We should always pray as Jesus prayed, “not my will, but thine be done.”
The omnipotent God and creator of the universe knows what is best. We need to trust him with our lives and everything that is dear to us. He doesn’t promise that it will be easy, but it will be for our ultimate good.
Trust Jesus.
your sister in Christ,
Christy
FYI, This is a very hard post. I don’t want to cause anyone who is hurting any more pain and guilt than they are already enduring. What I describe should be our goal, just as our goal is to imitate Jesus. Just as we fail to perfectly imitate Jesus, we will fail to perfectly trust Jesus during hard times. We don’t have to feel guilty about this, but we should strive towards these goals.
We also shouldn’t feel guilty about our feelings. It is OK to weep. Jesus wept when Lazarus died and his friends were morning the loss of Lazarus. Jesus wept when entering Jerusalem because He knew the sins that were and would be committed and the consequences of those actions. Jesus wept, to the point of sweating blood, at the thought of being beaten, dying on the cross, and being separated from God due to bearing the sins of the world. If Jesus can weep, so can you. The most important thing you should emulate is Jesus’s prayer on the cross. Although He prayed for this agony to be taken from Him, He ended His prayer with the words, “not my will, but thine be done.” This should always be our prayer, “not my will, but thine be done.
Proverbs 3:11-14
11My son, do not reject the discipline of the Lord
Or loathe His reproof,
12For whom the Lord loves He reproves,
Even as a father corrects the son in whom he delights.
13How blessed is the man who finds wisdom
And the man who gains understanding.
14For her profit is better than the profit of silver
And her gain better than fine gold.
If you are hurting, resenting God for past hurts, or just interested in this topic, you can read some more good information in John Calvin’s “Institutes of the Christian Religion”, Book 3, Chapter 8. I’ll admit that I read it in a traditional hardback book and this may be a different translation than I read, but the information should be the same.
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Good job Christy