Last week was bad. Ben and I hurt for so many of our friends that had detrimental life changing events. Some lost spouses; some lost children. I’ve never had to do either, so I can’t even imagine what that must feel like. I’ve seen devastating events like this cause people to lose their faith because they feel like a good God wouldn’t let bad things happen. So they abandon their faith and seek comfort elsewhere. As a believer, I found myself asking the age old question: Why do bad things happen to good people?
I grew up singing the song about the wise man and the foolish man building houses from Matthew 7. Do you notice in verse 25 and 27 that the rain and winds came on both men? We are all going to have storms. When we go through these storms, all we desire is peace. (Isaiah 26:3-4). Peace is found from having authority in God, and that authority comes from humility. If you think your bad situation is the worst, read Job’s. His name means a question that he asked often during his storm: “Where are you, God?” He was a wealthy and righteous man, which you normally don’t see together. Satan and God were talking in Heaven one day, and God asked Satan if he had considered His servant, Job. God described Job as, “Honest, righteous, respectful, and avoids evil.” So, Satan swooped down to the earth and took away everything Job had: his job, his home, his children. The next day, Satan visited Heaven. God reminded Satan that Job remained faithful even when everything was taken away from him. So the Lord handed Job over to Satan, but would not let Satan kill him. He swooped down to earth to take away Job’s physical health conditions in hopes that Job would abandon his faith when his own personal health was gone. Job attempted to be comforted by his friends, but they just made it worse. Job questioned God over and over again about why he had abandoned him. When God responded to Job, he was immediately humbled to realize that this whole storm, this whole life, had nothing to do with Job, and that God’s plans are always greater than ours.
First off, I would love for God to describe me to Satan as He described Job…but do I want him to say, “Have you considered my servant Hannah?” How often do we make this life about us? When bad things happen, how often do we immediately go to, “God…how dare you?” And when bad things have happened, have you ever responded like Job did in Job 1:21 “I was born naked. And I’ll leave naked. The Lord has given, and the Lord has taken away. May the name of the Lord be praised.” But his mood went downhill, fast.
It completely changes our perspective when you consider that things that we do in our lives spark conversations in Heaven. Crazy, right? And when bad things happen in our life, those things don’t define us; how we handle what happens defines us. We should live as if we’re being watched….cause you are! Hebrews 12:1 says the cloud of witnesses are cheering us on right now; especially in the stormy seasons. Does that change the way you live? Let’s talk about Satan’s lies: “Take away his stuff and he’ll abandon you.” “Take away his health and he’ll abandon you.” This should offend us and fuel our fire. Why doesn’t it? Here’s the thing, this battle isn’t ours to fight. The battle belongs to the Lord; it’s between God and Satan. Why doesn’t the war in 1914 get you all heated? Because it has nothing to do with you. Yes, you live in the country that was involved, but this battle is not about you. You weren’t even born. This life is not about you. You are here for the sole purpose of bringing God glory in the good times and the bad times. Job’s friends showed up to comfort him just like our friends come to comfort us in hard times. Those friends who were silent comforted him the most, but those friends who opened their mouths, including his own wife, hurt the situation. It’s common to want to talk our issues out with people and seek counsel for our sorrows. It’s good to mourn when our friends hurt. Just remember that God’s opinions are the only ones backed up by truth. If you rely on advice from others or you try to make sense of it yourself, those are just opinions…not facts. For example, I have stood in line at many visitations and heard people make comments like, “God needed your baby more than we did,” or, “Your mom is going to make the perfect angel.” Neither of those things are facts. They are just opinions to comfort, but if you are using your words that go against God’s teachings in order to please people, you’ve missed the big picture.
You miss the boat in life when you are only focusing on the here and now. Job got into that rut in his own weakness, and we can see from his story that Satan will always attack us the hardest in our storms (when we’re weakest). We just got to focus on the bigger picture. God can show us the big picture in a way that no one else can (Philippians 4:7-8). In Job 3, we notice that Job started going numb to the blessings he was receiving. Having the mindset of being afraid of trials being sent our way is immature Christianity. That doesn’t mean those moments aren’t going to be painful. When you find yourself in the eye of a storm and the pain seems too much to bear, admit that to God out loud and humble yourself before Him knowing that God never has, and never will make mistakes. On the flip side, admit out loud to Satan that he can’t have you or whoever is being targeted by this storm. He can’t read your mind, so make sure he hears your heart. We say things like, “Bad things come in three’s.” But, there is no pattern or explainable trend for how bad things present themselves. Be humbled in the fact that we don’t understand. Many times, we hit the, “Where are you, God?” phase. I’m embarrassed to say that I was there in a situation about a month ago. I went into my war room to pray, cry, and remove myself from the distractions. I realized in that space that God was with me the whole time. I just allowed Satan’s lies to have full access to the maximum volume in my brain. I learned to notice how much power is in the process of the storm. Yes, the end product is beautiful, but so is the journey to get there. Knowledge is great, but so is the learning process. The process, and its applicability, is so much more transferable than the knowledge alone.
In Job 32, Elihu speaks. Everyone needs an Elihu! He’s the guy who sits back and lets everyone make fools of themselves by enjoying the sound of their own voice stirring the dramatic pot. Then, he speaks up with wisdom to silence even the most boisterous person. Even in this difficult period, he tells Job what he needs to hear, backed by God’s truths, rather than just opinions to comfort. If we’re on the other side of the situation comforting a friend, we must remember that we are not called to fix the problems. Nowhere in the Bible does it call us to fix problems. We are called to bring people to the Great Physician in our example, actions, and words. If someone came into the emergency room with a broken arm, we would not be the admission’s receptionist and act like we had what it took to cure the broken arm. The receptionist’s job is to guide the patient to do what it takes to make his way to the doctor.
When I’ve read Job in the past, I had a hard time finding fault in his words or actions. I believed he did everything in the same way that I would have done it, and it all seemed to line up with scriptural behavior. Of course, anytime God speaks, when you really hear what He is saying, you are immediately humbled. Not sketching out a plan on how to be more humble, but you are immediately bowing in His wisdom and glory. (Job 42:6) Is it ironic that God appeared to Moses in a literal tornado? (Job 42:5) He is with us more than ever in the eye of the storm. Listen to some of the things God asks Job,
“Who do you think you are to disagree with my plans? You do not know what you are talking about. Get ready to stand up for yourself…Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you know. Who measured it? I am sure you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it? What was it built on? Who laid its most important stone?” He goes on for 37 verses of sarcasm because He knew that would make sense to Job in order to give him wisdom and humility. He is showing Job the bigger picture. Job’s repentance speech surrounds the theme of, “I get it; it’s not about me.” He was humbled, and you know what always follows humility? Grace. God designed it that way because He’s a merciful Lord. Job received his happily ever after. The second half of his life was filled with more blessings than the first half. All of his livestock, family, wealth, and humility more than doubled. God has promised His children a reward for going through Satan’s persecutions on this earth that will more than double, triple, and quadruple are earthly blessings. We must live for the reward (2 Corinthians 4:17).
So to answer the question, “Why do bad things happen to good people?”, the answer is a humble one: There are no good people. Only God is good, and only He sees the big picture. If you put your authority in Him, only there can you find peace. The next time you are going through a difficult storm, don’t try to take control it. Take your burdens to Jesus and lay them at His feet. It’s His battle to fight. Jesus comforts those going through a storm in Matthew 16:33 and I’ll leave His words with you today. “I have told you these things, so that you can have peace because of me. In this world, you will have trouble. But be encouraged! I have won the battle over the world.”
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