Bad Things Happen to Good People
By Susan Klein
“He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the
righteous and the unrighteous.”
Matthew 5:45 (NIV)
In a perfect world,
little children wouldn’t get caught in the crossfire of feuding gang members,
fathers wouldn’t be ripped from their families due to the ravages of war, and
people wouldn’t die of cancer. In a perfect world, tsunamis, hurricanes, and
tornadoes wouldn’t destroy homes and schools and whole towns. In a perfect
world.
The world was perfect once. In the beginning. But,
things changed. Actually, only one thing changed the perfect world. Sin. Sin
changed everything. By one man, sin entered the world (Romans 5:15). Once sin
became part of the equation, perfection was gone. Murder, disease, natural
disasters…everything bad came about as a result of sin. And, just as we are not
immune to sin, we are not immune to bad things happening in our lives.
But, one might ask,
“What about good people who have bad things happen to them, not as a direct consequence
of their own sin? What about the person born with a congenital defect, or the mother
and child who die in an unforeseeable accident?” Scripture is full of similar
accounts. King Solomon said in Ecclesiastes 1:9, “What has been will be again,
what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.” (NIV)
He also goes on in chapter 8 to say, “Whoever digs a pit may fall into it,” and
“whoever splits logs may be endangered by them.” In other words, “Bad things
can and do happen to good people.”
Consider Joseph in
the Old Testament. He didn’t do anything to deserve being sold by his brothers.
He didn’t sin, even when Potiphar’s wife accused him of wrongdoing and had him unjustly
thrown in prison. What he did do,
however, was acknowledge that what man meant for harm, God meant for good
(Genesis 50:20). God is good, and what He does is good (Psalm 119:68). We can’t
possibly understand all the “why’s” of God’s actions, but we can accept the
truth that He is good, and does good, even through some very-hard-to-accept
circumstances in our lives.
Just like we do
today, the prophet Habakkuk questioned God as to why He would tolerate wrongdoing
and allow bad things to happen. God’s response? “I am going to do something in
your days that you would not believe, even if you were told.” God is good, and
He does good.
Would you believe
that He is working out His good in your bad circumstances, even if He told you?
GOING
DEEPER:
1. What injustices cause you to
struggle with God’s “goodness”?
2. Consider
meditating on and memorizing Psalm 119:68.
FURTHER
READING:
Susan
is married to Mark, and has two adult children. She enjoys teaching Bible
studies, writing, and tutoring with the Literacy Council. She is a member of
the Peace Team at Oakwood and also co-leads an on-site small group.
