“Is it good unto Thee that Thou should oppress, that Thou should despise, the work of Thine hands, and shine upon the counsel of the wicked?” – Job 10:3
Do good things come to good people only? And do bad things come to bad people only? If something “bad” happens to you, does it mean you are living in “sin”? Does it mean we deserve what we get in life? What happens when bad things happen to good people? Does it mean they are really not good people to start with?
One of the most impactful books in bible is the book of Job. It tells of Job, a righteous man, a wealthy man. Satan went up to God and placed a bet, that if Job loses his wealth, his family, his health…Job would turn away from God. God “allowed” satan to put Job through the ordeal. Job, however, stood firm in his trust in God and was fully restored by God.
But before his restoration, Job cried out his anguish and despair to God. “Why are You letting these things happen to me? You made me, but now you destroy me. You made me out of clay, will you bring me to the dust again?” Job really let it all out. What made worse his plight, is that his 3 friends condemned Job that all this was a result of his sin, that he deserved all his misfortunes.
Did something bad ever happen to you? You got terribly sick, or you had an accident, or lost a job, or something similar. And instead of comforting you, the first thing your family or your friends tell you is, “hey, you gotta go back to God. You have to live a clean life. You need to do this or do that.” As if its all your fault why it happened in the first place.
Imagine, walking up to the relatives of those mercilessly killed in Maguindanao and telling them, “God has a purpose for this. You have to repent and turn back to God.” How do you think they’ll react? We have to be a little slower in condemning, and a little better in showing people that we care.
Why can’t we just accept that bad things happen to good people. Period. Can God teach us something from the experience? Definitely. But is there a reason why it happened? Probably yes, but we can’t “presume” that there is all the time. We can’t “presume” that this guy is a sinner cause he isn’t active in church, and so bad things will happen to him. Or that this guy is “holy” because he is visible in church always and that only good things will happen to him. Only God knows that. All things work out for the good of those who love God. It doesn’t mean that only good things will happen, it means ALL THINGS, whether good or bad, WILL WORK OUT for the good of those who love God.
In all Job’s questions to God, God didn’t give him an explanation. Instead, he asked Job a series of questions, “Where were You when I laid the earth’s foundation? Do you give the horse its strength? I control nature. Do you know how?” God didn’t explain to Job, He showed him who He is.
We can cry out our sentiments to God. We can even ask Him why such things happen to us. But before we do, we have to know WHO we are questioning.
So, why do bad things happen to good people? I don’t know and I can’t answer this question. All I know is that God is good, all good things come from him. All bad things DON’T come from God, but that God can take a “bad” thing and USE it and TURN IT AROUND and make it into something great. All I know is that when something bad happens, that is an opportunity for the glory of God to be made known.
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