I’m sure you have heard someone say, “Why do bad things happen to good people?” Maybe you found yourself asking the same question as you observe life around you. I, too, ask this question as I read the email saying our pastor is in the hospital because of a heart attack.
We then try to lean on Romans 8:28
28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
Good and suffering seem to me to be like oil and water trying to mix together when they never could blend. Yet, we have seen great good come to the very depths of experiencing even the most extreme trials. We even assign words such as hero, heroic, amazing, unbelievable, courageous, sacrifice, love, strong, perseverance, and even miracle when we observe good during trials.
We all have wrestled with the understanding of God when we try to reconcile bad things happening to good people. We question His love, His character, His power, and His authority. We even go as far as blaming and shaking our fist towards Him. Yet, who will be the first to comfort God when He watches from above all the hurt, the pain, that His children cause each other or the abuse of His beautiful creation to serve the greed within His children’s hearts, or the mere fact that He had to sacrifice His Son on a cross after being beaten, rejected, mocked, and spit on all in order that we may be saved from punishment for what we justly created on our own?
God’s most extreme decision was to find a way that good would overcome bad forever. He took the ultimate good person who had walked the earth and subjected Him to the most excruciating pain and ultimate death so that once and for all, good would prevail for all His children forever.
We have difficulty seeing the good when during trials, yet we can know that it is there to be discovered. Bad things happen to all people, both those we label good or bad. We must choose to believe that good wins in the end, every time. If not, then Jesus’ death was for nothing.
So why did a bad thing happen to such a good person?
Just a Thought…
