Dr. Robert Schuller wrote a book about bad things happening
to good people. Harold Kushner and many
other authors have tried to tackle that
subject, some I agree with, some I don’t.
Here it is in a nutshell in case you don’t want to read the rest: There really is no concrete conclusion to why
this happens, but God always provides a way of escape.
Our world is not controlled by God. That is why there is the scripture, “Greater
is HE that is in me, than he that is in the world.” In other worlds, God’s power in us is greater
than the power of the entity that controls the world. That entity has many names, the devil,
Satan, fate, the universe, mother nature, acts of god (not my God), but you get
the picture.
As Christians we are to rely on the power that is inside of
us and be encouraged by the strength that we gain through what Jesus did on the
cross to save us. That statement, “to
save us” doesn’t just mean to be cleansed from our wrong doing, but the word
Salvation has so much more. It also means safety, health, welfare, prosperity,
deliverance, and blessing.
As humans, we have free will. All humans are flawed beings. This means that no human is born perfect, nor
stays perfect. Ok, for all of you
purists out there, except Jesus. No
human stays perfect – those flaws are shown in many ways. A man is drunk and choses to drive, while he
is driving he crashes and kills a young man, 17, son of a minister. I have heard that minister say, “God had
nothing to do with that crash, human error was to blame.” But that word Salvation, means safety – you may
reply to me and my minister friend.
Well, what could be more safe than being in the arms of Jesus?
A year ago a beloved minister and his pilot who was my
childhood friend were killed when their plane went down. A few days ago, another amazing man of God
with his wife and daughter, along with another family, as well as some other
ministers and the pilots were killed when their plane crashed. But why God, why? Why would you allow these men of God, even an
unborn child and 5 year old to be killed?
I heard responses like, “God called them home;” “God is sovereign;” “God needed more angels”; “God needed to warn other ministers of the
dangers of being too puffed up.” I have
one word for you, NO! Here is my answer,
human error. Both were in planes built
by humans. Both were being piloted by
humans. One was in a tremendous
storm. Extenuating circumstances that
are beyond our reach, control or understanding mean that we may never know why.
As I have studied heaven, I find it is not those who have
died that the “bad thing” happened to, but to the loved ones who were left
behind. I don’t usually use the term, “Rest
In Peace”, because I know if that person was truly born again, there is no
rest, because there is no reason to be weary. There is no night, there is no pain, no
sorrow, there are no tears. The truest form of peace is to be with God. What we must deal with, the ones who are left behind, we
deal with the real “bad thing.”
My dear
friend lost his mother when he was only 13 to cancer.
His mother was wise, she set up her children
with people who would take care of them.
She established them in a church and a school where they would
constantly receive love, acceptance, support, and encouragement. Had his mother not died, I may not have the
relationship with him that we share and I cherish. I open
my home to him, I offer advice, counsel and love even if it is not wanted at
that time, he knows it is available.
So was it a good
thing his mom died? No, but God made the
best of it for him. He will always mourn
his mom. He will always deal with the
loss, and the pain of watching her suffer, but he has a family not even related
to him that loves him like their own. God
took that tragedy and turned it into the best situation possible.
I used to believe
that everything happened for a reason.
The older I get the more I see, I’ve changed my mind. I think it is pretty random and beyond our
complete control. What can be counted on,
is the strength of God inside all of us to bear up “manfully” as Corinthians
says. The Apostle Paul sought the Lord
three times, he says, to remove the messenger sent to him by Satan. He tells us that God’s response is, “My grace
is sufficient for you to bear this.”
Grace is a beautiful word.
Grace is a word similar to salvation, it has several meanings. The word Grace can literally be defined as
the hand of God reaching down to extend salvation. Pretty cool, huh? God didn’t keep Paul in the state of being
harassed, but God provided His hand down to extend salvation, so that Paul
could bear it.
I have an uncle dying of cancer. It’s not fair. He is a wonderful man of God. He could get healed, but if he doesn’t, he
will suffer some, his family will suffer with him, he will be missed, but he
will be in the arms of Jesus. He knows
where he is going, and he has no fear.
He has regrets, he wishes he had more time to spend with his grandson, time
to spend ministering to his children, but he knows that he will be healed
when he reaches heaven. He knows that
God will send people along the way to his children, and he has faith, as I do that
they will eventually turn to God.
Why do bad things happen to good people? Because that is just what we are – people,
humans, imperfect. God has a plan for
our lives. He knows when we will have
hardships. He knows when we will or won’t
accept Him. He knows when we will mess
up. He knows when we will go to meet
Him. He loves us so much he wants us to
experience and choose. He wants us to
always choose Him, but He knows we won’t and He accepts us and makes a way for
us anyway.
It is appointed unto man once to die. God knows when that will be, we don’t. We don’t have to be concerned about it. All we need to do is make as many minutes on
this earth count for the good things, for the Godly things, for whatsoever things
are pure, true, lovely, right, admirable, praiseworthy, honest, just, noble,
excellent … think, dwell, live in these things.
K 11/12/14
Hi,
ReplyDeleteNice article.
Play School in Kandhajavadi