Why do bad things happen to good people? This seems to be one of the most often asked questions, both from Christians and non-Christians.
Let’s skip the whole “none of us is truly good, only God is good” part of that question and assume that good in this question means that we are in general at least 75% good, haven’t murdered anyone, have been faithful to our spouse, etc… Additionally, as Christians, most of us tend to forget the whole “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.” That in and of itself shows that we will not necessarily live wonderful lives.
Bride was reading to Bug a couple of days ago and reminded me of the story of Gideon. I’d like to use this as one example where God has let bad things happen to “good” people. The story of Gideon starts in Judges 6, but I’d like to back up a little and start with Judges 5:31.
Thus let all Your enemies perish, O LORD; But let those who love Him be like the rising of the sun in its might.” And the land was undisturbed for forty years.
The land was undisturbed for forty years. Hmmm, that indicates two things. The first that there was disturbance prior to this passage. Specifically, the land of Canaan ruled Israel for 20 years, but God used Deborah and Barak to deliver Israel from the Canaanites. The second thing this passage indicates is that the land is now disturbed again. Darn it, here we go again. Following this we have Judges 6:1& 2.
1 Then the sons of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD; and the LORD gave them into the hands of Midian seven years.
2 The power of Midian prevailed against Israel. Because of Midian the sons of Israel made for themselves the dens which were in the mountains and the caves and the strongholds.
The people of Israel had messed up yet again. They were worshiping Baal and Asherah AGAIN. God had told them time and again not to worship any other gods. They just had a hard time getting this one right. (Not that we as a society have any problems worshiping false idols.) Can you imagine being so scared of a huge band of marauders, approximately 132,000 men on camels, that you leave your home and go to live in caves??? The Midianites would sweep through Israel at harvest time and take all the crops, as well as any livestock the Israelites had managed to get. The people were poor, scared, hungry and finally calling out to God for help.
So, why does God allow bad things to happen to good people. I would argue, and I know I am not the first nor will I be the last, God allows bad things to happen to us so that we will call out to Him. We will call out to Him to save us from our current predicament. We will search Him out and love Him. We will turn back to Him. God loves us, both individually and corporately.
Do all bad things happen because we’re not obeying God? No. That is not to say that God is not in control of everything, He is. Rather, some bad things happen to us because God has a purpose that we may not even see.
What do we do about this? If some things happen because we have fallen away from God and He is trying to get our attention, but other things happen because He has a plan, and this is just a cog in that plan, how do we respond? The first response is to take a look at your relationship with God. Are you right with Him? Do you love Him with your whole heart? Are you obeying His rules? If your answer to those questions is yes, then He may be using you as part of His plan. You may need to learn something, or He may be teaching someone else something through you. He may be preparing you for another task later. Pray, pray that He will reveal to you what your role is. Not, “Why is this happening to me?” Pray, “Lord, what do I need to know to accomplish your task for me?” I recommend this as a perfect time to grow closer to Him. We can never be too close to God. Pray that He will reveal Himself to you. Not so that you will know why, but rather so that you will know Him.
We have an amazing God. He created everything, the heavens and the earth, yet He loves each of us individually. That is stupefying to me. Make sure you tell Him you love Him too.