12/09/2021
When we first witness to someone who has never heard the good news of Christ, or when we are having a gospel conversation with a person who is struggling on the verge of believing, one of their most pressing questions they ask is “if there is a God, and He is good, then why do bad things happen to good people? Why was His Son made to suffer and die for us?” It seems we are alright with the notion of bad people suffering, or being punished, but yet we stumble when those we see as good are allowed to face hardship, pain, or tribulation. So how do we speak to them about the nature of life in the world, sin vs righteousness, and the fact that without sickness there can be no healing, unless there is suffering, we can’t know joy, or… without having come face to face with bad, or worse yet, evil, then we can never truly know what is good.
“For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.”
2 Corinthians 4:17-18 ESV
Missionaries go to the jungle homes of people who live in simple huts and sleep on dirt floors, but count themselves blessed when they are kept dry in the rain, or cool when provided shade, and feel that their homes are wonderful. When it is meal time then they feel richly blessed to have a piece of raw fish, a large grub, or some leaves, and consider this diet to be a feast. These are considered by them to be good, and often the provisions of their imagined god. When someone gets sick in this distant village they depend on the nature of the human body, or perhaps a root that someone discovered years ago, to be of help in healing them, or worse yet, they call on a shaman to speak to contrived gods as they plead for help. Then, if the person recovers, they celebrate these imaginary gods, but if death follows, the corpse is disposed of so that they might not be punished further, or their spirit can find some element of peace. What is good in the lives of these jungle primitives, and who makes that determination? Is the daily life that these people lead good, or bad? When the missionaries attempt to lift them up in faith is it enough to tell them about Jesus Christ, and a loving God, or must they first be shown right from wrong, good from bad, and have their eyes opened to the nature of evil? What we are beginning to realize here today is that until Adam and Eve ate from the tree, and came to know good from evil it was still the nature of creation, and that their existence was kept righteous by simply believing, and being obedient to God.
“For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them.”
2 Peter 2:20-21 ESV
So we wrestle with the question of why, if God exists, does He make us to suffer, or at the very least does He allow us to experience harm? We struggle with this because we don’t want to acknowledge that we are both good and bad, that the world around us is filled with life and death, that the healthy things, and the harmful things, coexist in creation, and that only God defines which are good, which are bad, and then gives us a choice as to which of these we will partake of.
“Let us choose what is right; let us know among ourselves what is good.”
Job 34:4 ESV
We become sick with the COVID virus because viruses are a natural part of life on earth. Is that virus evil, or is it only bad when we view its effect on us? When we become sick with it did God do this to us, or was it a natural occurrence? If a non-believer’s body fights off this illness is that God’s hand, or just nature? How do we separate natural occurrences from the acts of God?
“For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?”
1 John 5:4-5 ESV
God is loving, good, merciful, full of grace, and walks with us throughout our lives, leading us through this natural world of good and evil by guiding our steps towards righteousness. We come face to face with pain, suffering, and tribulation, because these are natural worldly occurrences, but God helps us through them and teaches us about Himself as He does. He gives us love, but one of the offshoots of this is heartbreak. He gives us humility, but when He does we come to understand the meaning of hubris.
“As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.”
John 9:1-3 ESV
Thus, if we love Him, God works all things together for good. He takes the terrible natural occurrences, our poor decisions, the hatred of others towards us, and all that we call bad, and He uses these things, along with all that is good, to teach us about Himself, how to live righteously, and He shows us the way towards eternity with Him.
“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”
Romans 8:28 ESV
So in this way the suffering we see in the world is not of God, but is used by Him. The bad is allowed only so that we can recognize the good, and choose it in our life. The hard things we encounter teach us the most difficult lessons of faith. Are we blaming the Lord for the storms we encounter, or for earthly death that causes us to mourn, and not praising Him for the faith that increases in us, and the eternal life? Are we witnessing His goodness in our midst?
“But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
2 Corinthians 12:9-10 ESV
Prayer:
Father, thank you for walking me through life, and guiding me as I travel through its valleys. Thank you for showing me the flowers within the fields of thorns, bringing me to the cool water in the midst of the desert, and for teaching me how to walk on the water as it’s waves crash about me. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you my God who is righteous, good, loving, and perfect in every way. Praised be your name for the paths I walk that are straight, and those which are twisted as well. Merciful are you who weaves good from every thread of my life, whether spun of silk, wool, or hemp. Pour your grace upon me Father, and bring the bread, and cup, of Christ to my lips as you nourish me. Wash me clean of sin through Jesus, and let the dust of the world fall from me at His touch. Make me to be good as He is good, and worthy as He is worthy. Judge me only as I am like Him, and seat me at your table forevermore.
Rich Forbes