Speaker: Dr. Harold J. Sala | Series: Guidelines For Living | I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.  Romans 8:18

One of the problems that confronts us in asking the question, “Why do bad things happen to good people?” is that our perspective is incomplete.  We look at the set of circumstances which leads up to the unpleasant event which triggers the question, “Why?”  It is almost like asking the outcome of a ball game when there are two important minutes on the clock, and until the game is over, you don’t have the complete picture.

When you were a child, you had no way of knowing how deeply the hearts of your parents were touched by what you were going through.  In some cases, their emotions were deeply affected by what confronted you, yet as adults they seemed to have things pretty well under control.  You just didn’t know how deeply they felt, and it wasn’t until you, yourself, became a parent that you began to understand the great difference there is between the emotions of a child and his parent.

When I became a father, I gained new understanding of what my own father felt–something I didn’t and couldn’t understand when I was a teenager.  But now that I have become a grandfather, I have to admit that I have gained a new perspective, something that I couldn’t really get a handle on until I had experienced the whole process.

The fact that God knows and understands and also cares about what is happening to you is something which you have to take by faith when you walk through troubled waters.  The hand of God hasn’t been lifted when difficult situations confront His children.  In the book that bears his name, Peter, one of the three closest to Jesus, makes that very clear.  Actually, his whole book deals with this issue of why bad things happen to good people, and Peter suggests that all the world is under the curse of sin, but God allows his children to walk through certain dark valleys under His protection and care now, but eventually the world at large will face the consequences of having rejected the love of a Father when His hand is lifted.

In the process of facing suffering or putting together the broken pieces of our lives, we usually cannot see what the hand of God is actually doing while we hurt.  That, of course, comes with hindsight.  Paul wrote, “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18).

Your understanding of God is the fabric out of which you formulate an answer to the issue of why bad things happen to good people, and when you believe God is a good God, by faith you can take heart and accept the fact His word is true, that our Lord will never leave you or forsake you (Hebrews 13:5).

If a little child came to you with a broken toy, tears streaming down his face, as he cried, “Daddy, why won’t my toy work?”  which brings greater comfort to your child, knowing the technical reason for a mechanical toy’s failure, or knowing that he is loved and supported?  As you sweep him up in your arms, holding him to your breast you whisper, “Don’t worry about it.  I’ll fix it for you.  Just give me some time.  It’s going to be all right.”

The fact is that you can experience the presence of God during times of suffering and difficulty in measures that you would have never known had you not gone through the deep waters; so, friend, don’t close the book on God until you have crossed the threshold, and when you do, you will understand instantly why bad things happen to good people.  In the meanwhile, there is an antidote to our great need, something which Paul described as “the grace of God.”

Resource reading: Psalm 37:1-11.