A year ago, I heard about an incredible woman who was on medical leave. While on medical leave, she was laid off from her job. The day after she was laid off, she found out that she had cancer (on top of her other medical issue). This woman is kind, she loves God and she's a dedicated worker. She did nothing to deserve the hard things she faced.
Why do bad things happen to good people? Why do bad things happen to God's people?
Many people reason, "If God is good, He wouldn't allow horrible things to happen to good people" or "Maybe people who experience tragedy did something to warrant the bad things happening in their lives."
These are tough questions and tough criticisms. Job's amazing story can help us address some (note that I'm not saying all) of them. Job was an incredible God-honoring man who lived his life with integrity. However, God allowed Satan to test Job's faith. In one day, all of Job's children died and Job lost all of his livestock (his income). After that, Job was cursed with a health crisis--he had horribly itchy, painful sores and ulcers from head to toe (ewww...).
Let's take a look at an interesting conversation between Job and his wife:
His wife said,
"Still holding on to your precious integrity, are you?
Curse God and be done with it!"
He told her,
He told her,
"You're talking like an empty-headed fool.
We take the good days from God—
why not also the bad days?"
Not once through all this did Job sin.
Not once through all this did Job sin.
He said nothing against God.
Wow. Job's example shows that we can't always control what happens to us, but we can determine how we respond. Despite the pressure and his personal feelings, Job choose to trust in God's sovereignty. He didn't understand--he just trusted.
Tomorrow: Job 5-7
No comments:
Post a Comment