You’ve probably heard the questions asked before:
-->If Denny’s restaurants are, as their slogan says, "always open," why do they have locks on their front doors? Why do those locks exist?
-->What is the purpose of those two lines between your nose and lip (by the way, their anatomical name: philtrum)? What are they for? What’s their purpose? So that snot has a trough straight to your mouth? Why do they exist?
Likewise, many ask: Why does evil exist? Why doesn’t God just wipe out any and all bad things? Why doesn’t He just keep them from happening?
But, let’s think it through...
How much evil do we want him to stop? Where’s too far? Where’s the stopping place?
-->If someone is about to murder someone else, would you want God to intervene there in every case? Maybe cause something to fall on the potential murderer, so he couldn’t commit the deed? Maybe cause his heart to stop for a moment?
-->Okay, what about if the guy was about to steal something? Would we want God to intervene there? Maybe God could cause the guy’s hands to fall off? Or maybe just cause them to go into spasms for a few minutes so he couldn’t hold anything? Is THAT the stopping place? Is that as far as God should go in stopping evil?
-->What about impure thoughts? What if someone was lusting or thinking "dirty" thoughts? Should God step in and stop the person’s freedom of thought? Should He intervene so that we can’t possibly think about anything but doing good, only thinking about God and His wonderful attributes? Should God step in and eliminate personal choices, such as what we think about?
You see, God COULD step in and do those things, but think about what the result would be:
-->We’d be nothing more than just pre-programmed robots.
-->And, God would not be honored, because we would have no choice but to obey Him. We wouldn’t be choosing to love Him, we’d simply be operating under a robotic command system, devoid of true devotion.
So, while we don’t fully understand God’s purpose in everything, we need to remember that HE DOES UNDERSTAND.
-->He is sovreign, very much still in control even when it might appear at first glance that things are helter skelter and out of control.
Simply put, God has chosen to permit evil, permit our choices...even when they are bad choices...but He also keeps everything under His sovreign control.
Evil will not win in the end, that’s already been settled by Jesus on the cross, then rising from the dead, conquering the penalty or "results" of sin and evil.
Listen to these interesting verses, from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount:
Matthew 5:44-45 -- "But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you in order that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven, FOR HE CAUSES HIS SUN TO RISE ON THE EVIL AND THE GOOD, AND SENDS RAIN ON THE RIGHTEOUS AND THE UNRIGHTEOUS." (My capitalization)
*ILL> I’m reminded of the story of the man who awoke one morning to find a puddle of water in the middle of his king-sized water bed. To fix the puncture he rolled the heavy mattress outdoors and filled it with even more water, so he could locate the leak more easily. However, the enormous bag of water was impossible to control and began rolling on the hilly terrain. He tried to hold it back, but it headed downhill and landed in a clump of bushes, which poked it full of holes. Disgusted, he threw out the water bed altogether, and replaced it with a standard bed, which he moved into his bedroom. The next morning he awoke and found a puddle of water in the NEW bed...it turns out the upstairs bathroom had a leaky drain.
You see, it’s going to rain on you whether your actions are evil OR good...it’s all part of being a human being. Most cases are not about being good or bad people at all.
THERE ARE THREE IMPORTANT TRUTHS TO REMEMBER AT THE VERY OUTSET OF OUR DISCUSSIONS TODAY:
1) YES, THERE ARE CONSEQUENCES FOR OUR WRONG ACTIONS, EVIL THOUGHTS, AND EVERY ACTION WE TAKE.
As believers, we’re not exempt from suffering as a result of our own sin.
--1Pet.3:17 -- "For it is better, if God should will it so, that you suffer for doing what is right rather for doing what is wrong."
*ILL> We talked about it last week: If you receive a speeding ticket for driving 60mph in a school zone, you need to realize that doesn’t mean you’re being persecuted as a Christian, it just means you’re about to be prosecuted as a citizen.
However, when (not if, but when) we suffer as a result of doing GOOD things, we need to remember two additional things:
2) OUR SUFFERING ISN’T BECAUSE GOD ISN’T POWERFUL ENOUGH TO DEFEAT EVIL. -- He IS more powerful.
--Jn.16:33 -- "These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world."
3) OUR SUFFERING ISN’T BECAUSE GOD REJOICES IN INJUSTICE OR UNFAIR TREATMENT. -- He doesn’t.
--Mic.6:8 -- "...and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness (mercy), and to walk humbly with your God?"
So today, in our series of "Pursuing Answers," our question is the most-asked question in our survey:
WHY DOES GOD ALLOW BAD THINGS TO HAPPEN TO GOOD PEOPLE? TO BELIEVERS? TO HIS FOLLOWERS? TO CHRISTIANS?
1) SO GOD CAN RECEIVE A GREATER GLORY.
--Rom.8:28 -- "And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose."
--1Pet.2:20 -- "...if when you do what is right and suffer for it you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God."
--CASE #1: LAZARUS.
When we think about Lazarus, we usually think about the fact that he died, and that Jesus brought him back from the dead...and all of that is true.
But, you see, when you examine the whole story as it’s presented in Scripture, we learn that there was a PURPOSE, a REASON why God let Lazarus die, why He allowed Mary and Martha to suffer intense agony for four days, why He allowed their friends and the crowd to gather to weep so intensely that even Jesus Himself wept with them.
The purpose is summed up in what Jesus told His disciples four days before He raised Lazarus from the dead.
John 11:4 records it this way: "But when Jesus heard it, He said, ’This sickness is not unto death, but FOR THE GLORY OF GOD, that the Son of Man MAY BE GLORIFIED BY IT."
Did you catch it? -- The end of the story was not going to be that Lazarus was going to stay dead. He would be raised from the dead SO THAT GOD COULD RECEIVE A GREATER GLORY.
In the days preceding that event, though, can’t you just feel the intensity of the pain and the confusion in the minds and lives of Mary and Martha?
-->Lord, after all the times we’ve served You, letting You stay in our home, feeding You meals, even washing your clothes while You were here, and after all the personal times we’ve enjoyed with you, and Lazarus enjoyed with you, why did You wait so long to get here? You didn’t even make it in time for the funeral! We don’t understand. If You HAD been here sooner, our brother Lazarus wouldn’t have died. We wouldn’t have suffered like this. Lazarus wouldn’t have suffered to the point of dying. It’s just not fair! We’re not bad people, we’re GOOD people! We’re Your followers? Why would You let this happen to US?
-->CASE #2: Joseph (He of the coat of many colors, or long sleeves, the dreamer, son of Israel).
Joseph’s life was one of constant up’s and down’s. Thrown into a pit by his brothers, sold into slavery by them, sexually assaulted and then lied about by Potiphar’s "desperate housewife," thrown into prison although he was simply trying to honor Potiphar and behaved admirably, then forgotten by a man in prison he helped get out of prison by interpreting a dream...
Think how "unfair" all of that seems. You have to hurt for Joseph during this time. Years and years of unfair treatment, suffering while trying to good.
But, after he ended up as Pharaoh’s right-hand man, used by God to save thousands of lives during a time of severe famine, having been moved into position by God to show Pharaoh that Jehovah truly is God, Joseph came to understand what all this was REALLY about...TO BRING GOD A GREATER GLORY in the end, a greater glory resulting in allowing these events to transpire.
In Genesis 50:20, he was able to articulate his understanding of it all, when he was once again in the presence of his brothers. He explained to them what he had learned: "...you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, in order to bring this present result, to preserve many people alive."
--CASE #3: GIDEON’S ARMY.
Gideon was serving as a judge over Israel, a military leader in Israel’s confrontations with the Midianites.
He put together an army of 22,000 men to against the Midianites, but God told Gideon that that was too many men.
Why? Because if and when Israel won the battle, the people would view the victory as simply a matter of man’s might, the size of such a large army would have been the reason associated with victory.
So God instructed Gideon to whittle the army down first by allowing all the men who were scared to go home. That eliminated 12,000 of the original 22,000.
However, that was still too many men for GOD to receive the glory for the battle, so God had Gideon eliminate every man who didn’t lap water like a dog when drinking from the river...men who kept their eyes looking forward rather than looking down at the water.
That brought the army size down to only 300 men...a size that no one would be able to say was enough to cause a humanly-powered victory.
God explained it to Gideon in Judges 7:7 -- "and the Lord said to Gideon, "I (notice Who will be the cause for the victory...GOD!) will deliver you with the three hundred men who lapped, and will give the Midianites into your hands..."
--But think how disappointed the last ten thousand men were...they had been "voted off the island" simply because they didn’t kneel down and lap water like a dog?! They were going home to their wives and children and trying to explain how they had been unfairly denied the privilege of being part of such a grand victory.
--How unfair God must have seemed to them at the time.
But the big picture was that GOD RECEIVED A GREATER GLORY by allowing the ten thousand men to "suffer" for a little while in this way.
In fact, not only Israel, but also the other nations around them learned from this that Jehovah God is truly God, and truly great in power, and worthy of our praise. And they also learned that victory is NOT about the number of men in the army, but the power of God who sent the army.
--CASE #4: SHADRACH, MESHACH, and ABEDNIGO.
These three young men, whom I call "the Jews who wouldn’t fuse," refused to bow down to Nebuchadnezzar’s image / idol. They did a GOOD thing.
However, they were ratted out by "peepers" who saw them not bowing when everyone was supposed to bow. (By the way, if the "peepers" were themselves bowing they would not have been able to see if anyone else wasn’t bowing...however, Neb wasn’t all that smart of a guy, let alone a smart king.)
And, sure enough, they found themselves thrown into a fiery furnace that had been heated up seven times hotter than it was intended, so hot that the men who threw them into the furnace died immediately of the heat and flames.
It certainly wasn’t "fair" treatment, was it? Yet, God allowed it. They were laughed at, probably roughed up a bit before being tied up and thrown into a raging fire to die...all because they wanted to honor God.
Why did God let it happen? Well, as Paul Harvey would say, let’s look at "the rest of the story." The end of the story is that Nebuchadnezzar looked into the fire and noticed a FOURTH MAN in the fire, who looked like the Son of God...and he "got it." He understood why Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednigo chose to give their allegiance to such a powerful and wonderful God, rather than bowing down to such a despicable and ignorant king such as himself.
In Daniel 3:28, we read the result: "Nebuchadnezzar responded and said, ’Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednigo, who has sent His angel and delivered His servants from the king’s command...’"
In the end, GOD RECEIVED A GREATER GLORY. By allowing the three young Jewish men to suffer for a brief while, God was honored, and Nebuchadnezzar ordered all the people in Babylon to worship only the God of Sharach, Meshach, and Abednigo.
*ILL>My mom enjoys working jigsaw puzzles. I’ve learned that looking at just one piece of the puzzle will never reveal the whole picture...but each piece plays its part in the unfolding, unveiling of the big picture...even the darkest pieces, even the irregularly shaped pieces. They have a purpose to play, and without them the big picture wouldn’t work out right.
*APP> You might be going through a "dark puzzle piece time" in your life right now...but remember: God is large and in charge. He will work it together for a good result. If you’re His child who loves Him, trusts Him, and are called by Him to fulfil His purpose, then we’re assured there really IS a purpose in all things that occur. God allows bad things to happen, but He’s still in charge and working these things out to a good result.
2) SO WE CAN LEARN A GREATER LESSON, SO WE CAN GROW AND MATURE.
My personalized license plate, as most of you know, and the name of our Radio ministry is based on the CAN DO statement of Paul in Philippians 4:13.
However, to understand what it is that Paul is saying he can do, you have to look at the context of the verse and see how he got to that point of realization:
--Ph.4:11-13 -- "...for I have LEARNED to be content in whatever circumstances I am...in any and every circumstance I have LEARNED the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him WHo strengthens me."
Did you catch it? Paul LEARNED through adversity to trust Jesus. He learned from going through times when he was hungry, when he had great needs, as well as learning from the times when there was plenty to eat and plenty of supplies on hand.
*LYR> Andre Crouch, years ago, sang it this way: "I’ve had many tears and sorrows, I’ve had questions for tomorrow; there’ve been times I didn’t know right from wrong. But in every situation, God gave blessed consolation that my trials came to only make me strong. So, through it all, through it all, I’ve learned to trust in Jesus, I’ve learned to trust in God. Through it all, through it all, I’ve learned to depend upon His word."
James, the Lord’s brother, who was eventually killed for his own refusal to deny his faith in Jesus, said it this way: "Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing."
*APP> Simply put, there are some lessons that are only learned by experiencing difficult times.
(Play Steven Curtis Chapman’s song, "Sometimes He Comes In the Clouds," here.)
*APP>I wish I could say that the greatest lessons I’ve learned since becoming a Christian are those I’ve learned in Sunday School, but they’re not. I wish I could say the times I’ve sensed the Lord’s presence the most and most intimately have been during the "easy street" times in my life, but that’s not really how it has worked out.
The real truth is I’ve experienced His presence the most and learned the greatest lessons in my life--lessons about depending upon God, lessons about the love of God, lessons about the power and majesty of God--have been as a result of coming through the most difficult times in my life.
Sometimes He comes in the clouds. Sometimes we have to be brought to our knees in order for us to finally understand that we need to be looking up.
And, I can honestly say I agree with Andre Crouch: If I’d never had a problem, I’d never know that He could solve them. I’d never know what faith in Christ can do. But through it all, I’ve learned to depend upon His word.
In other words, through it all I’ve learned a greater lesson.
3) SO OTHERS CAN SEE GOD AT WORK IN US.
Three of the greatest expressions of faith and remarkable testimonies of the presence of God’s Spirit within a person are seen during three traumatic events in the New Testament:
--CASE #1: JESUS ON THE CROSS.
After being betrayed, denied, abandoned by all of His disciples except one, falsely accused, struck in the face, spit upon, beaten, whipped, stripped, His knee knocked out of joing, and nailed to a cross for all to see, the first thing out of Jesus’ mouth is a statement of forgiveness: "Father, forgive them. They don’t know what they’re doing."
The writer of Hebrews tells us the key to our own perseverance in trial is to emulate Jesus and allow His power within us to sustain us also.
--In Hebrews 12:2 we learn the key -- "fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame..."
How could Jesus, hanging on a cross, forgive the soldiers, the Pharisees, and the crowd?
Because He knew something no one else knew...He knew how this would all end up! -- He knew that on Sunday morning He was going to rise from the dead!
He understood that the Father’s will always brings about a good result...that the temporary shame involved in dying on a cross would be far outweighed by the resulting victory over death, and by allowing this time to be a time of testimony...to the point that the executioner himself, the centurion, became a believer after watching and listening to Jesus as He came through this ordeal.
--CASE #2: STEPHEN.
While Stephen, the first deacon and first martyr after Jesus’ resurrection, was being haranged and falsely testified against before the Sanhedrin, which ultimately condemned him to die by having large stones thrown at him until he was killed, the power and presence of the Lord was very evident even to his accusers.
--Ac.6:15 -- "And fixing their gaze on him, all who were sitting in the Council saw his face like the face of an angel."
Finally, his obedience to the Lord, and his unwillingness to back down on his allegiance to Jesus, resulted in his stoning. Yet, even as he was being stoned to death, he prayed for the Lord to forgive his accusers and killers (sound familiar).
His testimony of how he handled this unfair treatment and traumatic event made an impression on a young man in the crowd holding the coats of the rock throwers: Saul, who would later be known as the apostle Paul. At first, it stirred Saul to try to eliminate Christians, have them arrested and thrown into jails or worse. But later, after God got Paul’s attention on the road to Damascus, Paul too became one of those who, like Stephen, refused to back down to the Sanhedrin, refused to deny his faith in Christ, and who eventually suffered death at the hands of the enemies of the cross.
--CASE #3: PAUL AND SILAS.
Paul and Silas were beaten, then thrown into the darkest part of the Philippian jail simply because they loved Jesus and would not stop talking about how faith in Him can bring forgiveness of sin and joy unspeakable.
So, rather than whimper and cry, rather than rail against God for their unfair treatment as "good guys," they chose to pray and to sing!
--Ac.16:25 -- "But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them;"
The whole population of the jail heard them, and more than just heard, they were listening to their hymns of praise.
It made such an impression on the prisoners, that when an earthquake hit, and the prison bars were thrown open, none of the prisoners left. Instead, they stayed where they were, they stayed with Paul and Silas, trusting them.
And, they made such an impression on the jailer himself, that the Philippian jailer brought Paul and Silas to his own home, took care of their wounds, prayed to receive Christ and so did everyone else in his household.
*Personal: I used to wonder why it seems that some of the most amazing Christians I know, some of the strongest men and women of faith, pastors and church leaders, evangelists and missionaries, etc., have experienced great personal tragedies and/or are having to cope with unusually difficult circumstances in their lives. I know of many who have handicapped children, a wife who is an invalid or in need of constant treatment, children who have endured severe loss, etc. I know many of them have experienced and endured unfair treatment at the hands of folks who proclaimed themselves to be part of the household of God but certainly didn’t act like it in how they treated these obedient ones. I know many of them have experienced traumatic crises, and/or have personal illnesses, diseases, or handicaps that would keep many from serving the Lord at all. I say I USED to wonder, because I’ve begun to discover that part of the reason God has allowed these events or conditions to occur in their lives (this is my opinion, you understand, but an opinion based on observation and discussion with the individuals in many cases) is because God knows these persons of giant faith can handle it, and because in doing so God is given opportunity to "shine" more gloriously through these individuals, be revealed in an even more powerful and recognizable way through how these persons of great faith deal with adversity with the same kind of attitudes as were demonstrated by Jesus on the cross, Stephen while being stoned to death, and Paul and Silas in prison.
I believe it’s part of what John and Peter meant when they went away from the Council rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer for the name of Christ.
*Personal: I have seen numerous cases of Christians rising to the occasion and forgiving persons who have mistreated them, watching them forgive when the world would have told them they have every right to hold on to a grudge forever. They forgave because of the power and presence of God in their lives, and it has been a powerful testimony for others to see, and to emulate. I have also been privy to being with many believers as they pass from this life into the next, and with them in the weeks and months preceding that passage. I have listened to many of them, amid their personal suffering, praise God, being thankful to Him for the lives He gave them, the gifts He bestowed upon them, and their anticipation of going home to be with Him. And they’ve praised the Lord while all the while their bodies were being eaten up with cancer, or their lives had been unfairly drained out of their bodies as the result of a drunken driver, or they had unfairly been the victim of either a deliberate or a random act of violence.
In each case, we can learn and need to remember that sometimes God allows bad things to happen so that we have a greater platform to demonstrate His presence and power in our lives than we would have without those things having happened.
4) SO WE CAN RECEIVE A GREATER BLESSING LATER.
--Mt.7:11 -- "If you...know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him?"
There isn’t a parent alive who enjoyed it when their child had to be immunized.
Likewise, there isn’t a parent who could ever satisfactorily explain to an infant why these shots were good things.
But, a loving parent allows his/her children to experience the temporary pain of receiving a shot in order to provide protection from something much worse, or, said in a different way, to allow a greater future for his/her child be made possible.
In similar fashion, our heavenly Father sometimes says NO to our temporary comfort or our personal wants and desires at the moment on order to bring something better our way later.
*ILL> Joni Erickson Tada has often expressed her gratitude to God for allowing an accident occur when she was young that cost her the use of her body from the ribcage down. She explains that without the accident she would have missed out on the ministry God has called her to, the opportunities she has had to speak on behalf of the disabled about overcoming and to the abled about enduring hardships and trusting in God. She has been heard by millions, and her life has touched by even more. But had it not been for the accident, you and I would probably have never heard of her, nor would she have enjoyed many of the experiences God afforded to her as a result of the accident.
5) BECAUSE WE’RE NOT HOME YET.
Simply put, we experience difficult times because we live in a sin-infested world.
As believers we’re promised a home in heaven with the Lord, but while we’re "passing through" this world first, we are not immune from the rain that falls on the unjust AND the just, the sinful man and the righteous man.
Not only that, we suffer down here sometimes simply because we ARE His children, and this sinful world objects to people like us, just as they did to Jesus Himself.
--Rom.8:17 -- "and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him."
*ILL> I’m reminded of the story about a farmer in the midwest who had a strong disdain for anything "religious." As he plowed his field on Sunday mornings he would shake his fist at church people as they passed by on their way to worship. October came and he had the finest crop he had ever had, and the best in all the county. So, when the harvesting was complete, he bought an entire page of space in the local newspaper and belittled Christians for their faith in God. Near the end of his ranting he wrote, "Faith in God must not mean much if someone like me can prosper." -- The Christians in the community were polite in their response. In the next edition of the town paper, a small ad appeared, and read simply, "God doesn’t always settle His accounts in October."
<> Yes, down here it’s a sure thing that we will experience hardships, that we, even as believers, will suffer.
-->Jesus taught His disciples (and us) to expect persecution in this life. It’s part of "taking up our cross" to follow Him, and we can be certain that if they rejected and persecuted Jesus many will reject and persecute us also.
-->James reminds us that the prophets of old were righteous men but they also suffered, saying in Ja.5:10 -- "As an example, brethren, of suffering and patience, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord."
-->Paul says it straight out in Ph.1:29 -- "For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to belive in Him, but also to suffer for His sake."
-->And Peter also encourages believers in 1Pe.5:9 -- "...(remain) firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world."
You see, it’s part of the "badge" or the uniform that is issued to every believer.
SO...we have a couple of choices:
a) We can bemoan it, lie around feeling sorry for ourselves, complaining to the Lord about how unfair it all is.
b) Or we can see it as an honor, as Paul and Silas did, rejoicing and singing amid the conflict, whether great or small, and choose to count our blessings rather than recount our problems all the time.
And yet, THERE IS INDEED A BETTER HOME A-WAITING!...IN THE SKY, LORD, IN THE SKY!
We’ll talk more next week about what heaven is really like, but we need to remember:
--It is THERE where there is no pain, no tears, no sorrow, and no death.
--It is still AWAITING for us, prepared for us by the Master Carpenter, Jesus Himself. It’s waiting as a honeymoon suite for Jesus’ bride.
--And it is ASSURED by Jesus Himself.
In the meantime Jesus’ instructions to us is TAKE COURAGE because He has already overcome the world.
BRINGING IT HOME...
I invite you today to ask yourself these questions:
a) Am I willing for ANYTHING to happen in my life in order to please God and bring Him glory? Even sufering? Even unfair treatment?
b) Am I willing to LEARN and grow from the experience?
c) Am I being a positive TESTIMONY right now in how I’m behaving during difficult times? Am I exhibiting the joy of the Lord in my life, demonstrated by the way I handle adversity?
d) Am I TRUSTING God amid the confusing times, the "dark pieces of the puzzle" times?
e) Am I confident that God only says NO when there’s a better result that will be brought about through enduring hardship?
f) Am I looking ahead? Am I mindful that I’m now one day closer to seeing the Lord’s face than I was yesterday? Am I thanking God that I’m headed to a place He’s prepared for me where I’ll never again experience pain, never again experience sorrow or loss, never again cry, never again experience adversity?
If we have the right perspective in all these matters, if we understand that God sends rain on the unrighteous AND the righteous, then we can shout it out and mean it...
LET IT RAIN, LORD! LET IT RAIN!
