Introduction: Many years ago, two prominent movie stars died in separate alcohol-related accidents. William Holden died in a drunken fall, hitting his head on a table; Natalie Wood drowned when she fell into the ocean from her yacht. A friend who was close to both of them, actress Stephanie Powers, was quoted in the newspapers: "Two of my best friends are gone; how can a God who is supposed to be kind and loving allow this to happen?" This is the same question that was being asked after the terrorist attacks on 9/11. It’s the same question that was asked after Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans or the earthquake in Haiti. It’s the same question that is asked every time someone loses their job or some kind of tragedy strikes. How can a good God allow bad things to happen to good people?
I want to introduce you today to a good man that bad things happened to. If there ever was a good man Job was that man. The Bible tells us that Job was the most righteous man of his generation. Yet bad things happened to him. In one day he lost his wealth, his children and the respect of his wife. How could God allow these bad things to happen to such a righteous man? What we learn from Job is that suffering and tragedy is a part of life.
“Man born of woman is of few days and full of trouble” (Job 14:1). I can tell who in this room is going to have trouble in life. I can tell who bad things are going to happen to. The answer is everyone who is born of a woman. In other words, everyone who is born, rich or poor, black or white is going to have bad things happen in their life. Not only will you have bad things happen your days will be relatively few. In other words you’re going to die. Some are going to die at a ripe old age and some are going to die young. Don’t you feel encouraged? We are asking why bad things happen to good people as if we are shocked at the notion that bad things actually happen. The fact is that bad things happen to everybody. Why are we surprised when bad things happen to good people? Good people or bad people, we are just people and we will all face trouble.
“Yet man is born to trouble as surely as sparks fly upward” (Job 5:7).
“In this world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).
“…through many tribulations we must enter the Kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22).
The interesting thing about the Book of Job is that God never explicitly answers Job’s questions about why these bad things happened to him. Job had an opinion about why it happened and his friends certainly had opinions about why it happened. It would have been so easy for God to just give us a clear answer as to why this happened to Job but God remained silent. For 37 chapters Job and his friends accuse God of being unfair and capricious in His dealings with men and God remained silent. Finally in Job 38 God speaks.
Then the LORD answered Job out of the storm. He said: 2 "Who is this that darkens my counsel with words without knowledge? 3 Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me. 4 "Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation? Tell me, if you understand. 5 Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it? 6 On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone- 7 while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy” (Job 38:1-7)?
For the next four chapters God Himself puts Job on trial. God never answers Job’s question about why these bad things happened to him but by the end of Job’s interrogation he has come to a new understanding of God’s wisdom. Job finally realized there were some things that he would never know. Notice Job’s response in chapter 42,
“Surely I spoke of things I didn’t understand, things too wonderful for me to know…My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:3-6).
The message of Job cuts against the grain of some popular Christian teaching which says that God’s main concern is to make us happy, healthy and wealthy. God’s main concern is not to make us happy but to make us holy. This reality can be quite disturbing for many people. You see people tend to serve God for what they can get out of Him. It’s nothing more than a shrewd business transaction. If God blesses me and favors me then I’ll serve Him, but if He doesn’t then I won’t. For the most part we are nothing more than religious consumers looking for the best return on our investment. If God makes the cut then I’ll give Him a shot. But when bad things happen and suffering comes we reject Him. Job said “Shall we accept good from God and not trouble” (Job 2:9)? As Job portrays it’s hard to enjoy God sometimes. Yet we still must trust Him. Job was able to say through it all, “Though He slay me yet will I trust Him” (Job 13:11-15). God chooses many times not to give us answers because He doesn’t owe us an explanation. While God doesn’t explicitly answer the question as to why these bad things happened to Job or why bad things happen to good people in general we can gather enough biblical data to sufficiently answer that puzzling question.
Many people play the blame game with God. We blame Him for all the tragedies and bad things that happen in our world. After all, God is the highest authority right? So if He’s making the rules then He’s responsible for all the bad stuff that happens to people. Sounds logical but is it biblical? Is God to blame for all the bad things that happen in this world? The answer I believe is no!
1. Sin is to blame.
This world has been corrupted by sin. When Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden the Bible tells us that one of the devastating results of their sin was that the earth was cursed (Gen.3:17). In the Garden of Eden everything was perfect. There was no disease or tragedy or pain. It was sin that gave birth to sickness, disease, pain and turmoil. Sin has tainted the entire world and everything and everyone in it.
“Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope, 21 the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay. 22 For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time” (Rom.8:21-22).
So we might be tempted to sit back this morning and blame Adam and Eve for all the bad things that happen in life, but we would be wrong.
2. We are to blame.
What Adam and Eve started has been passed on to us. It’s called original sin. It means that everyone who has ever been born into this world has been infected with the sin virus. So we can’t blame all the bad things that happen in this world on Adam and Eve we have to blame ourselves. Human beings are driven by sinful desires and when those sinful desires come to fruition they often hurt other people. When sexual desire comes to fruition women are raped and children are molested. When anger comes to fruition men and women and children are murdered. Is it God’s fault when gang members shoot into a crowd and kill innocent children? No, it’s our fault. We are to blame because we are full of sin! It kills me when I hear people blame God for getting cancer when they smoked three packs of Camel’s a day for 40 years. Or when people blame God for having heart disease when all they ever eat is Fried Chicken and Gravy Biscuits. God is not to blame you are!
This whole question of why bad things happen to good people is skewed. It’s skewed because there are no good people. I can hear some of you right now saying, “Not me pastor, I’m a good person.” “I’ve never killed anyone or committed adultery on my wife so that means I’m a good person.” The answer is no you are not a good person. You are evil, and I am evil. The Bible tells us that the human heart is desperately wicked and deceitful and that we don’t even know our own potential to engage in evil (Jer.17:9). The Bible tells us that no one is righteous; each one of us has turned to his own way and gone astray (Isa.53:1). The Bible tells us that we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Rom.3:23). Stop believing this hogwash about you being a good person. We think we are good because we measure up pretty well against other people. But others aren’t the measuring stick it is Jesus Christ who is the measuring stick.
But even though we are not good people there is good news. Jesus Christ died on the cross and redeemed us from our sin. If we will accept Him and repent of our sinful ways He will accept us and change our sinful desires and behavior.
3. Free will is to blame.
When God created human beings the Bible tells us that we were created in the image of God. The image of God is expressed in our ability to reason and choose. We call it free will. Now God could have chosen to create a race of robots that had no free will and would do whatever He commanded but God wanted more than robots. He wanted a people that would love and serve Him because they chose to, not because they were forced to. True love and devotion cannot be dictated it must be chosen. All human beings can decide whether or not they want to serve and love God. He doesn’t force anyone to love or serve Him. But we can also choose to do good or evil and God doesn’t stop us from doing either. Sometimes we hear of bad things that happen and we wonder why didn’t God stop that? Think about it for a minute. What if God stopped everyone from doing every bad thing that they planned to do? First of all, how would God do that without interrupting the order of things? At what point would God interrupt the person’s faculties and what means would He use? If God stopped everyone from doing every bad thing they planned then we would no longer be free creatures. We would be robots, the very thing that God purposely chose not to create in the beginning. So the result of free will is that people will do evil, nefarious and unspeakably horrible things.
4. Satan is to blame.
You and I have an enemy and His name is Satan. The name Satan actually means “adversary.” Jesus said that the enemy comes to steal, kill and destroy but Jesus has come that we might have an abundant life (John 10:10). Now let me ask you, which one causes bad things? It is Satan. God gets a lot of blame for what Satan does. Satan is alive and well on planet earth and he is very successful. The Bible says that Satan is the “prince of this world,” (Jn.12:31); “The Prince of the Power of the Air, the one who is at work in the hearts of those who are disobedient” (Eph.2:2); and “The god of the world” (2 Cor.4:4). Satan is always looking for an opening, an opportunity to steal, kill and destroy.
In Job Satan presents himself along with the other angels before the throne of God and asks God for permission to attack Job. God had a hedge of protection around Job. While Satan is loose upon the earth he is not in control. God is sovereign and in control. Yet God withdrew His hedge around Job and allowed Satan to attack him. So while God allowed Satan to attack Job, He did not cause those bad things to happen to him. So why didn’t God just say no to Satan? Why does God allow Satan to attack us? If God were good and really loved me He wouldn’t allow Satan to attack me would He? That doesn’t make sense.
It didn’t make sense to Peter either. In Luke 22:31 Jesus tells Peter that Satan desired to have him so that Peter could be sifted like wheat. One translation says that Satan has “begged” to have you. Now I’m sure Peter must have been thinking surely Jesus won’t allow him to. After all I’ve left everything behind to follow Him. But Jesus told Peter that He would allow it but that He would pray for him that his faith would not fail. Jesus then told Peter that when he had been converted to strengthen his brothers. Notice that Jesus used the word “converted.” Jesus was telling Peter that when Satan attacked him he was going to undergo a transformation that would result in a stronger, better and more mature Peter. The test would produce a testimony and make Peter useful for God’s purposes. This experience would enable Peter to strengthen his brothers.
God can take the bad things that happen to us and bring something good out of it. He is the Master of Disaster. In Romans 8:28 we read, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.” Now notice that God didn’t say that everything that happens to us is good. He says that He can work even the bad things out and bring some good from them.
God uses the tragedies and bad things of life to deepen our relationship with Him and to produce spiritual maturity within us. James 1:2-4 tells us that trials and tribulations produce endurance and spiritual maturity in us so that we become complete and lack nothing. There is great spiritual value in suffering. A few weeks ago I spoke on the subject of suffering (i.e., “God’s Answer to Suffering”) so I won’t rehash all of what I said, but just a couple of quick points of why God uses suffering. God uses suffering to refine us. Suffering has a way of making us holy. Our holiness is most important to God. Secondly, God uses suffering to remind us that we are not in control He is. It helps us to see that we are not the Sovereign over our own lives He is!
Conclusion: We need to understand that God hates tragedies and the proliferation of evil much more than we do. First of all, He sees it on a grander scale. God is moved and heartbroken by the bad things that happen to people. Jesus showed the heart of God when He went to the tomb of Lazarus and wept over it. He was moved by the pain of the people. So if God hates tragedy and the bad things that happen in this world why doesn’t He do something about it? He has done something about evil. He has entered into it and borne it and conquered it. He has experienced the bad things that happen to people. He was subjected to one of the worst things that can happen which was His murder. He entered into our existence and died upon the cross so that He could forever defeat evil. It may seem like evil has the upper hand and has won the day but evil has been defeated. Jesus is victorious and He gives His body on earth, the Church, the commission to bring justice to the oppressed and hope to the hopeless. You see if we are really worried about why bad things happen to people then we need to rise up and start doing what Christ has commanded the church to do. Tragedy, injustice and corruption are the church’s call to rise. When bad things happen it is the church that needs to speak and act, not just go about our lives as if we are unmoved. What are you doing to alleviate suffering and tragedy in this world?
"Quit your worship charades. I can't stand your trivial religious games: Monthly conferences, weekly Sabbaths, special meetings—meetings, meetings, meetings—I can't stand one more! Meetings for this, meetings for that. I hate them! You've worn me out! I'm sick of your religion, religion, religion, while you go right on sinning. When you put on your next prayer-performance, I'll be looking the other way. No matter how long or loud or often you pray, I'll not be listening. And do you know why? Because you've been tearing people to pieces, and your hands are bloody. Go home and wash up. Clean up your act. Sweep your lives clean of your evildoings so I don't have to look at them any longer. Say no to wrong. Learn to do good. Work for justice. Help the down-and-out. Stand up for the homeless. Go to bat for the defenseless” (Isa.1:13-17).
