It’s an age old question, often made subtly excusing ourselves and
accusing the God almighty. One may be saying indirectly that he is very
good, yet God has dealt with him unjustly. As Bible believing Christians
we accept the fact that God is always just and true but man is not as
good as he thinks to be.
Nevertheless, it is an issue we find very hard to explain on certain
occasions. Unexpected turn of events that lead to untold pain, agony and
loss force one to question, ‘why me’! Even the godly, obedient and
fruitful believers go through hardships that are beyond human
comprehension. How can we answer this puzzling question, “Why do bad
things happen to such godly people?” I think we need to consider three
things before we can come to some conclusion.
1. Sovereignty of God.
Our God is a sovereign God
who does things according to His perfect will and no one can question
Him. He is the Master who owns us. He has every right to do whatever
pleases to Him. He needs no counselor. His purposes are perfect and
eternal. Unsearchable is His wisdom. He is an incomparable,
self-governing God. Cf. Rom 9:19, 20; 1133ff; Isaiah 40:13, 14, 25, 28
We can only yield to such a sovereign God’s purposes without any
question, believing fully that He does not make a mistake.
2. Frailty of Man.
Along with God’s greatness
we should also acknowledge the limitations of man. Our knowledge is
imperfect. We do not understand every thing. The Lord Himself says, “As
the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your
ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.” Isa 55:8, 9. With our finite
mind we can not grasp God’s activities fully.
The word of God makes it very clear that there are still secrets hidden
with God and we can not understand it now. Definitely, He has revealed
all that we ought to know today and the biblical revelation is complete
in that sense. Yet certain things are not clear to us today, but in
future we may know fully. Cf. Deut 29: 29; 1Jn 3:2. Job 8:9; Ecc 8:7.
3. Diving dealings.
With the above mentioned
two facts we need to consider the divine dealings with man. We are in
His hands as clay in the hands of a potter. He is working on us. We may
not understand His intentions fully. But He has a definite plan and
still in the process of shaping us. Cf. Jerm 18: 1—6.
Scriptures refers to some aspects of God’s eternal plan for us. We may
be conformed to the image of His Son; we may show forth the riches of
His glory etc. cf. Rom 8:29; 2The 2:14; Rom 9:22, 24. He is preparing us
with the intention that we may be the best vessels to be used for the
Master. 2Tim. 2:21. All such goals have an eternal perspective.
So, every event in our life is part of this preparation. God in His
wisdom allows certain experience or incident so that we may be moulded
in a particular manner. With our natural eyes we see only the earthly
and temporal things. It’s only by faith we can see beyond the temporal
and earthly that God is involved in. Cf. 2Cori 4:18.
Moreover the word of God also states that, God may allow hardships to
godly people, so that it may be used to prepare other believers. Cf.
2Cori 1:4—8. Sufferings of a Christian and his response to it can be a
lesson to others. The comfort and strength we get through trials can be
used to encourage one another.
Summary
In short we can say, God in
His sovereign will and plan permit godly people to suffer in various
ways. He does it with an eternal point of view; we may not fully
understand it today. But let us be sure that He does everything well and
with a specific purpose. So, beloved, let us acknowledge these realities
and humbly yield to His will and working in our life. Such patience and
longsuffering will be a challenge to many others, God will be honoured
and thus His purposes will be fulfilled in us.
Poor yet Rich
Story of Edgar Allan Poe shows how a poor and worthless man can be a
great genius. Before he was three he became an orphan and stayed with
strangers. He could not continue his studies in the school due to utter
poverty. At seventeen he had heart trouble and became weak physically.
He died at a young age of forty.
Only after his death the world came to know of the real worth of this
invalid. With in span of twenty years, he wrote number of articles,
essays, poetry, and stories etc which are widely read. One of his poems
is on exhibit at the world – famous Huntington Library, at San Marino,
California and is worth $ 50,000. He was great literary genius.
