We're in the middle of Olivia's girls hockey provincials weekend and I'm way behind on posting, sorry about that. Due to the time crunch, I'm going to recycle a previous post - this wasn't mine, it was done by my friend Sandy.
One of the most common questions asked by non-believers: "Why does God let bad things happen to good people?" I've heard it. I'm sure most of you have too.
The book of Job is the ultimate in 'bad things happening to good people'. Job was upstanding. Righteous. A 'good man'. So why did bad things happen to him? He loses EVERYTHING. And it seems so senseless. As readers, we have the benefit of knowing why. We are witness via the Word to God's plan and purpose for Job's suffering. Even though Job can't see it, we can see that his seemingly senseless and cruel suffering is FOR GOD'S GLORY. It's all for God's glory.
That's the answer in Job and it's our answer now. God's glory.
Just as our personal suffering is for His glory and part of His plan, so is the mass suffering.
It seems so contradictory. It seems so wrong to say that God allows the bad.
But He does. He allows the bad. FOR THE GOOD.
As much as God is love, He is justice. As much as He loves His children, He hates sin.
If our Christ bled and died and bore the brunt of God's full wrath, how can we exempt any suffering?
We can't.
I'm sure it seems so odd and cold to non-belivers. But those who know nothing of God's love, can't begin to comprehend His justice.
God WILL be glorified. He will be gloried through my suffering. Through yours. Through the suffering of those who don't know Him and can't understand it.
God's glory. His alone.
He WILL be glorified.
This truth is mirrored in our 1 Corinthians passage today as well....
5 so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.
Our finite minds cannot comprehend the plans of God, and our faith needs to rest in Him, not ourselves.
Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage passage: Job 5-7, 1 Corinthians 3
3 comments:
I like the comment from your posting about non-believers not understanding the whole "God letting bad things happen" concept. It is true, they don't understand that, just like some are not able to grasp the "putting others first" concept, or other Christian concepts that are routine for us, and foreign to the non-believer.
I thought this tied in well with 1Corinthians 2:14. "The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned."
We do not always understand God's plan, but sometimes we don't need to, we just have to trust Him, and give Him the glory He deserves.
I can't help but reflect on Job's eloquence ... even though I love words and writing I know that I would not have been so poetic if I were to speak about it (or blog about it ;) I simple "I wish I'd have never been born" may be all I'd string together as I wallowed in self-pity.
His prophet friend too spoke with verbal imagery when I'd probably have just said "Ok Job, what'd you do?"
I know that these words have offered insight and comfort into the nature of God and the example that Job was as he endured this trying time. Maybe we need to be eloquent too when we go through tough times so that we can reflect, and cause others to reflect, on what God is trying to teach.
I thought the last part of our 2 Corinthians reading implies that too:
14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.
or in the NLT:
13 When we tell you these things, we do not use words that come from human wisdom. Instead, we speak words given to us by the Spirit, using the Spirit’s words to explain spiritual truths.
Job's emotions are completely understandable in his situation. If anything like that happened to me, I'm sure the pain would be so great that I would feel like dying, or wishing I had never been born. It's in times like that that Jesus is our lifeline, and when faith is truly faith.
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