Why Does Bad Stuff Happen to Good People?

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Wednesday, February 17, 2016

VIDEO

There once was a man named Job who lived in the land of Uz.  He was blameless—a man of complete integrity.  He feared God and stayed away from evil.  Job 1:1^(NLT)

Many are familiar with the story of Job; he is a good man, but in the space of the first twenty verses of the book he loses just about everything – wealth, health, family and even the respect of his closest friends.  And what was his reaction?

Job stood up and tore his robe in grief.  Then he shaved his head and fell to the ground to worship.  He said, “I came naked from my mother’s womb, and I will be naked when I leave.  The Lord gave me what I had, and the Lord has taken it away.
Praise the name of the Lord!”  In all of this, Job did not sin by blaming God.     Job 1:20-21^(NLT)

We are certainly limited as to making judgments about eternal things because we are hemmed-in by time and space.  I have trouble understanding some things I’ve seen. 

For instance, why did an eight-year-old girl who used to live near my daughter in Thomasville die of cancer?  I buried a little infant girl several years ago – she only made it about half a day in this world.  Her birth mother was barely into her teens, and the father had to get special permission to be released from jail to attend the funeral. 

My friend in Florida was an excellent detective, and chief of the homicide division and a devoted follower of Christ.  He helped bring serial killer Danny Rolling to justice; my friend died in 2009 of brain cancer; he was not even 60 years old.  I cannot fathom the depth of suffering of the people in Haiti, or starving children in this world.

Rabbi Aaron Moss has this question for us who struggle with why bad stuff happens:

“Are you sure you want an explanation?  Do you really want to know why the innocent suffer?  I think not.  You are far better off with the question than with an answer….But what if we found the answer?  What if someone came along and gave us a satisfying explanation?  What if the mystery were finally solved?  What if we asked why, and actually got an answer?  If this ultimate question were answered, then we would be able to make peace with the suffering of innocents.  And that is unthinkable….And so, if we could make sense of innocent people suffering, if we could rationalize tragedy, then we could live with it.  We would be able to hear the cry of sweet children in pain and not be horrified.  We would tolerate seeing broken hearts and shattered lives, for we would be able to neatly explain them away.  Our question would be answered, and we could move on.

“But as long as the pain of innocents remains a burning question, we are bothered by its existence.  And as long as we can’t explain pain, we must alleviate it.  If innocent people suffering does not fit into our worldview, we must eradicate it.  Rather than justifying their pain, we need to get rid of it. 

“So keep asking the question, why do bad things happen to good people.  But stop looking for answers.  Start formulating a response.  Take your righteous anger and turn it into a force for doing good.  Redirect your frustration with injustice and unfairness and channel it into a drive to fight injustice and unfairness.  Let your outrage propel you into action.  When you see innocent people suffering, help them.  Combat the pain in the world with goodness.  Alleviate suffering wherever you can.

“We don’t want answers, we don’t want explanations, and we don’t want closure.  We want an end to suffering.  And we dare not leave it up to G-d to alleviate suffering.  He is waiting for us to do it.  That’s what we are here for.”[2]

Well, thank you, Rabbi Moss; your words are strong and challenging, but they need to be so, because, up against pain, suffering, death, and rampant injustice in the world, Mary Poppins’ spoonful of sugar hardly seems worth the trouble.

For You Today

Have you got some pain to figure out?  Maybe God has some work for you that is best conducted in the driving rain of opposition and the road less-travelled.  And that is the place where Job’s words make a little more sense:

The Lord gave me what I had, and the Lord has taken it away.  Praise the name of the Lord! 

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road today…and have a blessed day!

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[1] Title Images:  Staff Sgt. D. Myles Cullen, U.S. Air Force, & dadblunders, via Wikimedia Commons

[2] Rabbi Aron Moss, Why Do Bad Things Happen to Good People?, Chabad.org 

A Breath Away

Friday, October 17, 2014

The king of Aram had great admiration for Naaman, the commander of his army, because through him the Lord had given Aram great victories.  But though Naaman was a mighty warrior, he suffered from leprosy.        2 Kings 5:1 (NLT)

896 B.C.

The commander of the world's most powerful and feared armed forces awoke one morning and began his regular routine of preparing for the day.  As he splashed some rose scented water over his face, his mind thought back to the recent ceremony where he had received his nation's highest honor.  What a glorious day that was, having his place assured in history, and the admiration of all those people. 

Putting on his uniform, he mused, "Who knows, maybe I could even get into politics.  After all, I've gone as far as a soldier can go.  There may be more to conquer than just some other country's armies.  Life is great," he thought – "life is exciting...hey, what's this?" he wondered aloud, as his eyes noticed a small, irregularly shaped circle of white near his elbow. 

For Naaman life was too good to entertain any thoughts of his world falling apart.  He had seen circles like that before; but his mind wouldn't allow that it could happen to him.  He could not picture himself with ugly, open sores all over his body.  He couldn't imagine what it would be like to lose those strong fingers that held his sword.  But worst of all was the unimaginable scene that flashed through his mind – of people turning away from him in disgust and loathing. 

Naaman was a handsome man, strong and virile.  The obscene thought of people treating him like he was dirty, something to be avoided...it was more than he could stand.  That could not – it would not happen to the Captain of the host of Syria's armies. 

He wouldn't let it!

For the next several weeks the spot was observed every morning.  As much as Naaman tried to tell himself that the spot wasn't growing, when that other spot on his neck appeared he began to panic.  Daily (it seemed) other spots, and small brownish red blisters formed.   Naaman lost his usual hearty appetite.  It was an easy thing to give up food, as nothing seemed to stay down for long anyway.   Long sleepless nights became his constant companion.  Lethargy was creeping into the daily routine.  Naaman no longer looked forward to planning strategic military campaigns.  He constantly felt feverish.  

There was no denying it – Naaman had leprosy.  His life was about to change…forever!

Fast-forward 2,900 years

R. B. Ward was my dear friend.  He was the chief of detectives for the Gainesville, Florida Police Department, and a member of the church I served.  He was a strong follower of Christ, and served on our leadership board.  When he joined the church I asked him, should I call you, “Captain Ward” or “R.B.”?  He said “Just Richard”.  I said, “OK, Richard, the Justified shall be Just Richard!  It became a running joke with us.  We corresponded for years after I left that church, and he always signed off, Just Richard.

In the fall of 1990 Gainesville and the University of Florida had a serial killer unleash his fury on 5 college students.  It took months and months of intensive investigation and following this trail of evil, but Danny Rolling was finally caught. 

In the middle of that all-consuming investigation my friend found out he was suffering from what the doctor described as terminal cancer of the lungs.  Aggressive chemotherapy and radiation treatments were successful, and R.B. was in remission. 

After fighting the killer loose on the streets, and the killer loose inside of him, R.B. was interviewed on a national television show.  My friend, Just Richard told the viewers this simple sentence: 

Walk with the Lord daily; 

death is only a breath away.

For You, Today…

If that one single breath that separates you from meeting your Creator was going to be drawn today…what would be different about how you live this day?